On September 6, 2008, Father Marcos Marcos, Protopriest of St. Mark's Orthodox Church in Toronto and Silvio Baldassarra, Senior Vice President of NORR Limited officially marked the ground breaking of St. Mark's Coptic Cathedral Project in Markham. With a seating capacity of 1,800 people, St. Mark's Cathedral is the first Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in North America. The celebration also marked the 30th Anniversary of the first Coptic Orthodox Church in North America. The Cathedral is Phase 1 of a 12.1 acre development located on an entire city block which will include a Community Centre, Daycare, Private School, Museum, Seniors Apartments, Retirement/Assisted Living Accommodation, Long Term Care Accommodation, Office Building, Papal/Bishop Residence and a second church. The master plan for the project was originally prepared by Cairo, Egypt based, Morad Ragheb Bebawy & Meleka Farah Meleka Architects. After the ground breaking for the Cathedral, there was a celebration with the Honourable Mayor Scarpitti of Markham and Jim Karygiannis, Member of Federal Government for Scarborough in the nave of St. Mark's Coptic Church. Both Father Marcos Marcos and Silvio Baldassarra recalled working together and both look forward to standing in the new Cathedral when completed in 2010.

Mr. Baldassarra says, "Having worked on the first Coptic Orthodox Church in North America was a great opportunity, to repeat it 30 years later with the first Coptic Orthodox Cathedral is an exceptional experience that will be remembered by everyone who is part of the project."