Ukrainians worry as their three-year emergency visas soon expire

OTTAWA — The Ukrainian Canadian Congress is warning that many of the 300,000 Ukrainians who arrived in Canada under three-year emergency visas face an uncertain future because their temporary residencies are about to expire.

Executive Director Ihor Michalchyshyn says he met with Immigration Minister Marc Miller last week to ask his department to automatically renew the visas for another three years.

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Miller said last week that the Ukrainians must apply for an extension to a working permit or a student visa in order to stay longer as temporary residents.

The minister said that while he would not force the Ukrainians to go back to a war zone, he was not ready to grant permanent residency to all 300,000 who arrived under the Canada–Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel.

The federal government launched that immigration program in March 2022 and it expired two years later.

In a letter sent to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, the government of Newfoundland and Labrador says it supports an automatic extension of the emergency visas until March 31, 2028.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 29, 2025.

Émilie Bergeron, The Canadian Press