While dozens of Ukrainian families are expected in the coming days, the City of Montreal is setting up a system to manage offers from citizens who would like to host refugees in their homes.
Posted at 1:03 p.m.
Future host families will have to show their credentials: they will be subject to a criminal background check and will have to prove that they have enough space in their home to receive refugees.
“Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, we have all witnessed the great generosity of Montrealers. The Ukrainian Canadian Congress has been inundated with donations of all kinds, but it has also received hundreds of accommodation offers from citizens,” explained Nadia Bastien, Director of the Diversity and Social Inclusion Department. to the City of Montreal, Wednesday during the meeting of the executive committee.
She specifies that 400 people have already offered to receive new arrivals in their homes.
A charter flight organized to evacuate Ukrainian nationals will land in Montreal on May 29.
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress has therefore asked the City to support it in this regard.
On the organization’s website, citizens will be able to offer their services to accommodate refugees.
Then, the Montreal Newcomer Integration Office (BINAM) will take care of sending them a form to fill out, to find out, for example, the size of the accommodation. It will then sort the offers as needed.
“We will prioritize the offers according to certain criteria, such as free, the duration of the lease – we are aiming for a minimum period of three months – and finally access to complete housing, in priority over offers of colocation”, relates Mme Bastien.
After this prioritization, the criminal records of citizens will be checked by the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal or by a private firm.
Twenty-three organizations specializing in welcoming newcomers will have access to the bank of accommodation offers. The organizations will then contact the hosts to ascertain their motivation and inform them of the implications of this type of reception, then to put them in touch with the Ukrainian families.
A colocation charter must finally be signed between the volunteers and the beneficiaries.
Such a process does not currently exist anywhere in Canada, says Nadine Bastien. “Currently, there are Ukrainian nationals who come into direct contact with bidders via social networks, with all that that may imply and all that it may generate,” she underlines.
“This system will make it possible to ensure the health and safety of immigrants while specifying the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder,” assures city councilor Josefina Blanco, responsible for diversity on the executive committee.
The federal government will provide temporary accommodation for up to 14 nights to Ukrainian nationals who are on charter flights and who do not already have adequate accommodation upon arrival.