After emigrating, Mr Savaryn enrolled in the University of Alberta and became a lawyer. He served as chancellor of the university from 1982 to 1986.

He was also president of the Ukrainian World Congress in Canada from 1983 to 1988, and was once the vice-president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.

Mr Savaryn was a founding member of the Alberta Cultural Heritage Council, and was awarded the Order of Canada for promoting multiculturalism.

He died in 2017 at the age of 90.

Mr Savaryn's background as a soldier with the Waffen SS first emerged in a 2012 journal article. It then resurfaced this week in a report by Jewish publication Forward.

Governor General Simon - the representative of King Charles III in Canada - told Forward she felt "deep regret" over the situation.