Natalia Nykonenko sits in a classroom at a Toronto school where she teaches English, on May 14. Ms. Nykonenko and her two sons are from Dnipro, Ukraine, a city that is often under attack by Russian missiles and drones. She said having permanent resident status in Canada would make it easier for her sons to receive a higher education.Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
Ukrainians living in Canada who fled from war are urging the federal government to create a streamlined pathway to permanent residency, saying that they do not qualify for many of the existing programs.
Those programs include ones tied to jobs and education, humanitarian considerations and the presence of family in Canada – but all have caveats that make it a difficult fit for many.
In March, 2022, Canada put into place the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel program (CUAET), which allowed Ukrainians to temporarily come to Canada. Over the course of two years, 286,000 people arrived through the program, but it officially ended on March 31, leaving Ukrainians who fled the war, and whose homes have been destroyed, with no way of staying.
Yevgeniia Yaremchuk, 52, an artist from Zaporizhzhia, has no relatives in Canada, and while she’s studying English, her scores are not high enough yet to qualify for economic immigration programs. And yet, she wants to stay because she feels safe in Canada.
“I still remember the noise of airplanes overhead, explosions and the constant sound of sirens. It’s scary,” she said. “The Russians are constantly trying to bomb the Dnipro hydroelectric power plant, which is located in Zaporizhzhia. They have real nuclear weapons in their hands.”
To apply for some of the economic immigration programs (each having different requirements), an applicant must have some fluency in English or French; some require that the applicant be under 30 years old, while others require that one has at least a master’s degree at a Canadian institution, or at least one year of work experience in their field.
Randall Baran-Chong, the executive director of Pathfinders for Ukraine – a non-profit that advocates for those who fled – thinks “it’s unfair to make Ukrainians who are actually refugees compete in PR economic pathways designed for young, highly skilled workers.” He points out that 68 per cent of CUAET holders are over 30 years old and not working in their specialty, so their chances of applying to economic PR programs are dramatically reduced.
At the end of last October, Canada launched a permanent residence program for Ukrainians who have immediate family here – parents, children, siblings, half-siblings, grandparents, spouses and common-law partners – who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents. Through this program, those who fled war can receive permanent resident status, but according to a Pathfinders for Ukraine survey, only 7 per cent of Ukrainian newcomers would qualify.
“If the government expanded the list of relatives, for example adding aunts and uncles, it would give more Ukrainians permanent residence status,” says Mr. Semotiuk, a licensed immigration lawyer.
Pathfinders for Ukraine saw its petition to establish a separate program to facilitate permanent resident status in Canada for Ukrainians fleeing war tabled in the House of Commons in February, to which Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada responded by recommending the family reunification and economic programs.
Natalia Nykonenko was upset by the government’s response. She and her two teenage sons, 15 and 19, came to Toronto in July 2022. They are from Dnipro, a city that is often under attack by Russian missiles and drones.
“I wanted to protect the children from the war, so we left with only the most necessary things and documents,” she said. In Ukraine, Ms. Nykonenko received a PhD in teaching English as a second language. In Toronto, she graduated from a college program in her field, but she doesn’t have a master’s degree from here.
When it comes to her children’s future education, she was dismayed to learn that they would have to pay the same fees as international students when applying to college or university, which is five times more expensive than it is for Canadians.
“I do not have that much money,” she said. All the income she earns covers the rent. The permanent resident status, she adds, would help her sons get higher education. “So that we don’t have to constantly think about how long my work permit will be valid and how long we can study.”
Ukrainians who fled war can receive permanent resident status for humanitarian and compassionate considerations if they can show that they are making efforts to work and set down roots in Canada. Mr. Semotiuk thinks this is appropriate for many Ukrainians, who are working, whose children go to school here, who don’t ask for welfare and who volunteer in their communities.
But those opportunities are limited, and are open to people from anywhere in the world, so they’re decided on a case-by-case basis. According to IRCC’s migration plan for 2024, 13,750 applicants will be accepted under this program this year, and only 8,000 next year.
Three years ago, the Ministry of Immigration introduced a special program for people from Hong Kong: permanent resident status is simplified for those who have graduated from a Canadian post-secondary learning institution and worked for one year full-time, or the equivalent of one year part-time. “In our proposal, we said, ‘Why not do the same for Ukrainians?’” said Mr. Baran-Chong.
He believes that Ukrainians are beneficial to Canada and should be supported with permanent resident status so they can get the training they need and make a significant contribution to the country’s economy.
“Ukrainians are already paying taxes, they’re working. Their children are studying in schools and adapting to Canadian culture. We will not stop demanding an easier pathway,” said Mr. Baran-Chong. “We are already considering some alternative options. We are not done fighting.”
Editor’s note: (May 22, 2024): This article has been updated to clarify the application requirements for some economic immigration programs.