A Ukrainian woman who fled the war at 16 fears having to return to her country because she falls through all the immigration cracks due to her young age, a “heartbreaking” situation for her family.
“Before coming, I said to myself: if I go, I stay [au Québec]“, says Mariia Nasedkyna, 18 years old.
She confided in Newspaper with ease in French, whereas she did not know a word of this language a little over a year ago.
Every day, she goes to her French classes. She also works part-time as a saleswoman in a clothing store. She has just passed her driving theory test, she mentions with a smile of pride.
“My family is doing everything possible so that I can stay […] but I am too young to be a qualified worker,” she laments.
When she talks about her family, she refers to her first cousin and her partner, who welcomed her with open arms into their home in Terrebonne in December 2022.
She was only 16 years old then. His parents, both doctors, remained in Ukraine. She also dreams of one day working in the health field.
She has, in a way, become the big sister to her little cousins aged 6 and 8. “She’s like our daughter,” says her cousin Olexandra Nasyedkina, 37, who immigrated to Quebec with her parents two decades ago.
Mariia Nasedkyna with her cousin Olexandra Nasyedkina, in their home in Terrebonne.
Photo Ben Pelosse
However, their relationship does not fit into any of the boxes of Immigration Canada’s family reunification program, which would allow him to obtain permanent residence.
Instead, Mariia would have had to be welcomed by a half-sister, an aunt or a grandmother, for example.
“It’s heartbreaking because there are programs, but she falls into the gaps, even if she fits in really well,” says Ms. Nasyedkina.
40 km from the front
Mariia Nasedkyna lived the life of a normal teenager in Kharkiv, about forty kilometers from the Russian border. She was in year 10, the equivalent of secondary 4 here.
“I think there’s a little problem,” she told her parents on February 24, 2022, when she saw explosions outside her window at the time of the invasion.
Over the next few months, she moved three times, hoping to escape the bombings and lack of heating, but in vain.
“We have to get her out of there,” Ms. Nasyedkina remembers saying on the phone, as she heard the explosions on the other end of the line.
Mariia obtained a visa under the Canada-Ukraine Emergency Travel Authorization and then a work permit, which will expire in December 2025.
Race against time
The program was designed as an expedited temporary residency pathway, not a permanent immigration pathway, Immigration Canada said by email.
However, the war is far from over and for many Ukrainian nationals, uncertainty reigns. To stay, they would have to enroll in a program as workers or students in the medium term.
Mariia does not yet have a diploma. She must first complete her French education and then complete her secondary education in French to possibly be admitted to a professional studies program (DEP) and thus hope to obtain her permanent residence, which can take many months.
“It’s a race against time,” summarizes Ms. Nasyedkina.
Controversial thresholds
Currently, there is no specific federal pathway that would allow Ukrainians to obtain permanent residence, unless they are sponsored by a family member, explains Stephan Reichhold, director of the Table de concertation des organizations serving refugees and immigrants.
In addition, the bickering that currently exists between the provincial Minister of Immigration Christine Fréchette and her federal counterpart Marc Miller over the thresholds for family reunification risks compromising the possibility for several Ukrainians to be sponsored, fears Mr. Reichhold .
Ms. Nasyedkina understands the current debates around the resources needed to welcome immigrants.
“But people like Mariia, they don’t require a lot of resources. We are the resource.”