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OTTAWA — Canada’s immigration department says it still expects Ukrainians who fled the war with Russia to return to their home country once the conflict ends.
That’s in spite of comments from Immigration Minister Lena Diab, who recently acknowledged that many Ukrainians who came to Canada on temporary visas are here to stay.
“Canada and the people that made the decision felt that it would be temporary, which is why they were called temporary programs. We now know it’s not temporary,” Diab said in a Jan. 26 interview with The Canadian Press.
“They’ve been here for X number of years, and for the most part, people are working, they’re building a life, they have children and so on. So I understand that.”
The Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel, or CUAET visa, offered three-year work and study permits for those fleeing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
These visa holders have a March 31 deadline to apply for an extension, as the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion quickly approaches. CUAET visas will still be valid while applications are being processed.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada currently has Ukraine on its list of countries that it does not deport people to due to the ongoing war.
Nearly 300,000 Ukrainians came to Canada on these temporary work and study permits.
While Diab said that she knows some Ukrainians on temporary visas are here to stay, her communications director, Laura Blondeau, said in a statement that the expectation is CUAET visa holders return home when it is safe to do so.
“Those who have come to Canada through the CUAET have access to existing PR pathways, and many have already accessed them,” Blondeau said in a statement.
“Across lines of business, IRCC has received thousands of applications for permanent residence from Ukrainians.”
IRCC data shows that about 2,500 CUAET visa holders have become permanent residents.
Over 25,000 CUAET visa holders applied through permanent residency through a temporary stream for those with family who were either Canadian citizens or permanent residents, which closed in October 2024.
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress is one of the groups pushing for a dedicated permanent residency stream for these visa-holders, as many don’t have enough points to qualify through Canada’s express entry system.
Ihor Michalchyshyn, Ukrainian Canadian Congress CEO, said his organization is trying to get the government and minister to focus on the human element of their permanent residency push.
“They’re building their lives in Canada, but they’re sort of stuck in this temporary limbo, temporary permanent status. And so we’re trying to propose to the government and to the minister that there is a pathway to allow these people to seek permanent residence in a more expedited way,” Michalchyshyn said Monday.
“It’s not citizenship, it’s permanent residency. Which does give them more options and better status in Canada.”
For example, permanent residents pay domestic tuition rates at post-secondary institutions instead of costs that are four to five times higher for international students.
Canada is reducing the number of permanent residents it is admitting compared to recent years and there is an extensive list of applications.
The wait time for those seeking permanent residency in humanitarian and compassionate cases is more than 10 years.
Michalchyshyn said “ridiculous is not even the right word” to describe this wait time, and is hopeful that some kind of technological or policy change can reduce this wait time.
“I don’t think living on a temporary status for 10 years or more is a realistic way for people to build their lives here,” Michalchyshyn said.
Diab previously said that she’s pushed her provincial counterparts to consider Ukrainians for permanent residency spots in the provincial nominee program. A permanent residency application submitted through this stream in January only has a six-month wait time.
Roksolana Kryshtanovych, a spokesperson for United Ukrainians for Canada Foundation, previously told The Canadian Press that many CUAET visa holders aren’t in jobs that meet provincial nominee program requirements or don’t have enough points to qualify for express entry.
She said in a statement Monday that Ukrainians are grateful for the CUAET program, but said a permanent residency pathway is a natural evolution to the temporary program after four years of war.
Blondeau said the department is unable to speculate on potential policy changes.
Diab previously said making a new permanent residency pathway is a challenge, but the human impact the uncertainty facing CUAET visa holders is not lost on her.
“We will continue to look at that because we know we have to, and we know it’s the right thing to do,” Diab said on Jan. 26. “Not just for Ukrainians, but we have others also that could be in the same or similar situations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2026.
David Baxter, The Canadian Press
