Canada expands settlement support for Ukrainians
Image credit: Sokha Michael on Unsplash
Canada remains steadfast in its commitment to welcome Ukrainians and to provide a safe haven while the war continues in their home country. But their journey does not end when they enter Canada, and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is working to provide additional supports for Ukrainians once they arrive.
Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced that Canada is offering temporary federal support to help Ukrainians settle in their new communities. Settlement Program services, which are typically only available to permanent residents, will be extended until March 31, 2023, for temporary residents in Canada eligible under the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel (CUAET). This is an extraordinary temporary measure aimed at supporting Ukrainians arriving under this special, accelerated temporary residence pathway. Key services that will be available to Ukrainians as they settle into their new communities include
• Language training.
• Information about and orientation to life in Canada, such as help with enrolling children in school.
• Information and services to help access the labour market, including mentoring, networking, counselling, skills development and training.
• Activities that promote connections with communities.
• Assessments of other needs Ukrainians may have and referrals to appropriate agencies.
• Services targeted to the needs of women, seniors, youth and LGBTQ2+ persons.
• Other settlement supports available through the settlement program.
Settlement services are delivered through more than 550 agencies across Canada. Provinces and territories are mobilizing to support Ukrainians arriving in Canada. They play a key role in helping temporary residents through settlement and social services.
The Canadian Red Cross is providing arrival services at the Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver international airports. This support includes providing translation services as well as information in their language of choice to help connect Ukrainians with government and community services.
The Ukraine Cross-Sectoral Collaboration Governance Table brings together settlement sector leadership, provincial and territorial representatives, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, the Canadian Red Cross, federal partners and other stakeholders to facilitate communication and collaboration and help to triage logistics for cash donations and volunteers.
IRCC is exempting certain individuals who are low-risk from providing biometrics on a case-by-case basis at the decision maker’s discretion. Biometrics are currently a requirement before arrival in Canada for the majority of Ukrainian nationals, but the easing of biometrics requirements will ensure Ukrainian nationals arrive in Canada as quickly and as safely as possible.
Service Canada is working with service delivery partners to provide Ukrainian newcomers with information about government of Canada programs and services, in particular the social insurance number (SIN).
To help connect Ukrainian newcomers with available jobs, the government also launched Job Bank’s Jobs for Ukraine webpage, including a fact sheet in Ukrainian, on March 17, 2022. Since its launch, the site has been viewed close to 96,000 times.
A few quick facts:
• Between March 17 and April 26, 2022, IRCC received over 180,000 CUAET applications and approved over 71,000 applications. Key figures are updated on a weekly basis.
• The Canadian Red Cross will have experienced clinician and mental health specialists on-site to help refer those needing medical attention or who may be struggling to cope with the impacts on their mental health to appropriate service providers.
• Information will be provided to people arriving at major destination hubs across the country including Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver.
This includes a list of crisis lines and mental health centres; tips on how to settle in their community, including instructions on how to get a social insurance number, health card, and driver’s licence, as well as how to register for job opportunities through Job Bank.
Contact information for settlement agencies and information on available settlement services, including provincial services and supports for temporary foreign workers.
Those wishing to immigrate to Canada permanently can apply for permanent residence under a variety of different immigration programs and streams. IRCC is also developing a special permanent residence stream for family reunification.
IRCC established a dedicated service channel for Ukraine immigration enquiries available for clients both in Canada and abroad at 613-321-4243, with collect calls accepted. Clients can add the keyword “Ukraine2022” to the IRCC crisis web form with their enquiry and it will be prioritized.