Quote:
Originally Posted by Huntingwhale
The number of Ukrainian nationals in Calgary right now blows my mind. Before the CUAET program, it was incredibly difficult for Ukrainians to get a visitor visa to even come visit. Pretty much the only path was either PR through sponsorship, or being well-off enough to afford the study route or invited to work. Personally I always thought it was unfair how high the rejection rate was, given how Canada likes to brag how many Canadians have Ukrainian ancestry. I honestly couldn't be more pleased (given the circumstances) that the government has really stepped up to make it easier for Ukrainians to come here. While there is an adjustment period obviously, they are integrating fairly well overall IMO
The visitors in my house have been here for 2 nights. During that time they already have an appointment to get their SIN tomorrow, have bank accounts set up, got stocked up on winter clothing, and today are testing out how transit works. I am helping them with their resumes and cover letters later and then all next week they are going out applying for jobs. They have been here only over the weekend are already super eager to get rolling.
Heck, yesterday we were chilling at home and I put on the Flames game as some background noise, thinking only I'd be paying attention. Instead, they both told me how much they loved hockey (!) and started asking questions about the team, arena and if "we are a good team".
Also interesting is just how many refugees are from Kherson city and region are in Calgary. They have a childhood friend who has been in Calgary for a few months and yesterday we met 9 other Ukrainians at a little gathering, all of them from Kherson. They estimate that they have met around 30 Ukrainians from Kherson. Doesn't seem like much, until you consider that most Calgarians likely had never heard of Kherson until now, and most Khersonians (?) had never heard of Calgary until now. Now we're all here together as one big happy family.
Crazy times.
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I love that they asked if "we" are a good team. They are already part of the community.
We can't do much about the war as individuals in Canada but we can make those fleeing the war feel welcome here. You're doing something great, Huntingwhale.