16,000 Ukrainians Have Arrived In Canada Since January
HALIFAX–More than 16,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Canada since January. Another 54,000 have been approved to travel to Canada over the last three weeks.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Sean Fraser said a survey is being conducted on those who were recently granted approval.
Fraser said they are being asked if they plan to come to Canada, where they are leaving from, and what their destination might be.
“A majority of the people who have been approved have plans to come to Canada in the next three months or so. Logistics for individual travellers will vary on a case-by-case basis,” Fraser said during an announcement in New Brunswick last week.
Between March 17 and April 12, almost 141,000 applications were received for the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel program. Of those applications, 54,000 have been approved.
“I would point out as well that these 54,000 are all under a program that, although we launched on March 17th, there is a two-week processing time for this particular program. So the earliest approvals for this program were coming in at the very end of March or the very beginning of this month,” Fraser said.
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Meanwhile, provincial governments are enhancing their support for new arrivals from Ukraine.
The Government of Nova Scotia announced last week it is easing requirements for immigration and settlement programs for Ukrainian nationals.
The province says it is processing applications “urgently” and ensuring things like language tests, recruitment requirements, and settlement funds are not barriers to applications under the Skilled Worker or Occupations in Demand streams of the Nova Scotia Nominee Program.
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The province is also working with the YMCA to help provide information to Ukrainians who want to connect with employers and community.
The YMCA, with its reach of settlement and language services across the province, will help answer questions, assess the needs of Ukrainian newcomers, and help connect them to information, in collaboration with Immigration Services of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia branch of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.
Before the latest influx of arrivals from Ukraine, there were more than 9,000 people with Ukrainian heritage living in Nova Scotia.
Tamara Steele is a reporter with CHSJ/Country 94, Huddle content partners.