Share Hope and Prince George for Ukraine will be into its third year supporting Ukrainian refugees throughout the region.
Since the end of February 2022, 374 displaced Ukrainians have come to the region, with 271 being in Prince George, though year-over-year, the number of Ukrainians coming to the region has dropped.
The highest intake was 2023 with 142, down to 84 last year, which Community Volunteer, Charles Scott believes is due to the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel Visa program and policies.
“Canada issued 1.2 million emergency travel visas. 280 thousand of those visas resulted in Ukrainians coming to Canada, but it had an expiry date. You had to come by March 31st, 2024, and after that, it didn’t apply anymore.”
“That is certainly our belief as to why that has tapered off.”
Roughly 60 people have left Prince George to other cities in Canada for other jobs, with challenges being faced including finding jobs, mental health supports, English language class access, and transportation.
Tomorrow afternoon, Share Hope and Prince George for Ukraine will be hosting an event as a commemoration of the third anniversary of the Ukraine invasion.
“There’s also a film that talks about why the war happened. It’s important to understand that there’s a Russian side to the story, and that is that Ukraine provoked them. That’s not true.” says Scott.
“We are trying to make sure that facts are part of this discussion as well.”
The event will be at the Knox Performance Centre, with doors opening at 1:00pm, and is free for anyone to attend.
The previous story on the upcoming event can be found here.
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