Café Ukraine: Continuing support for Ukrainians seeking safety in Ottawa

Credit to Author: Gautam Viswanathan| Date: Tue, 05 Nov 2024 18:12:19 +0000

The team at Café Ukraine that runs settlement programs for the Ukrainian community in Ottawa

Ukrainian nationals who came to Ottawa under a special program offering them temporary residence while seeking safety from the war back home can continue to access free services –such as English language classes and settlement assistance – at a new location in the capital, as they continue to settle and integrate into Canadian society.

These services have been offered since the beginning of September 2024 at Café Ukraine, which was set up just four days after its predecessor, Maidan Market, shut its doors on Aug. 31. In its three and a half years of operations, Maidan Market assisted more than 3,200 Ukrainians who arrived under the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET).

Between Mar.17, 2022, and Apr.1, 2024, Canada received 1,189,320 CUAET applications, of which they approved 962,612. About 298,128 people have arrived in Canada under the program.

Among the most popular services at Café Ukraine are English-language classes, which are completely volunteer-run, and are available for free to Ukrainians who came to Canada under CUAET. The space, located on Carling Avenue, has been donated by the Ukrainian Community Centre, while funding comes from private donors, events and fundraisers.

Cassian Soltykevich

“Currently, we’re at something like just over 100 learners. We have about 27 volunteer tutors, and we have a wait list of about 30 newcomers,” says Lisa Hrynuik, volunteer co-leader for the ESL program. The program offers 31 sessions a week, both in-person and online.

“People needed basic English language skills,” adds Hrynuik. “For some, it was completely brand new, like the older generation, but you had others who’d learned English. People needed to settle into communities, sign leases, open bank accounts, or deal with government services. Others needed help with resumes, so a few folks were brought on: ESL certified teachers, retired teachers, there were three to five people in the beginning who offered classes from 60 to 90 minutes a day, maybe a couple of times a week, and that’s how it grew.”

When it comes to planning for the future of the ESL classes, Hanak and her team are taking it three to six months at a time. “When Maidan Market was closing, we realized that if we couldn’t find another place or any budget to continue the classes, we’d need to give our learners three to four months’ transition time to get them properly assessed and get them on waitlists for ESL training that’s offered formally through the school boards,” they said.

Andrea Gardner

A Ukrainian-speaking settlement counsellor provided by Jewish Family Services (JFS) Ottawa, is also present at Café Ukraine two days a week, while assisting other Ukrainians at JFS headquarters on the other three.

“There’s a sense of belonging and sense of community that they may not have otherwise felt…that they’re not alone,” says Andrea Gardner, associate executive director for JFS Ottawa, concerning the CUAET arrivals. “Many of them have settled now, but there are other fears that start popping up. For example, their open work permits are ending, they’ve been here for three years, they need to reapply for them.

“The government has provided them the opportunity to extend their open work permits for another three years,” she adds. “They’ve also made permanent residency available, depending on whether they have relatives here. Otherwise, you just have to go through the process that everybody else goes through that’s very frustrating.”

“There’s a heightened sense of ‘where are we going from here?’ for a lot of them, so to bring it back to the English language, it becomes really important, because if they want to apply for permanent residency, they need to understand the PR points system,” added Hanak. Also offering assistance will be the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, says Cassian Soltykevich, the body’s national secretary and former director of Maidan Market. “We’re looking at some things to help with mental health, whether it is art classes for kids or some parental support groups,” he says. “We’re still exploring opportunities for that, and also the next step of immigration, so that people understand what the process is for permanent residency, if that’s something they want to explore.

“We’ve seen people who’ve already gone back, but some people do want to stay, so it really depends on the individual, and how they see their future,” he adds.

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