Assembly of Western Canadian Bishops

In addition to being part of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishops meet in four regional assemblies: the Atlantic Episcopal Assembly (AEA), the Assemblé des évêques catholiques du Québec (AECQ), the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario (ACBO), and the Assembly of Western Catholic Bishops (AWCB). These regional assemblies enable their members to deal directly with pastoral questions related to the Catholics in their regions.

Formally established in 1974, the Assembly of Western Catholic Bishops gathers the Catholic Bishops of the Latin and Eastern Churches of the four Western Provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba), the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, and Nunavut.

Prior to its official establishment an informal meeting of Bishops of Western Canada attending the episcopal ordination of Archbishop Halpin took place in Winnipeg in November 1973. The following year the first official meeting was held in Quebec City on September 18, 1974. Since then, the Bishops have held meetings twice a year in the spring and fall.
From its conception until 2006, the organization was known as “The Western Catholic Conference – Ouest” (WCCO), however in February the name of the organization was formally changed to the Assembly of Western Canada Bishops.

Today the AWCB serves twenty Archdioceses and Dioceses and four Ukrainian Eparchies across Western Canada.