Huron County’s Immigration Partnership Coordinator says they’re very busy right now trying to help local communities prepare for newcomers from Ukraine that they expect to arrive soon.
Kristin Crane explains the process for people coming into Canada from the Ukraine is a departure from the usual process. She says Ukrainians coming to Canada could be coming because they met someone on social media who invited them to come here and offered them a place to stay, so it’s an entirely new process and Crane says the community has been very generous. But she says they’re trying to introduce some structure and streamline the process as much as possible.
Crane says the most important thing people should know is that there are free, government-funded services available to them.
“There are free government-funded settlement services. So you don’t have to do the work alone. You may be wondering and overwhelmed with what this looks like and the newcomers themselves are going to feel very overwhelmed. But the place to start is always be contacting settlement services.”
That information can be found on the Huron County Immigration Partnership web site and staff there can make the connection for newcomers.
Crane says all of the people she’s working with are very excited about the Ukrainians arriving. But she says, at this point, they don’t know how many people are coming.
“We don’t know how many people are coming and we don’t know when they’re coming, which is really tricky to prepare for, as a community, or as a school board or anybody who might have a role to play to support people.”
Crane suggests that anyone who is waiting for someone to arrive from Ukraine and is looking for more information can contact the Huron County Immigration Partnership.
