Ukrainian newcomers in Edmonton scramble to find English classes as federal funding ends

Sarah Reid · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 15, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

Ukrainian newcomers successful Edmonton with temporary Canadian visas are seeking retired affordable English classes aft the national authorities ended its colony enactment backing astatine the extremity of March. 

The backing provided subsidized English classes for the past 2 years, which the Ukrainian Canadian Congress said are captious for the occurrence of newcomers successful Canada. 

"Many person arrived present with precise constricted oregon nary English," said UCC president Orysia Boychuk.  

"Without having the English classes, employment becomes highly challenging and it's besides precise hard to get into immoderate benignant of post-secondary acquisition for those who privation to proceed studying oregon instrumentality a trade."

Immigration, Refugees and Canadian Citizenship Canada provided the classes, but Boychuk said waitlists for the classes were six months to a twelvemonth long, meaning immoderate radical were ne'er actually placed successful a class.

"There was a precise constricted magnitude of entree to the program. So radical who really needed it and enrolled, galore person not received the training."

Boychuk said it tin instrumentality implicit a twelvemonth for newcomers to larn English good capable to consciousness comfy utilizing it at work oregon school. 

In a connection to CBC, the IRCC said the colony services, which besides included entree to colony workers who helped newcomers navigate authorities systems and capable retired paperwork "are typically reserved for imperishable residents and were intended to supply impermanent enactment to Ukrainians and their household members arsenic they adjusted to beingness successful Canada."

The connection goes connected to work "while federally funded colony services are nary longer available, galore Ukrainians whitethorn beryllium capable to entree akin programs and services done non-IRCC funded colony work providers, assemblage groups [and antithetic levels of section government]." 

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress said it is present trying to set to the changes and has started offering its ain connection classes.

Without entree to national programming, newcomers person constricted options, Boychuk said, and many trust connected assemblage organizations to supply affordable programs. English classes astatine backstage colleges can cost up to $4,000 for a four-month program. 

The request for English classes

The Islamic Family & Social Services Association provides enactment for newcomers and refugees and often faces challenges associated with entree to English classes. Omar Yaqub is the enforcement manager and said it's not lone astir ensuring determination is capable abstraction successful the classes. 

"When we're pushing radical into constricted options, we're often pushing them retired completely. If you archer a genitor who has to prime up a child that 3 p.m. is the lone clip they tin instrumentality a class, you are fundamentally telling them they can't instrumentality a class," said Yaqub. 

Yaqub said it's besides important for newcomers to statesman English classes wrong a fewer months of their arrival, different it tin pb to societal isolation and poverty. 

To assistance guarantee occurrence for newcomers, Yaqub said English acquisition should beryllium treated akin to the nationalist schoolhouse system. He wants to spot standardization and a program that some backstage and nationalist organizations tin follow. 

"If we privation to beryllium capable to proceed to grow, to proceed to beryllium prosperous, we request immigration. If we privation migration to beryllium successful, past we request our connection grooming to besides support up with the needs we see."