With Ukrainian citizens on their way, Sask. resettlement organizations say they need more support

With Ukrainians expected to arrive in Canada in the coming weeks, Saskatchewan refugee and resettlement organizations are already preparing. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday during a news conference in Warsaw, Poland, that Canada would be allocating $117 million to expedite immigration applications from Ukrainians displaced by the ongoing Russian invasion.

It remains unclear how many will make their way to Saskatchewan. The federal government said that since Jan. 1, more than 7,400 Ukrainians have arrived in Canada, but it's not known how many will ultimately flee or where they will choose to settle.

"People are already on their way here, some of them arriving this weekend in Regina," Danylo Puderak, executive director at the Ukrainian Canadian Congress of Saskatchewan (UCC), said.

"These Ukrainians are traveling independently through the support of community members, family members and friends that are in Canada already. They arranged their own flights to come here. But there will be large numbers coming in eventually."

Puderak said co-ordination efforts with resettlement organizations are underway so that the newcomers have access to language classes and mental health services.

Though there has been an outpouring of support from the community, Puderak said volunteer groups are still looking for donations of items for the displaced people.

More support needed

The Saskatchewan Party government has also set aside $335,000 in settlement support for Ukrainian families who have fled their country and will work with the UCC to help support them.

Ali Abukar, CEO of Saskatoon Open Door Society, said community organizations need more resources to be better prepared to support the newcomers.

"The present provincial funding is a drop in the bucket. If you're saying that we will welcome an unlimited number of citizens from Ukraine, $335,000 is going to be anything but close to enough," Abukar said.

Ukrainian citizens will be arriving as temporary residents, not as refugees.

"There's a big gap in the funding and resources allocated to temporary residents, so there is going to be a stretch but we're hoping that the government is going to come forward and put some resources in place," Abukar said.

"We're suspecting there's going to be a gap in service in responding to the immediate needs of those coming here."

Saskatchewan has one of the largest Ukrainian populations in Canada, with 13 per cent of residents identifying as having Ukrainian heritage.

Abukar is optimistic that the established Ukrainian Canadian community in the province will ensure a higher success rate for the newcomers. 

"We have been communicating with the federal government and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress of Saskatchewan, preparing for an evolving situation," Belma Podrug, executive director at Global Gathering Place, said in a statement.

"We are proud to say that the Saskatoon community is already stepping up, contacting us to offer their time, money, and even their homes to Ukrainian newcomers."

Refugee status would have guaranteed more protection 

Jamie Liew, associate professor at the faculty of law at University of Ottawa, said while other countries have waived off visa requirements, Canada still maintains identification of biometrics screening before Ukrainians are able to obtain a visa, potentially slowing the process.

"It raises questions about the durability or the permanency of protection. The visa would only give people fleeing from Ukraine two years temporary status within Canada," Liew said.

"We've seen in the migrant worker contexts how temporary status can lead to exploitation, abuse, the lack of rights being respected in certain migrant groups, and so I'm weary personally of the use of temporary status."

Liew said Canada has used refugee settlement as a primary tool to give permanent residence and therefore protection to refugees, but has now shifted toward "a more temporal type" of approach. 

"Undoubtedly, Ukrainians are refugees. They meet the refugee definition under law unequivocally," Liew said.  

"Russia is conducting a genocidal war and trying to annihilate that country. [Ukrainians] objectively and subjectively, given the evidence and occurrences that are happening on the ground in the war in Ukraine, will meet the definition."

Liew said the process to apply for temporary residence could be re-traumatizing and inflict a huge burden on Ukrainians who might want to stay permanently in Canada. 

"Canada is right now concerned with the immediate need to provide haven and safe passage for all. I would hope that Canada also thinks about the longer term repercussions and the chance that many people may want to stay here permanently."