An Appeal to Host a Ukrainian Family

Ukrainians who have been displaced by the current conflict in Ukraine war have not been designated as refugees by the Canadian federal government.  As a consequence of this decision, the Archdiocese of Toronto is not able to sponsor Ukrainians through Canada’s Private Sponsorship of Refugee’s program.  Instead, Canadians are asked to consider hosting Ukrainian families who have arrived to Canada under the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) program. With over 200,000 having already arrived, most arriving to Toronto, and a further 800,000 who have applied to the program and who are expected to arrive in the coming months, the need is great.

There is a significant concern that some who are arriving, who do not have family here in Canada to help them, will be particularly vulnerable to human trafficking, especially seniors, single women, and women with children.  The need for Canadians to host is even more urgent when considering Toronto’s tight rental market and the absence of adequate government supports.

It is important to note that the hosting program is distinct from the refugee sponsorship program, in which a parish community enters into a legal agreement with Immigration Canada to settle a refugee family over the course of 12 months.  Instead, the hosting program takes its inspiration from Poland’s response to the millions of Ukrainians fleeing the conflict zone, where Polish citizens opened their homes to those who have fled.  In this case, the host determines the type of family that they are able to host and the duration of the hosting situation.

While ORAT is not able to offer its own hosting program, we would like to inform interested parishioners via a virtual webinar about the various aspects of hosting.  At the conclusion of the webinar we will be directing attendees to contact a Non-Governmental-Organization (NGO) that is undertaking this work.

If you would like to learn more about hosting, please provide your name and contact information on above form.  An email will be sent to you inviting you to attend a virtual information session on hosting.