A sudden surge of Ukrainian evacuees. Is Canada ready?

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This is a conversation series by Donna Kennedy-Glans, a writer and former Alberta cabinet minister, featuring newsmakers and intriguing personalities. This week: former Alberta premier, Ed Stelmach.

Scroll back to the first week of March. In a single week, a record-setting 10,000 Ukrainians board airplanes heading to Canada to escape a brutal war that has no end in sight. And this surge of evacuees is expected to continue until the end of the month. After that; who knows.

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Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, more than two years ago, 250,000 Ukrainians relocated to Canada under our country’s emergency visa program and an additional 700,000 Ukrainians hold similar visas due to expire on March 31.

Alberta is the number one destination in Canada for displaced Ukrainians. That shouldn’t be all that surprising: with promises of more affordable housing, Alberta has successfully lured a whack of newcomers from other provinces. And even before Putin’s onslaught in Ukraine, Alberta was home to the highest Ukrainian population per capita of any Canadian province.

Former Alberta premier, Ed Stelmach, Ukrainian by heritage, is keeping close tabs on these Ukrainians temporarily relocated to Alberta. He reports, “almost 56,000 are registered with Alberta Health now, and the sector estimates about 58,000 or more are actually here.”

It’s the first day of spring when I catch up with Ed for a conversation; he’s at home on his farm near Lamont, in central Alberta. “I’m going to be 73 in May,” he chuckles, and “I’m lugging mattresses up and down stairs for newcomers.” The day we chat, he’s also organizing a furniture drive for Ukrainian families.

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“A lot of babas, you know, the grandmothers, have retired and are living at home, maybe their husband passed away, they’re looking at moving to a lodge or continuing care,” Ed explains. “And they say, OK, I’m losing all my furniture, whatever you think is of value, give it to the Ukrainian newcomers.”

Ed’s passionate about this on-the-ground work, sharing detailed stories of stuffing sea cans and airplanes with generators and medical equipment to be delivered to orphanages and hospitals in Ukraine; furnishing mattresses to young families sleeping on floors in low-cost housing; driving to Athabasca to pick up 120 hand-made quilts donated by the Athabasca Ladies Quilting Club; receiving cheques from elderly Albertans, not wealthy people, “some of them gave $5,000, one gave $10,000,” during the first weeks when the bombs started to fall.

But he’s worried: “Worried that volunteer and donor fatigue will set in, creating more social problems if the two (federal and provincial) governments do not announce further programs.” Because, to his way of thinking, the war in Ukraine is a long way from over.

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The urgent question bubbling up, for displaced Ukrainians and Canadians who have opened their homes and hearts to these evacuees, is what happens when the federal government temporary emergency visa program expires on March 31?

There’s a lot at stake, Ed explains: The federal program includes a $3,000 per person one-time grant for each evacuee plus a two- week stay in a hotel upon arrival in Canada, if newcomers don’t have the means to pay for their own short-term accommodation. These subsidies are only available for Ukrainians who arrive in Canada before April 1.

Canadians are familiar with refugee programs — for Vietnamese, Syrians, Afghans — but this program is different, Ed explains. Ukrainian newcomers entering Canada with a temporary emergency visa are not offered the same supports as refugees, and they are expected to learn English, seek employment and pay taxes during their time in Canada.

Provinces have been supplementing the federal program; in Alberta, the provincial government is currently evaluating what supports will be announced after March 31, reportedly awaiting federal direction.To date, however, collaboration between the federal government and provinces on this temporary visa program has been negligible. From Ed’s perspective, “there’s been zero coordination.” And he should know. He was part of a task force created by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, when she became leader of the United Conservative Party, to tackle this challenge.

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Host families have been filling the gaps — sacrificing, supporting, counselling, guiding, driving, advocating. And charitable organizations are helping too. But they can’t do it all; that’s Ed’s assessment. After March 31 most of the centres that opened for evacuees are closing; that includes furniture warehouses, info centres, clothing depots, language supports, resume writing. They just can’t run forever on volunteerism. Donors are fatigued, Ed acknowledges, but the need is about to become even bigger.

I ask: How long should Canadians and Albertans be prepared to welcome Ukrainians? “My personal feeling is that this will never really end,” Ed answers, his voice flat. With signature politeness, he apologizes for sounding frustrated then offers up a story to explain.

“This summer, we were looking at trading our garden tractor,” Ed shares, “and I called up a local John Deere dealership … and a young man, Vlad, answered.” Turns out, Vlad was from Crimea and had relocated to Alberta with his family before Putin launched his attacks in 2022. Vlad’s dad was smart enough to realize they had to get out of Crimea while they could, Ed says, reciting his conversation with young Vlad. “Putin is moving a lot of people from Siberia, giving them free rent in Crimea, increasing the number of Russian sympathizers,” Vlad says, and his grandfather in Crimea, owner of a beautiful property, has been told by the Russians, “You’re done. Once you pass, the property is ours.”

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For decades, Ed’s been seen by Albertans as a steady hand, and it’s the role he continues to play. For that attribute, he’s at times been castigated as “boring.” I say bring it on; that’s precisely what displaced Ukrainians crave right now. Order, predictability, stability — even boring.

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