Local group helping Ukrainians find homes in rural, northern communities

A local group of volunteers is helping more newcomers look for housing in rural and northern places as the federal government recently extended the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) program past the summer deadline.

The co-founder and organizer of the Waterloo Region Grassroots Response to the Ukrainian Crisis, Stephanie Goertz, was on The Mike Farwell Show July 15 to talk about how they have found success with rural locations like Hespeler or the St. Jacobs House.   

“It’s not really necessarily the Ukrainians that are coming in new into the country, it’s the people who have been here for a year or two, and are still struggling and still trying to find employment or housing are about to become homeless. It’s the families with young children who just can’t get enough money to support themselves,” she said.

“We currently have 18 applications with us right now that need housing in the next two weeks. That’s over 45 people that we’re trying to scramble for, so we’re always looking for new opportunities, new ways, new partnerships, new hosts and new locations.”

Goertz said rural communities tend to come together faster for newcomers, providing more well-rounded support for them. Currently, the organization is helping Ukrainians navigate the pathway to become a permanent resident, utilizing the pilot program the federal government implemented.

Goertz said many of them are highly educated and come with a wealth of experience but they lack proper English speaking skills which hinder their abilities to find work.

According to numbers from Immigration.ca by the end of last year 4,595 newcomers attained their permanent residence through the RNIP. Ontario had one of the highest numbers at 1,865 in 2023 and British Columbia had 665 new permanent residents.

Just in January this year, the RNIP welcomed 680 new permanent residents through the program.

A full list of what communities must do, or a newcomer must do to be part of the program can be found online.

The participating communities in the pilot program include:

North Bay, Ont., Sudbury, Ont., Timmins, Ont., Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Thunder Bay, Ont., Brandon, Man., Altona/Rhineland, Man., Moose Jaw, Sask., Claresholm, Alta., Vernon, B.C., and West Kootenay, B.C.