Manitoba groups prepare for Ukrainians arriving before emergency visa deadline

Kitchen glasses. Pots and pans there are boxes of donations as far as the eye can see, everything. Families who fled the war in Ukraine might need to start over. Just on Thursday we had 300 boxes of household items, hygiene products and and baby products and groceries donated. Since March 2022, The Ukrainian Canadian Congress has been helping them navigate their first few weeks and months in a new country. We have a job bank where we have approximately 250 employers. And we have matched over 400 people with jobs, but it’s unclear how many more are still to come. The Canada Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel program offers an expedited process for Ukrainians to live and work in Canada for up to three years, but the final deadline to arrive in the country is Sunday. You know, our anticipation is that we will see it may be a slight increase over the next few weeks of of newcomer families who are coming to our agency specifically for for services for children and youth. According to the federal government, more than 960,000 Ukrainians were approved to come to Canada through the program. By early March, almost 250,000 had arrived. The province says it supported more than 26,000 Ukrainians coming to Manitoba, with more than 2500 arriving this month alone. We’ve seen essentially a doubling of our overall client count over the last few years. Needs Inc offers programming for newcomers to integrate into life in Canada, it says. Manitoba’s vibrant Ukrainian community has been attractive to those fleeing war, finding some comfort of home. The fact that there’s an existing community here is has been a tremendous support. Linguistically, culturally, there have been sort of material supports that have been made immediately available through through donations through the community. The groups both say there needs to be continued support for Ukrainians who’ve arrived to ensure they’re given the chance to not just survive in Manitoba, but thrive. Brittany Greenslade, CBC News Winnipeg.