A Ukrainian family forced to immigrate to Canada in late May is desperately looking for housing in Toronto, as their free hotel accommodation ends on Friday.
In a written and translated statement to CTV News Toronto, Alexander Lebedyuk, a high school student, said his family came from Kyiv’s Obolon district.
“I studied at the 93rd Kiev specialized school with an English orientation,” he said. “My father and I moved [there] from Odessa region after the New Year ”.
On the morning of February 24, Lebedyuk was scheduled to attend a physiotherapy class at a local hospital, but instead recalled that his home had been shaken by explosions the night before.
“We woke up at night and they told us to go down to the basement,” he said. “There were explosions.”
Lebedyuk’s sister, who was studying at the Yaroslav the Wise National Law University in Kharkiv at the time, failed to leave the city and took refuge in the basement of an acquaintance. There, Lebedyuk said she had 11 days left until stocks ran out. After the shelling subsided, Lebedyuk said she had managed to board a train back to Kyiv and reunite with her family.
The Lebedyuk Family (provided by Alexander Lebedyuk)
Lebedyuk, along with his sister and father, traveled 10 hours to Lviv, where they boarded an evacuation train across the Polish border, he said.
“Arriving in Poland, we were impressed by their hospitality, where refugee camps from Ukraine were organized,” he said. “[We were] taking into account basic needs and more. “
However, as Poland faces an influx of refugees, Lebedyuk said his family has decided to continue their journey and emigrate to Canada, staying in Belgium for a short time.
“We decided to immigrate to Canada because we knew Canada had the strongest Ukrainian diaspora,” he said. “We also heard on the news that Canada has always supported Ukraine.
However, when the Lebedyuk family arrived in Toronto, they were greeted with “reality,” he said. two weeks. After that, they will have to organize their own housing, Lebedyuk explained.
In April, the Canadian government announced a series of measures designed to make it easier for Ukrainians fleeing the war to come to Canada. These include targeted charter flights, two weeks of free check-in and short-term income support, among others.
Lebedyuk says he and his father were looking for work, but without an address they found the search challenging.
“Without [an] address to specify in various job applications is impossible [to get hired]” he said. – We need housing.
“It seems paradoxical that Canada has said it will accept an unlimited number of Ukrainians, [while] at the same time, Poland is several times economically weaker than Canada and has already accepted millions of refugees without leaving Ukrainians on the streets. he said.
Lebedyuk said his family had kept in touch with the Canadian Society for the Aid of Ukrainian Immigrants, which helped them extend their initial stay by a few days longer. The family can now stay at their motel until Friday, they said.
Meanwhile, Lebedyuk and his father took to the streets of Toronto, putting up signs reading “Family in Ukraine. We need housing where they can.
“So far, we have a positive view of Canada,” he said, “but we really need housing.”
One of the Lebedyuk posters hung on Bloor Street West (Abbey Neufeld / CTV Toronto)
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