Established in 1976, the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) is a global leader in the field of Ukrainian Studies. In support of the University of Alberta and Faculty of Arts mission and values, the Institute is dedicated to the production, preservation, and dissemination of expert knowledge about Ukraine and Ukrainians in Canada and worldwide.

The Alberta Council for the Ukrainian Arts (ACUA) was founded as a volunteer council in 1986. The purpose of the ACUA was to interest ethnic Ukrainian visual and performing artists in their heritage in order that their work stimulate growth of Ukrainian culture in Alberta. ACUA emerged from the planning for Festival '88, the largest celebration of Ukrainian arts in North America to that time. Festival '88 was held in Edmonton and Vegreville in June and July of 1988 to mark the millennium of Christianity in Ukraine and featured 2,800 dancers, music, and other cultural displays.

ACUA is a non-profit organization incorporated under the Societies Act of Alberta with the specific mandate to facilitate and encourage greater appreciation and awareness of the Ukrainian arts and their cultural significance to the greater Alberta community. This mandate is accomplished through the publication of the biannual Ukrainian arts and culture magazine, ACUA Vitae; the provision of annual scholarships through the Ukrainian Resource and Development Centre and Grant MacEwan University and through the Friends of the Ukrainian Folklore Centre at the University of Alberta; publication of an artists' directory; annual artist shows in Edmonton, Calgary, and Jasper; and ongoing arts workshops.

ACUA is governed by a Board of Directors that consists of a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, past president, and several directors-at-large. The office is located in Edmonton.