In the midst of the Russian invasion, Oleksandra Balytska landed a remote job in Kyiv with a Canadian artificial intelligence start-up, hoping to support her family.
But last fall, when the capital city was plunged into darkness amid attacks on Ukraine’s power systems, Balytska’s employer invited her to move to Toronto.
When Balytska landed in Toronto last December, she was immediately shocked by the cost of groceries.
“I was so terrified that I bought only like two ramens because of the prices,” she said.
Balytska was one of 60,000 Ukrainians who emigrated to Ontario under the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) program due to the war. Under the federal program, each adult is eligible for a one-time payment of $3,000, while families with children can get an additional $1,500 for each child.
But in a city like Toronto, that sum quickly disappeared. Balytska says she was asked for three months of rent upfront, while some of her friends were asked for more.
Then, half a year later, Balytska was laid off from the same company that invited her to Canada. After seeing the “brutal” job market where she says she had to compete with hundreds of applicants for a position, she decided it was time to return home.
“I’ve traded safety for my comfort,” she said.
Unclear how many have returned
Balytska isn’t alone.
Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) told CBC News it “does not track outbound travellers holding valid travel documents to enter Canada.”
However, Andrei Zavialov, a settlement worker with the Ukrainian Canadian Social Services Toronto, told CBC News he personally knows of about 15 Ukrainians who have returned home from the Greater Toronto Area already.
Zavialov recently surveyed 734 CUAET visa holders in the Toronto area and found 40.2 per cent of respondents said they would do “everything they can” to permanently stay in Canada.
Meanwhile, 4.9 per cent of respondents said they would return to Ukraine — and 4.7 per cent to Europe — “at the first opportunity.” Another 11.6 per cent said they would go back to Ukraine only when the war is over, with the rest still unsure.
Zavialov’s survey found “parents, family, and relatives” were the main factor motivating respondents to go back. Other motivating factors included love for their homes and missing life in Ukraine.
Desire to return stronger than fear of war
For Yehor Horenych, a 17-year-old student from the central city of Dnipro, the pull to return home was stronger than the fear of falling bombs.
Horenych’s mother sent him to Vaughan in April 2022 so that he could live with his aunt in safety. But after spending two months in the GTA, he said he felt “limited” and homesick.