OTTAWA - Ukrainians seeking refuge from war in Canada will have another few months to apply for temporary safe haven, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced Wednesday.
The deadline to apply for a three-year emergency visa was originally March 31, but Ukrainians and their family members will now be able to apply until July 15.
After that date, Ukrainians will still be able to apply for traditional work, study and visitor permits to come to Canada after the application period expires, but they will be charged the usual fees associated with those applications.
"I would encourage people who are thinking of coming to Canada to apply to come, and if you need Canada's protection, to come," Fraser said at a press conference at Café Ukraine in Ottawa, a volunteer-based drop-in centre for displaced Ukrainians.
Ukrainians and their family members can apply for a CUAET visa without paying a fee until July 15, 2023.
— Sean Fraser (@SeanFraserMP) March 22, 2023
Those who arrive by March 31, 2024 will remain eligible for federal supports, including temporary housing, income, and settlement services.
Ukrainians who have received an emergency visa will have until March 31 next year to make the journey to Canada, where the federal government will offer them a one-time income support payment and two weeks of hotel accommodations.
Those who have already arrived will also have a year to decide whether or not to extend their temporary visa if they wish to stay.
The number of arrivals in March had increased. The looming deadline for people to come to Canada left people nervous, said Ihor Michalchyshyn, executive director of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.
The extension to the program will give people in the settlement sector some certainty and allow Ukrainians to keep their options open, he said in an interview Friday.
So far, 616,429 people have been approved to come to Canada under the program as of March 16, though only about 190,000 have actually arrived.
The government has indicated it will be open to extending the deadlines further if the situation in Ukraine does not improve, Michalchyshyn said in an interview.
"We are hopeful that the situation will improve, with the military defence support that Canada and other allies are offering Ukraine, and we hope that people are able to start thinking about planning to go home in the near future," he said.
"But that's obviously contingent on what Russia does militarily."
In the meantime, Fraser said the time limits on applications and arrivals helps the department to manage the immigration system with some level of certainty.
Conservative immigration critic Tom Kmiec said the announcement was a missed opportunity to give Ukrainian families long-term certainty about Canada's immigration plans.
"There's a lot of benefits to rolling out what the permanent program (would) look like — if there's a cap or a number, what the eligibility criteria is, just so people can plan their lives," Kmiec said in an interview Friday.
Fraser said there are sensitives with Ukraine's government about longer-term plans for an immigration program. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he hopes Ukrainians will return when the war is over to help rebuild the country.
"We're going to make decisions not just based on our idea behind closed doors in Ottawa, but based on engagement with Ukraine, its government and, importantly, our Ukrainian-Canadian community."
Last year, the government announced that it would launch a family reunification program to allow Ukrainians with family members in Canada to apply for permanent residency, but it has not released any details.
