# List of ambassadors of Russia to Canada

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Canada is the official representative of the President and the Government of the Russian Federation to the Prime Minister and the Government of Canada.
The ambassador and his staff work at large in the Embassy of Russia in Ottawa. There are Consulate Generals in Montreal and Vancouver, and honorary consuls in Edmonton, St. John's, Windsor and Vancouver. Russian interests in Canada are also represented by a trade mission based in Ottawa, and a representative of the Federal Agency of Fisheries [ru] in Halifax.
The post of Russian Ambassador to Canada is currently held by Oleg Stepanov [ru], incumbent since 9 March 2021.

## History of diplomatic relations

Prior to 1917, the Russian Empire maintained consular services in the Dominion of Canada, then part of the British Empire. By the time of the fall of the Tsarist government in 1917, there were consulates in Montreal, Halifax, and Vancouver. These did not recognise, and were not accredited by, the Soviet state, but continued to function until the late 1920s, funded by the Canadian government to deal with the large number of White émigrés who began to settle in the country.
Diplomatic relations at the mission level between the Soviet Union and Canada were first established on 12 June 1942. This was during the Second World War, when Canada and the Soviet Union were part of the allies. The first envoy, Fedor Tarasovich Gusev, was appointed on 30 July 1942, and presented his credentials on 21 October that year. Gusev left the post on 12 August 1943, and in November that year the missions were upgraded to embassies. Relations cooled significantly after the war, with the Gouzenko Affair and subsequent Kellock–Taschereau Commission in 1946 resulting in increasingly hostile communications. Both sides withdrew their ambassadors that year, and representation was thereafter by charge d'affaires following until 1953. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Soviet ambassador, Richard Ovinnikov [ru], continued as representative of the Russian Federation until 1992.

## List of representatives (1942 – present)
### Representatives of the Soviet Union to Canada (1942 – 1991)

| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination |
| Fedor Gusev | Envoy | 30 July 1942 | 12 August 1943 |
| Georgy Zarubin | Ambassador | 23 March 1944 | 28 September 1946 |
| Nikolai Belokhvostikov [ru] | Charge d'affaires | 1946 | 1949 |
| Leonid Teplov [ru] | Charge d'affaires | 1949 | 1953 |
| Dmitry Chuvakhin [ru] | Ambassador | 25 August 1953 | 26 October 1958 |
| Amazasp Arutyunyan [ru] | Ambassador | 26 October 1958 | 20 February 1963 |
| Ivan Shpedko [ru] | Ambassador | 20 February 1963 | 18 October 1968 |
| Boris Miroshnichenko [ru] | Ambassador | 18 October 1968 | 1 June 1973 |
| Alexander Yakovlev | Ambassador | 1 June 1973 | 29 October 1983 |
| Aleksei Rodionov | Ambassador | 31 October 1983 | 30 October 1990 |
| Richard Ovinnikov [ru] | Ambassador | 30 October 1990 | 25 December 1991 |

### Representatives of the Russian Federation to Canada (1991 – present)

| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination |
| Richard Ovinnikov [ru] | Ambassador | 25 December 1991 | 10 February 1992 |
| Alexander Belonogov | Ambassador | 10 February 1992 | 6 January 1998 |
| Vitaly Churkin | Ambassador | 26 August 1998 | 5 June 2003 |
| Georgiy Mamedov | Ambassador | 5 June 2003 | 24 October 2014 |
| Alexander Darchiev | Ambassador | 24 October 2014 | 11 January 2021 |
| Oleg Stepanov [ru] | Ambassador | 9 March 2021 | |