Equality and Fairness With Ukrainians

[makata]

First of I SUPPORT UKRAINE and my heart goes out the Ukrainian people especially those who have been directly impacted by the ongoing military conflict. That said my fiancee fled Ethiopia and arrived in Canada February 2022 due to a similar ongoing conflict in Ethiopia. We submitted her claim using the online portal. She did the medicals later that month and got her AOC in march with no date or location for interview. still waiting on that.

We then moved to Regina Saskatchewan in August, and to be honest i have never been sooo frustrated and helpless before!. The RACISM in this province when in comes to public services is second to none!. If you black its almost like you are invisible. First there are no public services for refugee claimants in the Province that i know of at the moment. I was hoping my fiancee would enroll in a re-skill program while waiting but none available! All you get is COLD STARES or sometimes rude karen. But hold on if you are from Ukraine/White you get express service including support and skill training, a clear pathway and timeline to a PR(3 Years BTW) with smiles and expedient processing (literally they cut in line).
How is that Fair?

The immigrant community in Regina is strong and growing though racism Still rules the prairies, which i was told is largely Eastern Europeans. it's like everything here is made to frustrate blacks, FACT just ask random blacks in Regina and analyse the data.

The community of Regina, the people are overall nice, the Racism, well just step into ANY Government building (Regina/Saskatoon) and strap up if you black, its almost like they intentionally make you feel like they don't want you there! "like please leave"

Born and Raised in Ontario I was SHUCKED!!! to my core of the RACISM IN REGINA and how "naturally biased" they were
My Advice if you have ANY government process filling DO NOT LOOK AT SASKATCHEWAN!!

To those there MAD RESPECT! I get it now, the whole "keep your head down hand eyes on the price" the keep saying. they tuned it out soo much they numb to it.

I and my fiancee are moving to Alberta, this time i did my research and will feel more at home there. We don't mind the wait time for the interview in a larger city.

Please if any one has something POSITIVE about the process in Regina or Saskatchewan please share I welcome a palette cleanser after my experience and hearing the dystopian stories from those who actually live there.

 

[Simba112]

First of I SUPPORT UKRAINE and my heart goes out the Ukrainian people especially those who have been directly impacted by the ongoing military conflict. That said my fiancee fled Ethiopia and arrived in Canada February 2022 due to a similar ongoing conflict in Ethiopia. We submitted her claim using the online portal. She did the medicals later that month and got her AOC in march with no date or location for interview. still waiting on that.

We then moved to Regina Saskatchewan in August, and to be honest i have never been sooo frustrated and helpless before!. The RACISM in this province when in comes to public services is second to none!. If you black its almost like you are invisible. First there are no public services for refugee claimants in the Province that i know of at the moment. I was hoping my fiancee would enroll in a re-skill program while waiting but none available! All you get is COLD STARES or sometimes rude karen. But hold on if you are from Ukraine/White you get express service including support and skill training, a clear pathway and timeline to a PR(3 Years BTW) with smiles and expedient processing (literally they cut in line).
How is that Fair?

The immigrant community in Regina is strong and growing though racism Still rules the prairies, which i was told is largely Eastern Europeans. it's like everything here is made to frustrate blacks, FACT just ask random blacks in Regina and analyse the data.

The community of Regina, the people are overall nice, the Racism, well just step into ANY Government building (Regina/Saskatoon) and strap up if you black, its almost like they intentionally make you feel like they don't want you there! "like please leave"

Born and Raised in Ontario I was SHUCKED!!! to my core of the RACISM IN REGINA and how "naturally biased" they were
My Advice if you have ANY government process filling DO NOT LOOK AT SASKATCHEWAN!!

To those there MAD RESPECT! I get it now, the whole "keep your head down hand eyes on the price" the keep saying. they tuned it out soo much they numb to it.

I and my fiancee are moving to Alberta, this time i did my research and will feel more at home there. We don't mind the wait time for the interview in a larger city.

Please if any one has something POSITIVE about the process in Regina or Saskatchewan please share I welcome a palette cleanser after my experience and hearing the dystopian stories from those who actually live there.

Sorry for your experience and i'm glad you made decision to move to a place where you'll feel you belong to the community. In my opinion, i feel like there is double standard with Immigration system which eventually draw biased conclusion/racism. You cant have a system, where certain refugee are fast tracked and on top of that get one-time, non-taxable payment of $3,000 for adult and $1,500 for a child but same financial support doesn't apply to other resettled refugee?? So typical family of 5, gets $10,500 taxpayers money and payment is processed within 5days! This includes fast tracking refugee claimant and pr applicants from Ukraine, while others remains in queue.
I agree, Ukraine refugees need safe haven in Canada and other part of the world so are other resettled refugee accepted in Canada, but there should be at least some fairness. I'm not sure whether resettled Afghanistan refugee or others are entitled to fast track/financial support...but anyway, hope they had time to reflect.

 

[scylla]

First of I SUPPORT UKRAINE and my heart goes out the Ukrainian people especially those who have been directly impacted by the ongoing military conflict. That said my fiancee fled Ethiopia and arrived in Canada February 2022 due to a similar ongoing conflict in Ethiopia. We submitted her claim using the online portal. She did the medicals later that month and got her AOC in march with no date or location for interview. still waiting on that.

We then moved to Regina Saskatchewan in August, and to be honest i have never been sooo frustrated and helpless before!. The RACISM in this province when in comes to public services is second to none!. If you black its almost like you are invisible. First there are no public services for refugee claimants in the Province that i know of at the moment. I was hoping my fiancee would enroll in a re-skill program while waiting but none available! All you get is COLD STARES or sometimes rude karen. But hold on if you are from Ukraine/White you get express service including support and skill training, a clear pathway and timeline to a PR(3 Years BTW) with smiles and expedient processing (literally they cut in line).
How is that Fair?

The immigrant community in Regina is strong and growing though racism Still rules the prairies, which i was told is largely Eastern Europeans. it's like everything here is made to frustrate blacks, FACT just ask random blacks in Regina and analyse the data.

The community of Regina, the people are overall nice, the Racism, well just step into ANY Government building (Regina/Saskatoon) and strap up if you black, its almost like they intentionally make you feel like they don't want you there! "like please leave"

Born and Raised in Ontario I was SHUCKED!!! to my core of the RACISM IN REGINA and how "naturally biased" they were
My Advice if you have ANY government process filling DO NOT LOOK AT SASKATCHEWAN!!

To those there MAD RESPECT! I get it now, the whole "keep your head down hand eyes on the price" the keep saying. they tuned it out soo much they numb to it.

I and my fiancee are moving to Alberta, this time i did my research and will feel more at home there. We don't mind the wait time for the interview in a larger city.

Please if any one has something POSITIVE about the process in Regina or Saskatchewan please share I welcome a palette cleanser after my experience and hearing the dystopian stories from those who actually live there.

One small correction. Ukrainians here on the CUAET visa don't necessarily have a clear pathway to PR. They have been given a 3 year work permit. Whether they can translate that to PR through one of the standard economic immigration streams is another matter. They will have to qualify and apply and be selected just like anyone else from that persepctive. They also cannot claim refugee status. Having said that, agree the 3 year open work permit is certainly a big advantage.

Unfortunately I can't give you any advice on Regina or Saskatchewan. Sorry to hear about the bad experiences and hope others can help with useful advice.

Separately, have you notified IRCC yet that you have moved? I believe you're required to do that.

Good luck with the refugee claim for your fiancee. I assume you're aware that once you are either married or have lived together continuously for one full year (to become common law), you can sponsor your fiancee for PR through the family sponsorship stream. You can do that in parallel with the refugee claim.

 

[makata]

One small correction. Ukrainians here on the CUAET visa don't necessarily have a clear pathway to PR. They have been given a 3 year work permit. Whether they can translate that to PR through one of the standard economic immigration streams is another matter. They will have to qualify and apply and be selected just like anyone else from that persepctive. They also cannot claim refugee status. Having said that, agree the 3 year open work permit is certainly a big advantage.

Unfortunately I can't give you any advice on Regina or Saskatchewan. Sorry to hear about the bad experiences and hope others can help with useful advice.

Separately, have you notified IRCC yet that you have moved? I believe you're required to do that.

Good luck with the refugee claim for your fiancee. I assume you're aware that once you are either married or have lived together continuously for one full year (to become common law), you can sponsor your fiancee for PR through the family sponsorship stream. You can do that in parallel with the refugee claim.

We selected this path because of the situation back home. When i was in Ethiopia last year to see my relatives it was unreal and dangerous, now its just a mess and going down hill. she got here on the visitors visa because it was that urgent. We planning on doing both in parallel as you said, thanks.
we expecting our first kid soon soo better days ahead I hope.

 

[scylla]

We selected this path because of the situation back home. When i was in Ethiopia last year to see my relatives it was unreal and dangerous, now its just a mess and going down hill. she got here on the visitors visa because it was that urgent. We planning on doing both in parallel as you said, thanks.
we expecting our first kid soon soo better days ahead I hope.

Congratulations!

Make sure you don't withdraw the refugee application after you submit the spousal sponsorship application. Wait until PR is approved under spousal sponsorship before you do anything like withdraw the refugee application.

 

[dzx]

Sorry for your experience and i'm glad you made decision to move to a place where you'll feel you belong to the community. In my opinion, i feel like there is double standard with Immigration system which eventually draw biased conclusion/racism. You cant have a system, where certain refugee are fast tracked and on top of that get one-time, non-taxable payment of $3,000 for adult and $1,500 for a child but same financial support doesn't apply to other resettled refugee?? So typical family of 5, gets $10,500 taxpayers money and payment is processed within 5days! This includes fast tracking refugee claimant and pr applicants from Ukraine, while others remains in queue.
I agree, Ukraine refugees need safe haven in Canada and other part of the world so are other resettled refugee accepted in Canada, but there should be at least some fairness. I'm not sure whether resettled Afghanistan refugee or others are entitled to fast track/financial support...but anyway, hope they had time to reflect.

It’s ultimately a political decision, especially in the prairies where ethnic Ukrainian communities are extremely influential, the world is like this and it’s unlikely to change any time soon…

 

[itzdrmac]

Well the whole world is crying for ukrainians only because of their race.....have never seen so much outspoken support by the world when people of other races were facing same sitiation let it be arabs, asians or black. So yes there is too much hypocrisy

 

[canuck78]

Well the whole world is crying for ukrainians only because of their race.....have never seen so much outspoken support by the world when people of other races were facing same sitiation let it be arabs, asians or black. So yes there is too much hypocrisy

To be fair Canada did put a lot of effort and money to bring a large number of Syrian refugees. Canada did the same for Somalians in the80s/90s and Vietnamese in the 70s. Not denying that their is racism in Canada but the Syrian refugees received a lot more than the Ukranians who have arrived with CUAET.

 

[canuck78]

We selected this path because of the situation back home. When i was in Ethiopia last year to see my relatives it was unreal and dangerous, now its just a mess and going down hill. she got here on the visitors visa because it was that urgent. We planning on doing both in parallel as you said, thanks.
we expecting our first kid soon soo better days ahead I hope.

Did your partner relocate to the capital or the south? You need to be able to show that there is no safe place within the whole country for an asylum application. It looks like you will be applying for sponsorship but having the option to move to a safe part of your country is one of the reasons many get refused asylum. Sure there is racism in Canada in general but also in SK. Cities like Regina do not attract many asylum claimants or immigration in general so they don’t have the infrastructure like Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, etc. The prairies have a very large Ukranian population so I assume that is why they have been treated differently than others. Your partner was very lucky to get a TRV. The fact that there is conflict in Ethiopia and that she is having a child with a Canadian should have actually made getting a TRV more difficult. she must have shown very strong ties to Ethiopia, good savings, property ownership, previous international travel to places like the US, UK, etc.