The history of the parish is closely intertwined with the life of the honorary rector, Mitrophor Priest Dmitry Severa. In 1970, Archbishop Vitaly (Ustinov) of Montreal and Canada from the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia ordained the 37-year-old Dmitry Severa as a priest and appointed him the rector of the community in Ottawa. At that time, the community consisted of a few people, services were held once a month, and a mug was used instead of a censer. Father Dmitry arranged a small house for the church, on the second floor of which he lived with his wife Irina and his parents.

Thanks to the enormous efforts of Father Dmitry, the parish grew significantly, services became weekly, spacious premises began to be rented for the church, and by the end of the 1980s, the Holy Protection Church was built. The first service in the new church with golden domes took place in 1988, the year of the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus.

In 1999, the parish council decided to come under the omophorion of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia. A new generation of immigrants, witnessing the revival of the Church in Russia, suffered from the lack of Eucharistic communion with the Russian Orthodox Church. This decision was made 8 years before the reunification of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, leading to dramatic events: Father Dmitry and most of the parishioners left the church, which remained under the administration of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.

Soon, the parish rented a large space, and new people joined. The parish changed locations several times before settling in the premises of the Italian Church of St. Anthony at 412 Booth St.

Since 1999, the parish has been part of the Patriarchal Parishes in Canada. Since 2015, it has been named the Protection of Kazan Parish in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God and the feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos.