Viktoria Sotnyk landed in Canada with her daughter on May 1, 2022, after fleeing the war in Ukraine. It was a move she never planned to make, and she arrived with little knowledge of her new country and a worry about her language skills.
“I was a journalist back in Ukraine, and could speak Ukrainian confidently on different subjects. When I arrived in Canada, my English wasn’t perfect, to describe it lightly. I couldn’t communicate with people,” she said. “This led to career challenges and finding a job difficult.”
In Brampton, Sotnyk found a path forward at Indus Community Services. She took language classes and participated in a co-op program that opened new doors for her professionally. The support she received was pivotal, and she now works in social services.
She sought out Ukrainians already living here and joined a community that has knit itself closer since the war began.
“We have our little society here,” she said. With the city’s support, they’ll raise the Ukrainian flag at City Hall on Aug. 24 for the second year. “I’m so glad to have found them.”
Sotnyk’s experience mirrors that of many Ukrainians who arrived in 2022 and have since moved from crisis to community in Brampton.
With help from settlement agencies, church groups and neighbours, newcomers have benefitted from hotel rooms and borrowed beds to language classes, jobs and a growing Ukrainian network in the city.
The first hurdle: finding a place to sleep
Diana Meskhiya arrived with some of her family in July 2022 due to the war — the rest of her family followed in September. She was seven months pregnant at the time, and immediately had to deal with the stress of finding housing.
Luckily, Canada was utilizing hotels as temporary emergency accommodations for individuals fleeing the war in Ukraine.
“We were very grateful to Canada for doing that,” said Meskhiya.
Later, her parents learned of a real estate agency offering lease agreements with three months’ free rent spread over the first year for Ukrainians who lacked Canadian credit history or immediate employment. Her family took up the offer.
Anna Petrenko — a Ukrainian-Canadian who has been involved in supporting the growing community in Brampton — noted many in the community helped to house displaced Ukrainian residents.
“A lot of organizations stepped in during the first year of the war and they accommodated a lot of people and a lot of needs. Like giving housing for those who don’t have all those proofs and documents,” she said. “I know the building manager in one of the Brampton condos who was very accommodating, for example.”
Svitlana Mulyk, another Ukrainian-Canadian who has lived here since 2012, decided to turn her home into a shelter for newcomer Ukrainians, offering up two free guest rooms in her home, and free clothes to anyone who needed them. Some guests would stay for a couple of weeks, others for many months.
“After we welcomed 33 people, I stopped counting,” Mulyk said. “We just decided that, since we have the space, we have to help people who come here.”
After the war’s outbreak in February 2022, Canada responded the following month with the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET), a fast-track pathway that let Ukrainians work and study while here. Ottawa offered a one-time income payment and up to 14 nights in hotels for those arriving with nowhere to stay.
In a report from December 2022, the Region of Peel provided more insight into the local humanitarian response. The Region’s hotel program assisted 680 Ukrainian arrivals, with an average length of stay of 44 days, which was significantly longer than the two-week federal hotel limit. The report noted that Peel spent an estimated $5.7 million on its emergency housing response.
Classrooms, conversation circles and catching up
Sofiia Sereda remembers the first months as isolating. She started Grade 10 days after arriving and found no one who shared her background.
“It was really lonely … I was the only one who was Ukrainian.” Teachers helped where they could, but fitting in took time.
Though she spoke English before arriving to Canada, it still wasn’t at the same level of her peers. Some classes made space for her to catch up — a chemistry teacher let her use Google Translate while she learned the terms of the periodic table. But she still faced a barrier with the mandatory Ontario Secondary School test.
“They’re not allowed to help you at all,” she said. “And they refused to even translate the tasks to me. And if I don’t know what the task is asking of me, how am I supposed to do everything else?”
She passed the test, but still wishes the support had been available.
Though Indus did not create new programs tailored specifically to Ukrainians, they said these newcomers have and continue to benefit from the programs that already existed for more than 30 years now. Gurpreet S. Malhotra — CEO of Indus — said they currently have 23 classes of language instruction.
“This included the traditional classroom training and teaching, but this included a high level of compassion toward people who have been fleeing violence,” he said.
Indus also provided settlement supports — orientation to health care and school registration, employment counselling and resumé help, plus conversation circles where newcomers could practise everyday English and build peer networks.
When documents lag, life stalls
IRCC says some temporary measures remain in place for Ukrainians and their family members who arrived under CUAET.
Those who landed on or before March 31, 2024 can apply until March 31, 2026 for a new open work permit of up to three years, renew an open work permit or seek a study permit, with maintained status if they apply before the expiry date.
A special family-reunification permanent residence pathway ran to Oct. 22, 2024, and an administrative deferral of removals — which is a delay of any removal orders that would normally require a person to leave Canada immediately — remains in effect for Ukrainians, as long as they pose no security threats.
However, Ukrainians are saying work permit extensions have been subject to delays, leading to various issues.
Maryna Antonova — Sereda’s mom, who migrated to Canada with her — and her daughter are currently on extended work permits, but they faced anxiety while waiting for it be approved.
“For a while (Sereda) didn’t have a health card, and in this period of time you worry about your child … it gives a lot of stress,” Antonova said.
This also comes with a tricky financial issue. When Sereda arrived, she was put into high school, and under CUEAT, high school is free. Now she is to begin post-secondary education, but would have to pay international student fees — which Antonova cannot currently afford.
With the war ongoing, it still impacts some Ukrainian newcomers’ daily lives.
“I call my mom every single day and I feel it’s getting even worse. It’s not ending. It’s hard,” said Antonova.
Petrenko avoids war talk with relatives to reduce the strain.
“Every single Ukrainian has been affected by this war. I don’t know anybody who doesn’t know somebody who’s dead.”
Distance carries other losses. Sereda said friends and classmates are scattered across Europe, and places she knew have been erased.
“It’s a scary thing to realize that maybe some of the places you used to have emotional connection to are not there anymore. They’re just non-existent,” she said. “Some cities in Ukraine just look like no man’s land. There’s just nothing left.”
Even so, Sereda maintains hope for her future — she sees herself settling here permanently and becoming an artist. She also has made strong friendships, began a relationship here and hopes to marry her boyfriend eventually.
“I’ve been lucky enough to find people here who make me feel like I actually belong,” she said.
