Quote:
Originally Posted by kn
I had been under the impression that Ukrainian immigrants to Canada were all directly impacted by the war. It seems that the program established by the federal government enabled European based Ukrainians to immigrate as well. CUAET references “Ukrainian nationals” so I guess that’s not limited to those in Ukraine but the description of the program indicates that it was set up for emergency travel to escape the invasion.
I just found out that a friend’s cousin, now in Newfoundland, had been living in the Czech Republic for five years, not Ukraine.
I haven’t been able to find statistics on this or any mention of this anywhere.
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There are quite a few who have come over from regions of the country that are unaffected by the war, or as you said, from other countries but because they travel on a UA passport they have been accepted. It actually has been a topic of contention among some arrivals here; are people from Western Ukraine actually refugees, or are they just taking advantage of the program to start a new life in Canada and get the $3k in monetary aid? Believe me, in my household with 3 UA's from the East this is something they discuss regularly. Let's just say they aren't too happy with some people they know from Lviv who are here, or a couple they know who lived in China the past 4 years but saw an opportunity to come here.
CUAET specifically mentions Ukrainian nationals, so if we are to go by that wording then nobody has done anything wrong. Ukrainian national means you are a national from that country, and nowhere does it specify what region you should be from, city of residence, or anything else specific. Before CUAET Ukrainians were certainly scrutinized a lot harder based on where they were from, as well as their background before being allowed entry.
I would say the average Canadian has been fine with opening the door to them, regardless if they are from the West or East. Lviv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, it's mostly the same for most people here; the country is at war and people needed to leave. But it's funny you made this post because yeah, the feeling I've gotten from a lot of arrivals is that they kind of look down on their fellow citizen if they came from one of the safer cities or abroad elsewhere, and came here seeking a new opportunity and aren't really fleeing with the clothes on their backs.