With the Russian invasion of Ukraine about to enter its third year on Feb. 24, Canada continues to see Ukrainians coming to Canada and settling in various parts of the country to work or study.
Gimli is expecting to see more Ukrainians arriving in town before a federal government fast-track visa program for entry to Canada ends March 31.
Melanie Specula, vice chair of the Gimli Community Development Corporation (CDC), which has been overseeing the settlement of Ukrainians in the municipality, said the CDC currently has 52 people staying in municipally supplied rental housing (a former military dormitory) and many more living in rental accommodations in the community, and the organization is expecting more arrivals.
“We’ve got about 10 more Ukrainians coming within the next week. And we’ve also been receiving people from other countries such as India and the Philippines,” said Specula, who helps newcomers find jobs, housing and English lessons. “A lot of people who are coming now already have jobs lined up, but some are still looking. But it’s amazing how this keeps on growing in Gimli. It has come together really nicely.”
Specula and another CDC board member oversee the dormitory and have a maintenance person who’s fluent in Ukrainian, she said. They’ve also hired a man from Ukraine whose life in the beleaguered country was upended after a bombing in 2023. He acts as the CDC’s “boots on the ground” at the dormitory, taking care of daily tasks, helping Ukrainians settle in and providing transportation for them and their children to and from various workplaces and schools.
Some of the biggest hurdles faced by community organizations that help Ukrainian newcomers have been finding rental housing and jobs. But Specula said they’ve had success in Gimli.
Businesses throughout the community have stepped up to hire Ukrainians. Specula herself hired a number of Ukrainians at her business, Gimli Chicken Chef, saying she would have been in a real bind finding enough employees, especially after the pandemic.
“Employers in our community have gone above and beyond to help Ukrainians, which is what I hoped they’d would do when we first started this,” said Specula, who is past co-chair of the Gimli Chamber of Commerce. “And this has been so important for businesses that have desperately needed staff.”
One of the local employers that has hired many Ukrainian newcomers is Gimli Sobeys. Co-owner Doriane Johnson said that’s been very positive for the store, with 12 people so far having been trained for various positions in departments such as the bakery, the meat department and produce.
“They’ve all been trained and most are working in full-time permanent positions,” said Johnson. “It has been great for us to have new residents who want to work full-time and want to learn new skills that were different from what they were doing. We do have a couple people who only wanted part-time work, including a student. Overall, this has been great for us and I think it’s been great for them, too.”
Not only is the community working hard to find jobs for the newcomers, but the new residents themselves are working hard to improve their English skills, said Johnson. She has had staff enroll in English language training and Sobeys has sponsored some of that training.
Those who are proficient English speakers have also been helping other Ukrainian staff members at Sobeys – and store trainers – overcome communication challenges.
“We did sponsor them to take English lessons and that’s been beneficial for us because they’re helping the others learn English. They’re also helping us when we’re training. If there’s something that doesn’t translate well, they’re able to understand what we mean and translate that into Ukrainian so that the other person can understand the word and the spirit of what we’re saying,” said Johnson.
Because Gimli has a busy cottage and tourism season in the summer, Johnson said Sobeys typically hires about 30 people every summer. And if there are more newcomers coming to Gimli, there will likely be opportunities for employment.
With the federal government’s Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) program about to expire on March 31 (for entry to Canada), Specula said there may be lots of Ukrainians arriving in the province. Those that come after that date may require assistance that was formerly available under CUAET. With a volunteer base having dropped off over the past few years, newcomers may face some challenges.
“Under the federal CUAET program, they get a work visa, health card and financial support set up for them, and when they come to Gimli, they’re ready to work. When CUAET ends, they’ll have to navigate through the Canadian immigration system like everybody else,” said Specula. “I’ve tried in the past, before the [Russian] war, to get people to come here to work because there just aren’t enough people to work all the jobs in town. I found it’s a slow system with lots of red tape.”
She said she’s worried that without the assistance they had under CUAET, some may struggle with sky-high rental accommodations or have trouble finding jobs in the city.
“Rent is so atrocious in the city that we do have people coming to Gimli. They’re also coming here because they said they’re having trouble finding a job in the city. I don’t know why that is. We do help them find jobs here,” she said. “We’ve got cheaper rent at our dormitory and it’s a safe place. We’ve managed so far to find housing for everybody that needs it, but I am having to turn some housing down because it’s just too expensive for the newcomers. We’re pushing the 200 mark [the number of Ukrainian newcomers that have come to Gimli] if we’re not there already.”
Under the CUAET program, there were a total of 1,189,320 applications received between March 17, 2022, and Jan. 27, 2024, of which 958,190 were approved. Of those approvals, 221,231 people arrived in Canada, according to the federal government’s immigration and citizenship webpage (viewed Feb 10).
Mary Rose Sabater, a spokesperson for the federal department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), said with the end of the CUAET application intake on July 15, 2023, Ukrainians were still able to apply for a regular temporary resident visa to come to Canada.
“Once in Canada, these clients will be eligible to apply, until March 31, 2024, for study permits, open work permits and an extended stay of up to three years, and will benefit from priority application processing. Settlement services are available to all Ukrainian nationals in Canada until March 31, 2025,” said Sabater. “It’s important to note that some of these individuals who are now taking advantage of the protection offered in neighbouring countries may have chosen not to withdraw their pending applications with IRCC given the continued uncertainty of the situation. IRCC can’t process applications until clients have provided all the necessary documentation and biometrics.”
When asked how long it takes to process a temporary visa under normal channels for a Ukrainian applicant, Sabater said it varies depending on “a number of factors.” More complex applications may take longer. But IRCC continues to process applications “as quickly as possible.”
“Visa applications are considered on a case-by-case basis on the specific facts presented by the applicant in each case,” she said. “The decisions are made by highly trained visa officers according to Canadian law. All visitors are carefully screened before coming into Canada. This screening ensures that these persons do not pose a threat to the health, safety or security of Canadians.”
