Ukrainians fleeing to Canada temporarily can stay for three years
Ukrainians looking to come to Canada temporarily to escape the Russian attacks will be able to stay for three years, the government has announced.
Through the 'Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel’ program opening on Thursday, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Sean Fraser says that those who come will be able to stay longer than the previously announced two years.
The immigration minister’s office told CTV News that it will take an average of two weeks for people who apply through this temporary residence pathway to be approved through the online portal.
Earlier this month Fraser announced Canada would be opening two new immigration streams for Ukrainians looking to seek refuge in this country.
One will allow an unlimited number of Ukrainians to come to this country on a temporary basis with expedited emergency visas. It’s this program that is being expanded. The other is a family reunification pathway for those looking to stay permanently in Canada.
For those applying for this visitor visa to leave Ukraine while the war rages on, most visa requirements are being waived, including fees and language assessments. In order to qualify, individuals will need to complete a “simple” application form and provide biometrics—fingerprints and a photo— for security while still in Europe.
The government has visa application centres set up across the continent, including in regions where many Ukrainians have fled such as Moldova, Romania, Austria and Poland.
The temporary residency stream is being offered to Ukrainians and their immediate family members of any nationality. Applicants who do not have a valid passport may still apply, as the government is offering single-journey travel documents on a case-by-case basis.
Ukrainians do not have to be fully vaccinated in order to come to Canada, though those who enter who are not will be subject to quarantine and testing, the government has announced, adding that “with limited exceptions” all travellers entering through this emergency immigration stream will have to use the ArriveCAN system to submit relevant vaccination and personal information.
Everyone who arrives under this new stream will also be eligible for a work permit or study permit that will allow them to take a job with any Canadian employer or enroll in an education program. The government is encouraging Ukrainians to apply for a three-year open work permit at the same time as they submit their visa application.
The government is also setting up a job bank so that Canadian employers can post available jobs and hire Ukrainians, something for which there has already been considerable interest.
“As brave Ukrainians fight for their lives and their freedom, Canada is ready to welcome their loved ones who are forced to flee. When they arrive safely in Canada, we’re going to help Ukrainians find work and so they can provide for themselves and their families,” said Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion Carla Qualtrough in a statement. “From ensuring that children can enroll in school to helping parents join our workforce, we want every Ukrainian to find peace, stability, and community in Canada.”
As millions have fled to neighbouring countries, prompting a refugee crisis, the government has been prioritizing processing immigration applications from Ukrainians.
Fraser has said there will be “no limit” to the number of applications Canada is willing to accept from those coming temporarily, noting that most will want to return home once it’s safe to do so.
"If we learned anything about Ukrainians who are fleeing this conflict, it's that they love their homeland and they want to go back when the war is over,” the minister said on CTV’s Question Period on March 6.
The department said Thursday it will “continue to monitor volumes of travellers and their needs closely and will take action as required.”
With files from CTV News’ Mackenzie Gray
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Local Spotlight
Mystery surrounds giant custom Canucks jerseys worn by Lions Gate Bridge statues
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
'I'm committed': Oilers fan won't cut hair until Stanley Cup comes to Edmonton
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
'It's not my father's body!' Wrong man sent home after death on family vacation in Cuba
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
'Once is too many times': Education assistants facing rising violence in classrooms
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
What is capital gains tax? How is it going to affect the economy and the younger generations?
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
UBC football star turning heads in lead up to NFL draft
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Cat found at Pearson airport 3 days after going missing
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly on a mission: N.S. student collecting books about women in sport for school library
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Where did the gold go? Crime expert weighs in on unfolding Pearson airport heist investigation
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.