Some Ukrainians refugees returning home due to K-W housing crisis: grassroots group
An organization that helps Ukrainian refugees resettle in Waterloo region says some are having so much trouble finding housing in Canada, they're opting to return to the war-torn country.
"Finding a place to stay is very close to another issue, finding a job," said Anzhelika Khven, a Ukrainian who moved to Canada last year. "These two things are very time consuming."
Khven was able to resettle, living with a host family in Waterloo region, but said not everyone fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine has had the same luck in Canada. It's something Waterloo Region Grassroots Response is seeing firsthand.
The volunteer-led organization is raising alarm over difficulty securing housing, claiming an increasing number of Ukrainian newcomers are facing homelessness upon arrival.
"People are arriving at the airport or have been in the government assisted hotels or shelter for two weeks and they didn't know where else to go. They felt they were going to become homeless," said Stephanie Goertz, an organizer with Waterloo Region Grassroots Response.
"When they come here, it's such a shocking culture change and everything is so car dependent that it's extremely hard, and so, many of them do consider going back, even though it's not safe."
Waterloo Region Grassroots Response helped 45 families resettle in March, but doesn't have exact figures for the number of families who may have decided to go back to Ukraine after arriving.
While Goertz calls Ottawa's decision to extend a temporary emergency visa program for Ukrainians a good step, she said it doesn't solve the shelter challenge.
"There's a huge gap of what the settlement services actually offer and what is actually needed to make a long-term sustainable life in Ontario," Goertz said.
Meanwhile for those who are able to find a home in Canada, there are new possibilities, far away from the strife they left.
“You never know what’s going to happen, so we’ve decided because of our daughter that we need to do our best to give her a safe future,” Khven said.
As housing challenges persist, the need for host families continues to grow. Waterloo Region Grassroots Response is looking to scale their efforts to Guelph and asking anyone who is interested in becoming a host to contact them.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.