Three years after the war with Russia, Ukrainians continue to settle in Manitoba – Winnipeg
Since her departure from Ukraine in August 2022, Mila Shykota has built a new life in Winnipeg.
Her daughter is at school. She and her partner bought a house. She even went to kyiv last year to visit her family and bring her beloved cat back to Canada.
“I can say that I integrated myself into Canadian life, but of course, my homeland and I worry about it,” she said.
“I read news flows every day, and I stay in touch with my mother and my loved ones.”
Shykota is one of the 298,128 Ukrainians who came to Canada by the authorization of-Ukraine for emergency trips (CUAET), a federal program introduced in March 2022 after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. About 30,000 Ukrainians went to Manitoba, according to Joanne Lewandosky, president of the Manitoba section of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.
“People still come here on a regular basis,” she said. “Last week, we received a call from Tennessee … and we receive regular calls from Europe, people who now perhaps in Poland or Italy.”
Get daily national news
Get the best news of the day, the titles of political, economic and current affairs, delivered in your reception box once a day.
Lewandosky says that the UCC also sees people who initially settled in other provinces who choose to move to Manitoba due to the cost of living and the large Ukrainian population of the province.
The Manitoba government had offered support for Ukrainian refugees, including childcare and the reimbursement of immigration medical examinations. With these programs that are no longer in place, Lewandosky says that the UCC’s objective is to fill the remaining “gaps”.
“We always have a help center here. People always bring things and people take them, “she said.
The organization also provides English lessons in Gimli, Brandon, Winkler and Winnipeg, thanks to provincial funding. Nine hundred students will start lessons in the fall.
“This definitively fills a very important gap at the moment in the province of Manitoba,” said Lewandosky.
Shykota obtained a permanent residence, but for some other Ukrainians in Canada under Cuaet, the future is not as certain. Those who arrived at the latest on March 31, 2024 are able to request work permits or study through temporary immigration measures, but those who arrived after doing so must be done by immigration, refugees and citizenship of Canada. The federal government announced the reductions in immigration objectives last year.
“I know a lot of those who had returned from Canada to Europe and even in Ukraine,” said Shykota.
While she is advancing with life in Winnipeg, Shykota said that every day, war continues is “psychological pressure” for Ukrainians, who claims the victims every day.
“Ukraine is a very courageous country. Our employees are really heroes, but we need help, we need support, because it’s not just war for Ukraine, it’s just for the whole world, and you can support us, “she said.
& Copy 2025 Global News, A Division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
