Farmers facing hurdles in hiring displaced Ukrainians: SARM

The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) say federal government red tape is making it difficult for farmers to hire displaced Ukrainians.

Those fleeing the war have been granted work permits in Canada but those entering agriculture face additional steps.

Andrii Stakhov, an employment liaison with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress is matching Saskatchewan farmers with displaced Ukrainians seeking farm work.

“They are in need to have somebody around and they are ready to pay good salary and sometimes they have housing so some people from Ukraine don’t need to worry about accommodation at all,” he said.

Ukraine is a wheat producing country and many of the new arrivals are highly skilled in agriculture. However, SARM says Ottawa is throwing red tape in the way.

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Ray Orb with SARM said the candidates are required to see a doctor in Canada but Saskatchewan only has nine doctors that are tasked with dealing with this.

“They need to have a chest x-ray, they need to have a blood test so this delays the process. Then after that’s done, there’s going to be a waiting period. They’re going to need to reapply again.”

In Regina, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress is helping 410 people get settled and 63 are employed already.

Ihor Osoba starts work Friday and his family is moving into a rental home this week.

“And they also started English classes. They’ve got two lessons done already and they’re pretty excited to learn English,” said Nataliia Osoba.

Newly arrived Ukrainians must meet special medical requirements to work with children, in healthcare and agriculture. Some provinces are pressuring the federal government to appoint more doctors to speed up the examination process.