Almost a quarter of a million Ukrainians are already here after having come under the Canada-Ukraine Authorization For Emergency Travel (CUAET) – and a growing number of them are arriving as the March 31 travel deadline for the program looms.
“We’re seeing definitely more arrivals week over week because people are trying to come, people are coming before the end of it,” Ihor Michalchyshyn, CEO and executive director of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, reportedly told the National Post.
Between March 17, 2022, and Feb. 27 this year, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) received 1,189,320 applications under the CUAET temporary residence program.
But while 960,091 of those applications were approved during that period, only 248,726 Ukrainians, or 25.9 percent of the total, actually made the move to Canada.
That means almost three-quarters of a million Ukrainians, exactly 711,365, are still eligible to come to Canada as temporary residents under CUAET before the end of March.
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In February alone, Canada welcomed 27,495 Ukrainians through CUAET.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, prompting Canada to respond by opening its arms to Ukrainians and putting in place the CUAET pathway in mid-March that year.
The CUAET pathway was meant to allow those fleeing Putin’s war in Ukraine to stay in Canada for up to three years and make them eligible for free open work and study permits.
Ottawa also upped its immigration application processing capacity in Europe after implementing the CUAET pathway and sent mobile biometrics kits to Warsaw, Vienna and Bucharest to take the fingerprints and portrait photos of prospective Ukrainian refugees in a bid to ensure proper security precautions were taken with the surge in applications.
The government then increased its federal settlement programs to include language training, orientation, employment assistance and other supports for Ukrainians as they settled into their new communities.
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In addition to settlement services, Ukrainians fleeing to Canada were also offered transitional financial assistance of $3,000 per adult and $1,500 per child.
“These funds will help Ukrainian nationals and their family members meet their basic needs, such as transportation and longer-term housing, as they arrive in communities across Canada and find a job,” noted IRCC on its website.
“Settlement services will remain available to Ukrainians and their family members after they arrive so that they can fully participate in Canadian communities while they are here. Ukrainians and their family members will also continue to benefit from the one-time transitional financial support, as well as from access to emergency accommodations for up to two weeks if needed after they arrive in Canada.”
Hotline To Help Ukrainians With Legal Services
This year, Ottawa upped its offering of help to Ukrainians by pumping $475,788 into a trilingual hotline to help them access the legal services they need for the coming three years.
The money was for Pro Bono Ontario’s Ukrainian Refugee Legal Relief Initiative to allow displaced Ukrainians access to legal information and advice, including the toll-free hotline that is accessible nationally and abroad.
The hotline provides Ukrainians in Canada with access to Canadian lawyers so they can ask immigration-related questions on such things as sponsorship, refugee claims and work permits or be referred to provincial pro bono organizations or community groups across Canada
“Our government is grateful to be able to count on organizations, such as Pro Bono Ontario, that improve access to justice, a fundamental Canadian value and an integral part of a fair and effective justice system,” said Justice Minister Arif Virani.
“This investment shows how our government continues to stand with Ukraine, and that we will continue to support Ukrainians forced to flee their homes because of Russia’s illegal invasion.”
With CUAET no longer taking applications from overseas, Ukrainians wishing to come to Canada from abroad can still apply for a visa or a work or study permit through the IRCC’s existing temporary resident programs but are now subject to fees and standard requirements.
