Roman Waschuk
Business Ombudsman and Former Canadian Ambassador to Ukraine
Roman Waschuk is the son of Ukrainian immigrants that came to Canada after the Second World War. Growing up, he was a member of the Ukrainian Scouting organization Plast. He studied history with a focus on Central and Eastern Europe and received a Masters of Arts from the University of Toronto in 1985. In addition, Mr. Waschuk is fluent in English, French, German, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, and Serbian.
Mr. Waschuk began his distinguished diplomatic career in 1987 when he was posted as second secretary for politics in the Canadian Embassy in Moscow. From 1991-1994 he worked on East European affairs in the Department of Foreign Affairs, and from 1994-1998 he was an advisor at the Canadian Embassy in Kyiv.
Other positions held by Mr. Waschuk included: deputy director of the European Union Division, deputy director of the Policy Planning Division, director of the Global Partnership for Biological Non-Proliferation, Chemical Weapons Destruction and Redirection of Former Weapons Scientists Division, and director of the Stabilization and Reconstruction Programs Division.
From 2011-2014 Mr. Waschuk served as the Canadian ambassador to Serbia, with concurrent accreditation to the Republic of North Macedonia and Montenegro. In October 2014, he replaced Troy Lulashnyk as the Canadian ambassador to Ukraine, where he served until 2019.
Mr. Waschuk is Canada’s longest serving Ambassador to Ukraine and worked to strengthen the ties between Canada and Ukraine, as well as to increase the Canadian presence in Ukraine. Mr. Waschuk received the Taras Shevchenko Medal from the UCC in 2020 for his outstanding contribution to public service. The Roman Waschuk and Oksana Smerechuk Fund within the UCC Charitable and Educational Trust supports the UCC Parliamentary Internship Program and the UCC Community Development Fund.