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Dozens of Ukrainians fleeing their country and the Russian army are looking for information about moving here from a Manitoba Ukrainian organization.

And, if they do, the provincial government will waive the fees for Ukrainian citizens to apply through the provincial nominee program.

Ostap Skrypnyk, of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress’ Manitoba branch, said as of Tuesday, they a list of 157 Ukrainians who had contacted the organization’s website for information about moving here.

“We will be keeping in touch with them through email,” Skrypnyk said.

“There are people in Europe now who would like to move here, or are thinking about it, so they can put down their names. We can’t promise we can help them, but we wanted to know what their needs are.”

The congress has a list of 700 people who have offered to open up their homes to Ukrainians. It had to stop taking offers because they had flooded in.

“It was such an overwhelming response we had to put a pause on it until we decide how to process these names. And, which shows this is Friendly Manitoba, it seems like a broad cross section of society. I would think the vast majority aren’t obviously of Ukrainian descent.”

About 180,000 Manitobans are of Ukrainian descent.

Already, Economic Development Winnipeg, which had been planning to go to Ukraine to see if any of its highly skilled work force wanted to move here, but now it is pivoting to help organizations like the UCC help spread the word to Ukrainians there will be temporary or permanent job opportunities here for them.

The Stefanson government said Tuesday it will make it easier for Ukrainians to come here.

Immigration Minister Jon Reyes said the government would waive the $500 fee for Ukrainian citizens who apply to the nominee program.

Reyes said his office has authorized the prioritization of applications from Ukrainian families and flagged approved applications for the federal government to give its stamp of approval to.

“Our government… will do whatever we can to welcome as many Ukrainians as possible to stay in Manitoba,” Reyes said in the house.

Speaking to reporters, Reyes said there were about 100 applications from Ukraine citizens in the queue as of two weeks ago, some of whom are already in Manitoba. Updated numbers were not immediately available.

“They’re being expedited as quick as possible,” Reyes said.

The Manitoba government has opened a special application stream for Ukrainians on the province’s website, the minister noted.

“Those are for Ukrainians that are actually looking to get out of the Ukraine, if they have relatives in Manitoba or wanted to come to Manitoba,” Reyes said. “We know there are Ukrainians who can’t get to a Canadian embassy. So, we’ve communicated that to the federal government and our communication streams to ensure that they’re aware of that link.”

It was unclear how the processing time for applications could be affected by the fee being waived.

The province has not set a cap on the number of applications it will accept and the current processing time is about three months. However, Reyes said the province is still waiting for direction from the federal government on which immigration streams it will make available to Ukrainians, including for those who claim refugee status, which could be faster than the provincial nominee program.

People who are in the queue should expect delays.

“We know that there are many that want to come to Manitoba,” Reyes said. “With a special case like this, there obviously will be some delays. I can’t pinpoint on how long it will be, but again we’re in a very unique situation.”

NDP MLA Mark Wasyliw, whose family came to Canada as refugees after the Second World War, said the Stefanson government could do even more.

“What we can do is be our traditional role as a safe harbour for refugees, Wasyliw said. “We were calling for this at the start of the invasion and we are now at Day 20 and it shouldn’t have taken this government 20 days into the invasion, with three million Ukrainian refugees, mostly women and children, and seeing the mass horrors and the war atrocities to get them to act.”

Wasyliw said the government should provide the Ukrainian Canadian Congress with money to hire full-time resettlement officers.

“Manitobans want to be part of this solution, they are lining up to do it. They need their government to partner with them to make that a reality.”

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Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont also called on the government to help the local Ukrainian congress.

“We need the government to put money into settlement services,” Lamont said.

“The other thing, which we think is essential, is to make sure people, basically as soon as they arrive in Manitoba, are treated as full Manitobans and can get access to health care here because you’re going to see all sorts of people in distress.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca

Kevin Rollason
Reporter

Kevin Rollason is one of the more versatile reporters at the Winnipeg Free Press. Whether it is covering city hall, the law courts, or general reporting, Rollason can be counted on to not only answer the 5 Ws — Who, What, When, Where and Why — but to do it in an interesting and accessible way for readers.

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Danielle Da Silva
Reporter

Danielle Da Silva is a general assignment reporter.

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