CIMM – Narrative to Accompany Ukraine Dashboard – November 29, 2022
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Context
- In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine which sparked a global response to support Ukrainians.
- On March 17th, IRCC launched the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) measures in an effort to provide temporary safe haven to Ukrainian nationals and their family members affected by the invasion.
- As part of these CUAET measures, Ukrainians and their family members are eligible to come to Canada, fee-exempt, to stay for up to 3 years and are offered the ability to work or study upon arrival.
- As of November 22, 2022, over 700k CUAET applications have been received, and close to 424k have been approved, which represents an approval rate of over 99%.
- Over 82k CUAET clients have arrived in Canada, with more than half of arrivals at Lester B. Pearson Airport in Toronto.
- Canada organized three targeted charter flights to Canada (Winnipeg, Montreal and Halifax) for Ukrainians and their family members. Provinces continue to organize charters dedicated to transporting Ukrainians to Canada.
- There has been close collaboration between federal & provincial/territorial counterparts & stakeholders to provide a range of supports to Ukrainian newcomers. For example, IRCC has extended Settlement Program Services to CUAET clients. Key settlement services include language training, information about and orientation to life in Canada, such as how to enrol children in school, and employment related services such as mentoring, networking, skills development and training.
- The Government of Canada is also providing temporary hotel accommodations for up to 14 days for those who arrived with unplanned accommodations. As of November 20th , there are 500 federally funded accommodations in 9 cities across Canada.
- As of June 2, 2022, Ukrainians arriving in Canada can apply online to receive transitional financial assistance via the Canada-Ukraine Transitional Assistance Initiative. These funds will help Ukrainian nationals and their family members meet their basic needs (i.e. transportation and longer-term housing) as they arrive in communities across Canada and find employment.
- The benefit consists of a direct one-time payment of $3,000 per adult and $1,500 per child (17 years and under).
- As of November 22, 2022, 83,846 individuals were approved for payments under the Canada-Ukraine Transitional Assistance Initiative, for a total anticipated payout of $220,323,000.
- The demand for CUAET is high which has led to a large inventory of applications that await a final decision. A large portion of these applications require client action, such as the enrolment of biometrics or passport submission. The Department is currently not refusing applications for not complying with the requirements which skews overall processing times.
- While the number of CUAET clients who have arrived in Canada is a small portion of the total applications approved, this is likely the result of Ukrainians choosing to stay closer to home and family, in hopes of returning once the crisis is over. It is probable that Ukrainians are applying to this fee-exempt program as a means to be ready should they decide to come to Canada in the future.
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