Over 100 Ukrainians settle in Red Deer area but organizations question federal government

Father Jim says the committee is made up of numerous churches in Red Deer, including St. Nicholas Ukrainian Orthodox Church, some catholic schools, organizations like CARE for Newcomers and Catholic Social Services, and the Central Alberta Ukrainian Association Facebook group, among others.

Meeting on a monthly basis, the committee already has a game plan. With 30 members present at their most recent meeting on Friday, subcommittees have been created for finance, donations, employment, family support, transport and communications, with roughly four people in each department. He claims that visitors from Calgary came to the meeting to learn from the committee’s organization system.

Father Jim says the committee has already had an outpouring of donations in mattresses and other furniture, books, kitchen supplies, and monetary donations resulting in each individual receiving a $200 gift card for purchasing essentials. Having enough clothing donations, he says the next goal is to collect children’s bikes for the summer.

While many of the registered Ukrainians have family here in Red Deer, he says that around eight local families have opened their homes to those with nowhere to stay.

He also stated his church’s Ladies League is organizing a weekly get-together for the women and children to meet other newcomers as many of their husbands were required to remain in Ukraine by law.

Expecting to reach 125 displaced Ukrainians registered with the committee by mid-May, Father Jim acknowledges that this number is likely far less than the amount of Ukrainian nationals coming to central Alberta.

The provincial government confirmed in a statement that while they also don’t have an exact number of arrivals, the current estimate is 800 Ukrainians.

One reason for the unknown numbers in immigration is the fact that Ukrainians are coming as temporary residents under the federal “Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET)” program instead of as refugees.

Aidan Strickland, Press Secretary for the Office of the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) states that the CUAET program was specially made to accelerate and prioritize the temporary residency pathways by streamlining current visa and travel requirements and eliminating most application and processing fees. The program allows Ukrainians to stay in Canada for up to three years before having to reapply.

“This is not a refugee program, as Ukrainians have indicated that they need temporary safe harbour, and many of them intend to return to their home country when it will be safe to do so. Where these individuals choose to settle is up to them,” she said in a statement. “Therefore, IRCC does not specifically track the number of Ukrainians moving to a province or territory once they have arrived in Canada.”

In Red Deer, Sharon Yeo, Director for Catholic Social Services (CSS), says since the war began in February, they have served 42 newcomers from Ukraine, however, most did not come through the CUAET program and have either already been living in the city or have some prior community connection.

Yeo says that since refugees come as permanent residents, the CSS is funded by the government to provide them with temporary accommodation at a specific site for two weeks before helping them find permanent housing. Federal income support is also available to eligible refugees that cannot pay for basic needs.

Regarding services, government -assisted refugees receive supports like orientation to the community, setting up a bank account, and language training.

The federal government extended some of these settlement services until 2023 for Ukrainian nationals under CUAET. Yeo says CSS already has the services in place for temporary workers. Ukrainians are eligible for covered English classes at Care for Newcomers in Red Deer. As temporary residents, they can also apply for open work permits.

“In our settlement program, we are able to connect folks with an understanding and orientation to their community, whether that’s again securing housing, understanding the healthcare system, registering their children in school, connecting them with understanding what public transportation looks like, connecting them with English language classes,” she said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced April 9 that added measures would include:

Targeted charter flights to Canada for Ukrainians;
Short-term income support to ensure basic needs are met; and
Temporary hotel accommodation for up to two weeks.

However, Yeo says that while the news is welcome, no information has been shared with organizations regarding these measures, making it challenging to be proactive on filling the gaps in helping Ukrainian families.

“We are still waiting for information from the government about how those will be rolled out, when and how someone would apply to receive those supports, how they would access the ability to stay in that temporary accommodation for two weeks,” she said.

Father Jim echoed this sentiment. He says Iness Kojlo, owner of Viva-Deli European Deli & Bistro, and pioneer for Ukrainian efforts in Red Deer, has raised donations over $32,000 spent on plane tickets to bring Ukrainians over.

“The federal government has made a lot of promises but they haven’t followed through yet,” he said. “I just think Canada should step up to the plate.”

Strickland confirmed in a statement that details on accessing the latest programs are yet to come.

According to the federal government website, 180,903 CUAET applications have been received as of May 3. 71,057 have been approved.

For more information, email Father Jim at nakone@hotmail.com. E-transfers for donations with tax receipts can be made to ukr.dis.families@gmail.com.

Red Deer’s Ukrainian Displaced Person Planning Committee (Facebook)

by Alessia Proietti

Over 100 Ukrainians settle in Red Deer area but organizations question federal government

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