Expired Ukrainian passports? Not anymore: the embassy is heading to St. John's
Ukrainians in the province can access mobile consular services at the end of March
Ukrainians in Newfoundland and Labrador will soon have a way to get vital paperwork without travelling out of province — the country is sending consular services to St. John's at the end of March.
With the nearest Ukrainian consulate office in Ottawa, Valentyna Korzhak — who has lived in St. John's since 2023 – worried she wouldn't be able to obtain essential documents like a new passport, visa or birth certificates.
That was a problem for the mother of young children, along with others who cannot afford to leave the province.
"Expired documents make life even harder," Korzhak said in an interview with CBC News. "They [limit] travel, complicate legal status ... and it restricts access to essential services."
Korzhak said all the Ukrainian community wanted was for someone from the consulate to come to Newfoundland and Labrador, so that people with expired passports or other paperwork can get back on track.
Without mobile services, Korzhak said it would cost her about $2,000 to go to the Ontario consulate, stay in a hotel and come back — and she would also have to take time off work.
Due to a backlog of applications amid Russia's war on Ukraine, it might be months before people can even access the services they apply for in Ontario, said the western Ukraine native.
Korzhak has no plans of leaving Canada, which is why access to legal documents is so important to her.
"I see a future for my children here," she said. "I like to be here."
Setting up shop
In order for the Embassy of Ukraine to provide services in Newfoundland and Labrador, it needs a secure location to work with sensitive documents, said Bruce Lilly of the Avalon branch of the Ukrainian Federation of Canada.
"They've got to do some planning, do some logistics and align it with the other priorities and then come," said Lilly.
The website for the Embassy of Ukraine in Canada says consular services will be available in St. John's March 30-31. Applications are being accepted until 1 p.m. NT on March 24.
The exact location of the pop-up is yet to be determined, but Leo Etchegary, director of language services at the Association for New Canadians, said the embassy has previously been hosted at a hotel, but they haven't been here for some time.
"We're quite willing to host people to come here and help … because the time it takes to travel, of course, and the money it takes for that," said Etchegary. "So we're of course always willing to help our training clients by hosting embassy staff."
Etchegary said the ANC can help people navigate the services they need.
"Regardless of where it is, we will certainly do the same this time, hopefully," he said.
Ukrainians on temporary status in Canada have had access to federally-funded settlement services such as language training, employment counselling and help with enrolling children in school since 2022.
That federal funding is ending on March 31, but a statement from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said, "many Ukrainians may be able to access similar programs and services through non-IRCC funded settlement service providers, community groups, including Ukrainian Canadian organizations, provincial, territorial and local governments in the city or town in which they live."
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With files from Heather Gillis