[3] He received his episcopal consecration on the following June 10 from Archbishop Alexander Christie, with Bishops Alphonse Glorieux and Edward O'Dea serving as co-consecrators, at St. Andrew's Cathedral.

[5] In June 1903, in one of the final acts of Pope Leo XIII before his death in July, the diocese was elevated to the rank of a metropolitan archdiocese and Orth became its first archbishop.

[3] At the beginning of Orth's tenure in 1900, the Diocese of Vancouver Island contained 14 priests, 26 churches including 11 parishes and 15 missions, seven parochial schools with 400 students, and a Catholic population of 9,000.

[6] By the end of his tenure in 1908, the Archdiocese of Victoria contained 20 priests, 30 churches including 15 parishes and 15 missions, nine parochial schools with 450 students, and a Catholic population of 15,000.

[7] Orth built a new episcopal residence, founded the diocesan newspaper The Orphans' Friend, added stained glass windows and a new organ to St. Andrew's Cathedral, and introduced the Company of Mary and Benedictines to the diocese.

[3] His resignation was publicly attributed to "reasons of health" and he retired to Italy, where he would spend the rest of his life while also serving as a chaplain to a congregation of nuns.