Returning home amid the war: Why some Ukrainians are choosing to leave Toronto

In the midst of the Russian invasion, Oleksandra Balytska landed a remote job in Kyiv with a Canadian artificial intelligence start-up, hoping to support her family.

But last fall, when the capital city was plunged into darkness amid attacks on Ukraine's power systems, Balytska's employer invited her to move to Toronto.

When Balytska landed in Toronto last December, she was immediately shocked by the cost of groceries. 

"I was so terrified that I bought only like two ramens because of the prices," she said.

Balytska was one of 60,000 Ukrainians who emigrated to Ontario under the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) program due to the war. Under the federal program, each adult is eligible for a one-time payment of $3,000, while families with children can get an additional $1,500 for each child. 

But in a city like Toronto, that sum quickly disappeared. Balytska says she was asked for three months of rent upfront, while some of her friends were asked for more.

Then, half a year later, Balytska was laid off from the same company that invited her to Canada. After seeing the "brutal" job market where she says she had to compete with hundreds of applicants for a position, she decided it was time to return home.

"I've traded safety for my comfort," she said.  

Unclear how many have returned

Balytska isn't alone. 

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) told CBC News it "does not track outbound travellers holding valid travel documents to enter Canada."

However, Andrei Zavialov, a settlement worker with the Ukrainian Canadian Social Services Toronto, told CBC News he personally knows of about 15 Ukrainians who have returned home from the Greater Toronto Area already.

Zavialov recently surveyed 734 CUAET visa holders in the Toronto area and found 40.2 per cent of respondents said they would do "everything they can" to permanently stay in Canada.

Meanwhile, 4.9 per cent of respondents said they would return to Ukraine — and 4.7 per cent to Europe — "at the first opportunity." Another 11.6 per cent said they would go back to Ukraine only when the war is over, with the rest still unsure. 

Zavialov's survey found "parents, family, and relatives" were the main factor motivating respondents to go back. Other motivating factors included love for their homes and missing life in Ukraine.

Desire to return stronger than fear of war

For Yehor Horenych, a 17-year-old student from the central city of Dnipro, the pull to return home was stronger than the fear of falling bombs. 

Horenych's mother sent him to Vaughan in April 2022 so that he could live with his aunt in safety. But after spending two months in the GTA, he said he felt "limited" and homesick.

Horenych said he had a hard time making friends in a Canadian high school due to cultural differences. Feeling isolated, he decided to go back despite the violence. 

"Canada is a beautiful country with beautiful nature and nice people," he said. "But North America is far from Europe."

"I could not get used to the Canadian lifestyle. The European way of life… it's way too familiar, too beloved," he added. "We couldn't afford staying in [another] European country, so I came back to Ukraine."

In the time since, Horenych says he witnessed multiple attacks on apartment buildings in his city, including a Russian missile strike on a nine-storey residential building that killed 46 people in January.

Still, he said, "We trust in our win."

'It's your land and it's your home'  

Oleksandra Sakhnatska, a Seneca College graduate in computer programming and analysis, has been living in Toronto since 2016. When the full-scale invasion began, she immediately wanted to return home to Kyiv.

In the past two years, Sakhnatska has gone back to Ukraine twice. 

At first, Sakhnatska decided to help Ukrainian mothers with children settle and find work in the GTA. Then, she co-founded Ukrainian Resistance Canada, a non-profit focusing on awareness campaigns and fundraising for war relief efforts.

But Sakhnatska wanted to go further. So she packed her suitcases — 75 kilograms worth of medical aid, sleeping bags and foot warmers for Ukrainian soldiers — and headed for Kyiv last fall. 

"It was my 'vacation.' Actually people were laughing at me because very normal people go on vacation to Cuba, the Dominican Republic. And where does Alex go on vacation? Ukraine! I couldn't not go because it was just pulling me," she said.

"It's your land and it's your home."

With no direct passenger flights since the war broke out, Sakhnatska had to fly from Toronto to Warsaw and then take two trains to eventually reach Kyiv. 

She recalls "the warzone feeling" when the train shut off its lights at night as soon as it crossed the Ukrainian border to avoid being the target of potential attacks.

While in Kyiv, Sakhnatska completed tactical medicine training to help anyone wounded from explosions. She also volunteered for several initiatives, ranging from cooking food for the soldiers to searching for donors to help treat the worst cases of PTSD caused by the horrors of war. 

Initially, Sakhnatska wanted to move back to Ukraine for good, but decided it would be "selfish" to put her desire to stay ahead of the larger efforts she could coordinate from Canada.

"I could be a combat medic, yes, but then I could possibly die very quickly," she said.

"I could do a lot more from [Canada]."

Love for Canada with a calling for home

Despite their need to return or visit home, the three Ukrainians who spoke to CBC Toronto all expressed affection for Canada.        

"I'm very grateful for Canada, for everything that Canada has done for Ukrainians," said Balytska, citing in particular the access to English courses and the help of the Red Cross. 

But she doubled down on her decision to go back at the expense of her safety.

"We survived the Holodomor famine. We survived the First World War, the Second World War. We survived the Chornobyl tragedy," Balytska said.

"So, I mean," she chuckled, "we can survive practically anything."