Ukrainian Refugees

Like all of you, we at OCRA have watched with horror the civilian bombing campaign that started last February and the forced migration of Ukrainian families fleeing for safety outside their country. We wanted to help. However, the pathways for entry to Canada that were created for Ukrainians wanting to come to Canada were outside the refugee stream, which is what OCRA concentrates on, and the community response to this crisis was organized around Ukrainian community organizations, who effectively marshalled the housing and other settlement needs. We think the response of the government to the Ukrainian refugee need was well-tailored to the situation that Ukrainians fleeing their country faced. These pathways, and the existence of effective response from the Ukrainian community, meant that OCRA was unlikely to add value in a meaningful way. So, we stayed focused on the other refugee work we were doing.