“It is so much better here than I could even have imagined,” Zozulia said, a few hours before a weekday afternoon shift at the airport. “PAL even sent me to work in Wabush, and I saw the northern lights. It was amazing — the world stopped spinning — and I made a wish in that moment to bring my son here, and now he has been here with me for over a month.”Article content
“The Ukrainians have brought tens of millions of dollars’ worth of education, talents and skills with them,” Gerry Byrne, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Minister of Immigration, Population Growth and Skills, said. “They are already enriching our province.” Trainor and the province got talking, a plane was sourced and on May 9, the initial Poland-to-St. John’s, provincially sponsored airlift touched down with 166 Ukrainians on board, including a certain chatty Virgo.
PAL isn’t the only organization tapping into the Ukrainian talent pool. Fort Amherst Healthcare operates three assisted-care living facilities across the province, with two in St. John’s. COVID-19 exacerbated a pre-existing labour shortage in the care sector, but then along came the refugees. The tech sector, construction and building trades, large retail and wholesale outlets, shipping companies, hipster barbershops, restaurants, hotels and boutique inns have also all benefited from the influx of Ukrainians.Article content
“All we were thinking about was where we could be safe, and Canada represented a safe haven,” Oleh said. “This game made such a great impression on everyone,” Oleh said. “Danny said he wants to play hockey now.” About a quarter of the new arrivals have yet to find work, according to the province. The challenges include language, culture and made-in-Canada red tape, sometimes all three knotted together in a headache-inducing mess.Article content
In a past life, she was a commercial lawyer at a Chilean bank. She moved to St. John’s in 2016 with her husband, who was enrolled in graduate school. Saying her name was the extent of her English language skills.Article content