Current price on request
Drop-in cafe evenings
The first and third Tuesday of the month, 18:00-21:00, at 911 Carling Avenue; closed for August.
UA FEST 2024VendorBusiness
Cafe Ukraine Ottawa
Café Ukraine · Cafe Ukraine · Café Ukraine Ottawa · Кафе Україна · Кафе "Україна" Оттава · cafe_ukraine_ottawa
Cafe Ukraine Ottawa · Community cafe
A community cafe and drop-in centre, helping newcomers meet one another and get settled.
UA FEST Family
About
Cafe Ukraine describes itself as a volunteer project of CYM Ottawa, the local branch of the Ukrainian Youth Association: a community cafe and drop-in centre that helps newcomers meet one another and get settled in their new community. It works out of a beige two-storey house at 911 Carling Avenue in Ottawa, on the corner of Sherwood Drive, near Dow's Lake.
The cafe opened on 24 June 2022, about a month in the making and three months after Russia's full-scale invasion. Capital Current reported at the time that it was a joint project of the League of Ukrainian Canadians and the Ukrainian Youth Association of Canada, open Tuesdays and Fridays from 6 to 9 p.m. and Saturdays from 2 to 9 p.m., with wifi and refreshments on tap to help people socialise and exchange information.
Inside there is chess, there are musical instruments, board and card games, and traditional Ukrainian food and drink — that is what a reporter found there in November 2023. The schedule the cafe publishes on its own accounts today is the first and third Tuesday of every month, 18:00 to 21:00, and it has posted that it closes for the month of August.
Since September 2024 the house has also carried the free English classes and settlement services that ran at Maidan Market until it closed on 31 August 2024. The Ukrainian Community Centre donated the space, and the money comes from private donors, events and fundraisers. A Ukrainian-speaking settlement counsellor from Jewish Family Services Ottawa works there two days a week.
The English Conversation Program at the cafe is run by volunteer tutors of the English Language Network for Ukrainians and costs the learner nothing. In February 2025 it counted 94 active students, 41 classes a week and 22 volunteer tutors. Cafe Ukraine also came out to UAFest 2024 in Carleton Place as one of the festival's vendors.
Open since June 2022
911 Carling Ave, Ottawa
Volunteer project of CYM Ottawa
Cafe Ukraine Ottawa
Products & services
A volunteer meeting-café for Ukrainian newcomers and the local community: coffee, tea, desserts, help and information. Held on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month, 18:00-21:00, at 913 Carling Ave, Ottawa.
For current pricing and availability, contact them directly.
Current price on request
English Conversation Program
Free classes with volunteer tutors of the English Language Network for Ukrainians, held at the cafe on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Current price on request
Settlement help
A Ukrainian-speaking settlement counsellor from Jewish Family Services Ottawa is at the cafe two days a week.
Current price on request
Coffee, tea and a table to sit at
Chess, musical instruments, board and card games and traditional Ukrainian food and drink.
Open to
Newcomers from Ukraine and their familiesVolunteer tutors and helpersDonors, events and fundraisersPartner organisations working with newcomers
Cafe Ukraine Ottawa
Where to find them
Cafe Ukraine is in Ottawa, at 911 Carling Avenue on the corner of Sherwood Drive — a beige two-storey house near Dow's Lake. Free parking sits behind the building, reached through the laneway on its right, with free two-hour street parking on Breezehill Avenue South and Loretta Avenue.
Its people are Ukrainians who came to Ottawa after the full-scale invasion, together with the volunteers, tutors and settlement workers who meet them there. UAFest is held in Riverside Park in Carleton Place, Lanark County, Ontario, and Cafe Ukraine came out to the 2024 festival as one of its vendors.
UAFest participation
Their story and UAFest
22
2022
24 June — the cafe opens on Carling Avenue, three months after the full-scale invasion
23
2023
November — a reporter finds chess, instruments, board games and Ukrainian food filling the house
24
2024
Exhibits at UAFest in Carleton Place
24
2024
September — takes in the free English classes and settlement services after Maidan Market closes on 31 August
25
2025
February — the English program at the cafe counts 94 students, 41 classes a week and 22 volunteer tutors
Cafe Ukraine Ottawa
Questions & answers
When is Cafe Ukraine open?
The schedule in their own Instagram bio is the first and third Tuesday of every month, 18:00 to 21:00, and the cafe has posted that it closes for the month of August. The days have changed over the years — in 2022 the cafe was open Tuesdays and Fridays from 6 to 9 p.m. and Saturdays from 2 to 9 p.m. — so check their Instagram or Facebook before you set out.
Where is it, and where do I park?
911 Carling Avenue in Ottawa, on the corner of Sherwood Drive — a beige two-storey house near Dow's Lake. The English program's directions page lists free parking behind the building through the laneway on its right, plus free two-hour street parking on Breezehill Avenue South and Loretta Avenue. Some listings, including the map link on that same page, give the number as 913 Carling Ave, so watch for both.
Who is the cafe for, and what happens there?
It was set up for people who arrived from Ukraine after the invasion, so they could meet one another and find their footing in Ottawa. A visitor finds chess, musical instruments, board and card games, traditional Ukrainian food and drink, and people to talk to in both Ukrainian and English.
Are there English classes at the cafe?
Yes. The English Conversation Program of the English Language Network for Ukrainians is co-located at the cafe, free of charge, with volunteer tutors; its published drop-in times are Wednesdays 11:00-14:00 and 18:00-20:00, Thursdays 9:30-14:00 and 18:00-20:00. In February 2025 it had 94 active students, 41 classes a week and 22 tutors. Sign-up goes through the program's own application form.
Does it cost anything, and how is it paid for?
The English classes are free and volunteer-run. The Ukrainian Community Centre donated the space, and the running money comes from private donors, events and fundraisers. The cafe publishes nothing current about a menu or prices, so ask when you get there.
Part of the UAFest Family
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