Guelph gave Ukrainians reasons to stay

Some Ukrainians new to Guelph are having trouble finding a reason to go back home since there is nothing left for them to go back to.

Friends Nataliia Matkieieva and Oksana Shapovolova said if they didn’t come to Canada together they wouldn’t have come at all.

“Half of Ukrainians they are willing to move and they’re willing to leave the country but unfortunately they can’t,” said Shapovolva.

Ukraine is also suffering economically so people can’t afford to move, she said.

They said they are satisfied with their lives in Guelph because of all the support they received along the way.

Matkieieva and Shapovolova moved to Ariss with their children Sept. 28, 2022 after moving from Ukraine to Poland. Their host family got them settled and on Feb. 1, 2023 they moved to Guelph.

They both have jobs as babysitters, are involved in church activities and are learning English at St. Georges Centre for ESL. 

They have decided to stay in Guelph so their children Maryna, 16, and Mykola, 13, can continue their education. 

“Because until the moment that the war is over the kids will be already stable. They will probably have jobs here or they will start studying so they will be already settled,” said Matkieieva.

Kateryna Dolynchuk and her mom Liliia Muzychenko have known Matkieieva and Shapovolova for many years since they went to the same church in Ukraine. They suggested they leave Poland to come here. 

Dolynchuk didn’t have much of a choice but to come to Guelph after fleeing the war in Ukraine. She left behind family, friends and her education.

She was just six months away from completing her teaching degree when she came to Canada in March 2022. 

Her university told her she could either come back to Ukraine to keep studying or take her courses online with a seven hour time difference. Neither were feasible options for her. 

Initially she felt a bit embarrassed because she doesn’t have a degree. “But at the same time, I'm thinking that even if I had a degree, unfortunately it can’t help in Canada,” said Dolynchuk.

She would need to start a degree from scratch but would have to pay international student fees at the University of Guelph. That’s also not an option.

She’s been working at Walmart and in less than two years she has moved up from her position as cashier to be a customer service manager. 

The company paid for her to take a four month long course from McMaster University in human resources. 

Ukrainian families who came to Canada have a hard time just affording rent, a car, let alone international student tuition fees, said Father Andrij Figol of Holy Protection of the Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church. 

If Ontario decided to drop international fees for them it would be a big relief for families, he said.

Dolynchuk's mom was able to find her footing here too and works as a project manager for a construction company. 

Last year Dolynchuk’s grandparents Nataliia and Petro came to visit from Ukraine. Her grandmother said it was peaceful not to hear bombs going off. 

They have decided to move to Canada permanently since they are aging and all of their family is here.

Her grandparents didn’t leave when the war started because their life in Ukraine is all they knew. 

“Now its not safe at all,” said Dolynchuk. Since the start of the new year there have been shootings in Ukraine, she said.

“I don't know even where to go right now. Even if the war is over right now in this second, a lot of money and efforts will be put to rebuild the country,” she said.

It would be like starting from scratch again.

There is nothing in Ukraine for Shapovolova to go back to either. She said her city Ochakov was bombed along with her house. 

She has two older sons in their thirties but since their lives in Ukraine are already established with wives and children she doesn’t feel the need to go back.

She said the drone factory where her sons work was bombed.

“Pretty much all the time they are sitting in (the) basement and hiding from the bombs and rockets, because Russia is bombing everything and everywhere,” said Shapovolova.

There were roughly five Ukrainian families in the Guelph community who went back to Ukraine in the summer to visit, said Figol.

“Imagine you’re going back to your hometown which is under siege … under attack. But it’s your home. Of course it’s not safe,” said Figol.

The families told him it was nice to be with their loved ones that they missed so much.

“It sort of gave them a sense that they have a mission in Canada as well. To be grateful to Canada for supporting and having communities to be part of and to continue to support their families there by contributing here,” said Figol.

They have this sense of home in Ukraine but home is here too, he said.

Matkieieva’s husband is a soldier in Ukraine and when he was fighting there would be days at a time she couldn’t get a hold of him.

“And that is the most scary when you just don't know what actually happened. If the person is alive or not and you're just waiting for that message,” she said.

She and her daughter might go back to Ukraine for him but it will probably be easier for him to come here, they said. 

She has a friend from Ukraine who came with her daughter to Canada but had to move back six months ago because she couldn’t afford to live here as a single mother.

Dolynchuk mentioned the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) is coming to an end so they don’t know what the government will do after that.

CUAET is a program that allows Ukrainians to have temporary status so they can work and live in the country. It ends on Mar. 31, 2024.

While reflecting on the last couple of years Matkieieva and Shapovolova had tears in their eyes.

“Imagine now you're going into the naked field. And you have to leave there for at least a day,” said Shapovolva. That is how she feels about Ukraine. There is nothing there and she would have to try and survive, she said.