Svitlana Rospotniuk, 37, and her family were sleeping at their home in Zhytomyr, Ukraine on February 14 when they woke up to the sound of explosions. Svitlana, her husband, daughter, 11, and son, 4, left for Svitlana’s mother’s house in a town nearby. They stayed there a week but then realized it was not safe either. Every night they would to bed fully dressed so they would be ready to run to the basement if there were air sirens at night.

“If you are dressed, you are ready to rush and to run to the basement,” says Svitlana. “Especially the youngest one, he doesn't understand why he should sleep being dressed. He wants pajamas on, not pants, socks, jacket, and warm trousers. But I was afraid that if I need to get him dressed, I wouldn't have time to go to the basement.”

One night, they didn’t have enough time to make it to the basement. That night, on March 1, a house in Zhytomyr was struck and a young family was killed. “It was my last drop of my patience when I said: ‘I can't stand this anymore,’” says Svitlana.

The next day, her husband took her and their children to the western region of Ukraine. They stayed one night at a hotel and the next day, her husband took them to cross the border to Poland. Svitlana’s husband stayed in Ukraine as per the Ukrainian government ban on men aged 18 to 60 years old leaving the country due to martial law.

At the refugee centre in Poland, Svitlana and her children met Agnieszka, a volunteer who offered to drive them the 600 km distance to Warsaw where they had booked a hotel. They continued to stay in hotels in Poland until they travelled to Canada on May 1. Svitlana realized there were too many refugees in Poland already to stay there too long.

“Why am I in Canada? Because it is the one country in the world where we have some relatives,” she says. They have been living at her husband’s godmother’s house since then. 

On February 23, a day before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, Svitlana’s husband’s godmother had invited them to come stay with her home in Vaughan, Ontario. At that time, the offer seemed strange.

‘Legally Ukrainian newcomers are not refugees’

Like many Ukrainians, Svitlana resettled through the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel (CUAET), which allows Ukrainians and their family members to have temporary resident status in Canada for up to three years, and be able to work, study, and have access to public healthcare.

“One of the challenges is the legal status of Ukrainian refugees in Canada is they are not actually refugees,” says Olesia Shablia, the Ukrainian Project Coordinator at Jewish Immigrant Aid Services (JIAS). The CUAET visa allows Ukrainians to come to Canada faster than the federal refugee program, but it does not provide the same financial supports.

“Legally Ukrainian newcomers are not refugees, but their needs they are the same as legal refugees. If people have refugee status, settlement workers use that to help people. The tools [resettlement services] have to help Ukrainian newcomers are limited,” says Shablia. The main needs are housing and employment, she says.

Svitlana is fortunate to have relatives she can stay with, but many Ukrainians need to rely on housing support from hosts to begin resettling in Canada. Many have lost their homes, their jobs, and lived in Europe in for months depleting their financial resources.

Canada is 3.3 times more expensive than Ukraine

Once they resettled in Canada, Svitlana had to leave her job as an English teacher. “I couldn't conduct the lessons. It’s 1 a.m. in Canada, and it’s 8 am in Ukraine. It was two weeks that I was trying to work but I needed to quit,” she says. She also realized her salary was not going to go very far with the cost of living in Canada.

Canada is 3.3 times more expensive than Ukraine, according to data from public domain sources.

Svitlana has been offering English classes online to Ukrainians who have resettled in Canada. But so far, she is finding many Ukrainians resettling want in-person classes. This is more difficult to provide without a car and the long travel times on transit. Her son turned 4 years old in April, which means he cannot enter Junior Kindergarten yet and childcare costs are high.

Child care for preschoolers in Toronto is about $1,250 a month, with suburbs in the GTA not falling far behind, according to study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Childcare costs for infants rise to $1,774 a month.

Government charter flights and hotel accommodation have helped less than 2% of Ukrainians

Over 362,000 CUAET applications have been received so far and over 151,000 applicated approved, according to Government of Canada data from March 17 and July 5. There is no limit on the number of Ukrainians who can enter Canada through the program.

The federal government has announced other financial supports, including charter flights to Canada, temporary hotel accommodation for up to two weeks, six weeks of income support if required, and a one-time payment of $3,000 for every adult and $1,500 for every child 17 years and under.

Three charter flights have brought a total of 953 Ukrainians and their family members to Canada, which is less than two per cent of people who have arrived so far, based on Government of Canada data. There are no more charter flights scheduled at this time.  

Ukrainians who have arrived on the three government charter flights have been able to receive hotel accommodation if needed, but this is yet to be expanded beyond the Ukrainians who arrived via charter flights.

The federal income support became available on June 2. Provinces vary from the additional supports they provide. In Ontario, Ukrainians may qualify for Ontario Works.

‘Canada needs [Ukrainians] more than they need Canada’

Catalin, who is currently hosting two families, says the government supports are a great way to get Ukrainians started in Canada but it’s a not a long-term solution: “[The federal and provincial governments are] setting them up for failure and poverty in my opinion.” 

“Canada needs [Ukrainians] more than they need Canada,” says Catalin. 

There are currently over 1 million jobs available in Canada, according to Stats Canada data from June 24, with record high job vacancies in Alberta and Ontario. The federal government’s move to bring Ukrainians to Canada, with few financial supports, is ultimately a self-serving move to fill job vacancies. 

CUAET has helped many Ukrainians come to Canada relatively quickly, but there are limited resources to help the over 58,000 Ukrainians who have entered the country so far to resettle. 

“From legal perspective, Ukrainians come [to Canada] on work permit,” says Shabila.

Over 12 Million Ukrainians have been displaced 

In Poland, Svitlana was able to continue her work as an English teacher through online classes for her students grades one through 11. “When you talk to the younger students, they just say: ‘I'm in Germany. I'm in France. I’m in Poland. I’m in Czech Republic.’ They don't understand what they are doing and why they are there,” she says. 

Over 5.8 million Ukrainians are displaced in countries across Europe and around 7 million people are displaced within Ukraine. Another 13 million people in Ukraine are estimated “to be stranded in affected areas or unable to leave due to heightened security risks, destruction of bridges and roads, as well as lack of resources or information on where to find safety and accommodation,” according to a report by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. Ukraine’s total population was 43 million in 2020, according to UN data. 

At the end of 2021, the number of displaced people around the globe was 90 million. By May 2022, the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine has brought that number up to 100 million displaced people globally, according to UNHCR.

‘My 11th grade graduates are unluckiest I think because they survived COVID and now the war’ 

On March 4, the school where Svitlana worked was destroyed by a Russian rocket. “It is a miracle that in my school nobody died. Only a few people got injured. Just ten minutes before the bomb hit the school, there were more than 30 teachers who were collecting help for the military in this building.” 

“This is a school of 1200 children. What if we had decided to continue studying?,” she asks. “It was not just damaged. It was totally destroyed,” she says. The homes nearby were also damaged. The maternity hospital where Svitlana’s gave birth to her children was also struck by shelling. The strike broke all the windows of the hospital, while luckily mothers and children took cover in the basement. 

During their online classes, one of the 11th grade students would try to joke: “If we keep alive, then we will meet you [for the next class].” But everyone understands it is not really a joke, say Svitlana. 

“My 11th grade graduates are unluckiest I think because they survived COVID and now the war,” says Svitlana. Most of her 11th grade students stayed in Zhytomyr. “They have changed. They have become adults. On February 23rd, they were children.” 

Many of Svitlana’s relatives have joined the war effort. Her uncle, Roman, who was fighting in the Ukrainian army has been missing for over a month now. 

At 50 years old he’s not required to join the military, but he joined in support his son who is also fighting. He went on a mission in early June and never came back. The family has not been able to get any information on what happened. They can only presume he has been taken as a prisoner of war by Russian forces. 

“Being away from family is the hardest part,” says Svitlana. Most of her family is still in Ukraine, including her husband, mother, and siblings.

More Hosts are needed to help Ukrainians as they resettle 

Each province has a designated community organization responsible for housing assistance for Ukrainians. In Ontario, COSTI Immigrant Services is main body handling these requests. There are also other formal and informal networks helping to match Ukrainians and hosts. One of those is the Facebook community Canada - Host Ukrainians, which began as a Facebook community quickly transitioned into also becoming a non-profit organization, 4Ukraine.ca. 

Due to the volume of requests, many Ukrainian refugees are struggling to secure housing, especially in cities like Toronto and Vancouver which were already experiencing high costs and low vacancy rates. There’s a high demand for hosts even in mid-sized Ontarian cities, like London, Ontario. 

Cities have access to better public transit and often have more job opportunities, but also bear the weight of less housing affordability. While Toronto rents have always been high, rents are currently up almost 20% from where they were a year ago, according to the National Rent Report.

‘Critical and urgent need is for short term, temporary and emergency accommodation’ 

“The Red Cross is only able to provide a few nights of respite in a hotel for sick Ukrainians but that is based on availability. If no hotels are available Ukrainians are then sent to homeless shelters that turn them away because they are also at capacity,” says Peter Schturyn, the President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Toronto Branch. 

“Can you offer temporary shelter for a day, a week or even two as these displaced Ukrainians adapt to a new life in what for them is a foreign country? Our community organizations can assist with other resettlement services, but the critical and urgent need is for short term, temporary and emergency accommodation,” asks Schturyn in a community call to action dated June 13. 

Even Ukrainians coming to Canada who have money to rent an apartment still face difficulties finding housing. “To rent something [in Canada]. You need to have credit history which people do not have when come here,” says Shabila. Most apartments complexes in Canada require a credit history check. But credit histories are based within a country, so most Ukrainians do not have Canadian credit history. 

Some apartment properties developers in Canada have lifted credit history restrictions for Ukrainians, and some even provide some months of free rent, depending on the location. The property developers offering support for Ukrainian newcomers include: CAPREIT, CLV Group, Hazelview Properties, Homestead, Skyline Living, and Starlight. Alternatively, private landlords usually do not require a credit check. 

‘Sandy is like my mom right now. We’re going everywhere together’ 

Free accommodation from private citizens is a necessity for many Ukrainians to have time to look for employment and/or improve English language skills. Hosts help newcomers with things like getting a SIM card, OHIP card, bank account, enroll in school or English classes. 

Natalia Zaichenko, 33, was woken up by her mother on March 15. It was the early morning hours when she looked out her bedroom window to see explosions and fire in the city of Mykolaiv, Ukraine where she lived with her family. 

Her mom told her she needed to leave Ukraine. She said “I’ve lived my life and seen a lot of things. But you’re still young and have a life to live,” says Natalia as interpreted by Alesia, the teenage daughter of Nina, a Ukrainian-Canadian who has been volunteering to help Ukrainians, via Zoom call. 

That morning, Natalia packed her things and left for Poland, leaving behind her mother, father, younger sister, and two brothers, who are currently fighting for the Ukrainian army, who she had lived with in Ukraine. 

When Natalia arrived in Poland, she realized she could not stay there very long as there were so many other refugees. It was hard to find a place to stay or a job. She stayed in a hostel for some time and applied for the CUAET visa on March 22 when it was announced by the Canadian federal government. 

Natalia was able to get approval for her CUAET quickly and start her over 30-hour journey to Canada. 

Flights were expensive from Warsaw to Canada, so to save costs she took a bus to Paris to fly to Montreal, then Toronto. It was an exhausting journey. She didn’t sleep over nearly 30 hours, as she was travelling alone with one bag and she was worried that someone might steal all her belongings. Finally, she travelled to Guelph where she is now staying with her host Sandy. 

Sandy doesn’t speak Ukrainian and Natalia knows a little English, so Nina interpreted their initial online meeting. Since living together, they have been communicating in English, which has helped Natalia to continue to improve her English skills. Sandy lives alone and has two grown adult sons who live in the Guelph area. 

“Sandy is like my mom right now. We’re going everywhere together. She’s always go, go, go. I’m very thankful to for her,” says Natalia. They’ve attended to Ukrainian-Canadian events together and Natalia’s visited to the local Ukrainian church where she plans to begin volunteering. 

By Sandy hosting Natalia for the coming months, Natalia can improve her English skills so she’s able to find employment and an apartment for herself. 

Before the war, Natalia worked a successful career in the legal field. 

“Now I’m starting a new life from a blank sheet of paper,” she says. She’s currently attending ESL classes to improve her language skills. 

Natalia says she’s unsure if she will be able to Ukraine after the war. “When the war ends, it will still take years to rebuild Ukraine and the economy will suffer,” she says. By then, she will have rebuilt a new life and career in Canada and cannot see how she could leave and start all over again. Now that Natalia is getting settled in Canada, her family is discussing sending her 17-year-old sister to join her. 

“I really miss my family. I don’t know when I’m going to be able to see them or hug them again,” says Natalia with teary eyes. “The best news I get every day is that everyone woke up alive today.”