1 year later, finding home in N.L. still a challenge for some Ukrainians
600 Ukrainians have jobs, while another 600 are still looking for work
Serhii Koretskyi has been living in a hotel room with his wife and four children ever since his family moved from Ukraine to St. John's in early December.
He says he's grateful his family is healthy and safe, but sharing a hotel room with five other people isn't always easy — he'd prefer living somewhere that has a dinner table, for instance, so his family can return to somewhat of a state of normalcy.
But the province's steep rise in the cost of living isn't lost on him. Despite working as a cabinet maker since February, he doesn't have enough money to find a suitable house for his family.
On top of that, a new temporary accommodations policy that caps the amount of time Ukrainians are allowed to stay in government-funded hotel rooms makes the house hunting process feel ever more pertinent.
"[There's] not enough housing," said Koretskyi. "It's difficult to find something. I don't want to live in hotel all the time. For me, it's terrible."
Tuesday marks one year since the first provincially chartered flight from Ukraine landed in Newfoundland and Labrador. About 166 Ukrainian refugees landed in St. John's that day, most of whom lived in hotels until they found more permanent housing.
Around three weeks ago, the province implemented a 45-day "temporary accommodations policy," meaning Ukrainian immigrants now have a limited amount of time in which they can live in a government-subsidized hotel.
In a statement to CBC News, the Association for New Canadians said the policy is aimed primarily at people who have enough money to pay for their own accommodations, and that the policy is a "guideline" — if someone needs to stay for an extended period of time, they can apply to do so.
"It works like this: if you moved into a hotel today, 45 days would bring you into June, but you would not have to be living elsewhere until the start of July," reads the statement. "We do this to be as accommodating as possible, as leases typically start at the beginning of the month."
"We will not leave anyone vulnerable," said Immigration, Population Growth and Skills Minister Gerry Byrne.
"We will take this on a case-by-case basis. If there are individuals who are just not ready or unable to move from temporary accommodations, we will respect that and work with them."
Coping with the cost of living
When Koretskyi received notice from the association about the 45-day policy, he said, he didn't feel too overwhelmed. It's certainly stressful trying to find a home in the province, he said, but it's incomparable to the devastation happening to his home country.
According to the ANC's data, said Byrne, there are now just over 2,700 Ukrainians living in Newfoundland and Labrador. Byrne says just over 1,100 of those individuals have found their own housing.
Byrne said he "understands and appreciates" Ukrainians' frustrations with the lack of affordable housing. However, he said, Newfoundland and Labrador is the only province aside from Manitoba that has offered Ukrainian immigrants temporary accommodations.
He also said the government will continue to support Ukrainians as they transition out of hotels and continue to provide things like resettlement allowances and English language training to Ukrainians to help them find jobs and settle in.
"You know, and I say this without my tongue planted in my cheek, the housing issue that Ukrainians faced in the past was an artillery shell [that] went through the side of their apartment building," said Byrne.
"They left Ukraine because of a horrendous situation at home. That is not the situation that is going to be duplicated here. We're going to treat them with respect, with dignity and with empathy."
A sense of normal
Byrne also said that according to the ANC, about 600 Ukrainians are actively in the labour market and about 600 are still looking for work.
While Koretskyi works as a cabinet maker in St. John's, he held numerous jobs in Ukraine, including working as a videographer and photographer for popular TV shows.
Nataliia Zalievska and her two children were on the first major flight from Ukraine to St. John's on May 9, 2022. She works as a cleaner at the Sheraton Hotel in St. John's and was previously a medical administration manager at a hospital in Ukraine.
She said she was fortunate to find a job and a home for her family, but without her husband, who still lives in Ukraine, keeping up with the cost of living can be challenging.
"I am alone with the kids," said Zalievska. She's eager to be reunited with her husband someday, she said. "I feel alone sometimes. I am working but I still feel alone, too hard to live [on] one salary here with kids."
Zalievska said she lived in three different places in St. John's — in a hotel, in a home with a Canadian family, and in a small apartment in the city's east end — before she found a suitable place for her family. The journey certainly came with its challenges, said Zalievska, but overall, she says the year she's spent in St. John's has flown by.
Her kids — Andrii, who is 13 years old, and Yana, who is 10 — have also faced their own set of ups and downs.
Andrii loves playing soccer, and now he competes on numerous teams, including a provincial soccer team. Another highlight of his year has been making a close friend at school, he said, but it can be very difficult to communicate with others. He also said he misses his dad and the family's pet cat back in Ukraine.
Yana also misses her father. But, she said, it's great living near the ocean, and she's even picked up a new hobby — she has learned how to play the piano from a Ukrainian teacher in St. John's.
When it comes to the city's weather, however, it's "not so good," said Yana with a laugh. But, she said, "you have kind people."
Koretskyi's children have also maintained their favourite hobby: competitive swimming. In a red minivan filled with booster seats, Koretskyi drives his children from the Holiday Inn to the Aquarena for swimming lessons every morning.
Koretskyi wants to find a place his family can call home in St. John's. But, he said, seeing his kids happy and safe is his biggest priority.
"We have some problems here, but it's not big problem," said Koretskyi.
"The big problem, it's living in Ukraine. It's very difficult, very dangerous. [Finding a house] is not dangerous.… It's a little problem."
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