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https://www.sciendo.com/journal/MHGCJ ISSN 2612-2138
Ukrainian Canadian Newcomers’ Stories, Hopes,
and Dreams: Adapting to a New Multicultural
Reality
Maureen P. Flaherty, Yuliia Ivaniuk
University of Mannitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
Abstract
Introduction: This paper focuses on the experiences of thirty-three newcomer Ukrainian
Canadians as they adapt to their new multicultural reality in Canada. Challenges of leaving home
and adjusting are studied along with changes to identity and strategies of resilience.
Purpose: Using a mental health and peace building lens, we hope that our findings will inform
better understanding of newcomer struggles, hopes and dreams and can be helpful in
transforming existing injustices in Canada’s vibrant multicultural society towards positive peace
Methodology: Supported by a document search that supplies the broader context, the heart of
the research is based on individual narrative interviews conducted in 2020/2021 with grassroot
Ukrainian Canadians who immigrated to Canada as adults before Russia’s overt invasion of
Ukraine. The experiences of these modern newcomer research participants are viewed through a
peacebuilding and mental health lens.
Results: While coming from the same country in a relatively short period of history, study
participants were found to be a multivariate group. There were often competing needs for
personal growth, security (economic and physical) and belonging. Major challenges upon arrival in
their new home also varied. Along with some downshift in employment status, they experienced
challenges to identity, language, finances, cultural adaptation, along with loneliness and sadness
at leaving their homeland. They shared personal resilience strategies. Participants shared hopes
and dreams for themselves, Ukraine, and Canada ,along with advice for others considering the
journey.
Conclusion: As Canada’s ethnic and cultural makeup continues to evolve through embracing our
current multicultural population accepting increasing numbers of immigrants, newcomers’
experiences and their integration become important aspects of the multiculturalism debate which
acknowledges the importance of developing harmonious relationships between Canada’s new
and older settler population and the Indigenous people who share this land. This study highlights
the importance of newcomers engaging in cross-cultural experiences, while considering one’s
own identity at home and in community.
Keywords
mental health, immigration, identity, cross-culture, transformative experiences, positive peace
Address for correspondence:
Maureen P. Flaherty, PhD, Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Mannitoba,
Winnipeg, Canada
Email: Maureen.Flaherty@umanitoba.ca
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International
License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
©Copyright: Flaherty, Ivaniuk, 2023
Publisher: Sciendo (De Gruyter)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56508/mhgcj.v6i1.158
Submitted for publication:
18 January 2023
Revised: 06 April 2022
Accepted for publication:
20 April 2023
5
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Introduction
The health, strength and positive peace of a
community depends upon the health and inclusion
of all individuals within that community (World
Health Organization 2014). In our global world, we
were interested in considering the inclusion of the
people closest to us, believing that the stories of
their adaptation to a new country and society
might offer clues for peaceful inclusion of other
newcomers to not only Canada, but also other
countries integrating immigrants. While numerous
written resources document the stories of well-
known Canadian Ukrainian scholars, politicians,
and other more public figures, little is written about
the experience of the "every day" Canadian
Ukrainian, the grassroots people who immigrated
to Canada in different waves, since the end of the
19th century. The University of Manitoba (UM)
has a collection of audio-interviews with first wave
pioneers from Ukraine, as collected by Michael
Ewanchuk; however, at least four waves of
immigration have been identified (Isajiw,
Satzewich, & Duvalko, 2002) including the last
wave following Independence. Some argue that a
smaller group who moved following the
occupation of Crimea by Russia and the outbreak
of armed conflict in the East of Ukraine made up a
fifth wave (Klokiw 2020). Different motives
propelled the new Canadians who met a variety of
challenges along their way, both in Ukraine and
as they reached their new homeland, Canada.
Many Canadian Ukrainians still identify very
strongly with Ukraine as evidenced by the
numerous and strong cultural traditions seen in
song and dance troupes, Ukrainian language
schools, and non-governmental organizations that
continue to share Ukrainian cultural traditions and
support Ukraine itself, as a country. Still, the
Canadian Ukrainian community is not
homogenous; that is, there is not one
heterogenous group of people known as
Ukrainian Canadians.
Like any group of people, there are
different histories, educational backgrounds, and
political interests amongst the members, and
certainly not one vision for the future. While many
in the earliest waves made their homes in block
settlements, thus contributing to the possibility for
a stronger sense of Ukrainian Canadian identity
(Momryk 1993), this is no longer usually the case.
As such, some worry that the notion of Canadian
Ukrainian as an identity will be lost unless the
community can unify around a common cause
(Grekul 2005), even though agreement on politics
and other issues has not been a theme in much of
Ukrainian Canadian history (See, for example,
Luciuk & Hryniuk, 1991).
Context
The country known as Canada was formed by
settlers who essentially invaded the territory of
Indigenous nations inhabiting this northern section
of what is North America – otherwise known as
Turtle Island (Robinson 2018). On a web page
meant to inform newcomer Canadians, the
Government of Canada notes, "When Europeans
explored Canada, they found all regions occupied
by native peoples they called Indians, because
the first explorers thought they had reached the
East Indies" (Government of Canada, 2015 para
1). Vikings from Iceland colonized Greenland and
the island that became Newfoundland and
Labrador almost a thousand years ago; the first
European settlers came largely from England and
France in 1497 and later. The territory eventually
named as Canada was declared to be a
confederation, the Dominion of Canada, in 1867,
divided at that time into four provinces: Nova
Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario. By
1999, the Dominion had an additional six
provinces and three territories (Government of
Canada, 2015).
The first Ukrainian settlers, Galicians,
Bukovinians, or Ruthenians came to Canada in
the 1890s and the early years of the twentieth
century in tens of thousands, welcomed by an
immigration policy, an effort of the Laurier
government to fill the Canadian West (Mochoruk
and Hinther 2011). Further waves followed in the
interwar period and then again after the Second
World War when people who had been displaced
from their homeland began to arrive, some directly
from their homes and others via displaced
persons camps (Mochoruk and Hinther 2011)
often British and American in occupied Germany
(Luciuk 1986). These people, thrown together in
internment camps, were from differing areas of
Ukraine, and had their own varied experiences
and ideologies and their integration into Canadian
host communities also varied. Kunz, (as cited in
Luciuk, 1986) notes, “possibly no other host factor
has more influence on the satisfactory
resettlement of refugees than compatibility
between the refugees’ background and that of the
receiving population” (Luciuk, 1986, p. 467). Near
the hundredth anniversary mark of the first wave
of Ukrainian immigration to Canada, Frances
Swyripa (1993) explains that much of the early
literary representation of Ukrainian Canadians
tends to highlight the role of settler or “tamer” of
the wild west of Canada and a somewhat
monolithic, strong community, usually based on
the male experience. Swyripa (1993) and Orest
Martynowych (1991) provide more nuances to this
history. Despite originating from a rather small
geographic area, Ukrainian Canadians’, who now
are both urban and rural dwellers are diverse and
complex in their community organizations,
religious beliefs, and political views. See for
example, Orest Martynowych’s, Sympathy for the
Devil: The attitude of Ukrainian war veterans in
Canada to Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1933-
1939 (Marynowych 2011) as well as the writing of
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Jim Mochoruk (2011), and Andrij Makuch (2011).
Others who document strife and conflict common
across ethnicities include Stacey Zembrzycki
(Zembrzycki 2011) who writes about issues of
domestic violence, and Lindy Ledohowski who
highlights challenges of mixed ethnicity identities
often found in Canada in her work, ‘A vaguely
divided guilt’: The Aboriginal Ukrainian
(Ledohowski 2011).
Still, with breath comes change and Suzanna
Lynn (2016) argues that little research has been
done on how post-Independence immigrants from
Ukraine to Canada interact with already-
established communities in Canada, and her
somewhat small study points to attitudinal and
linguistic preferencial differences between
‘diasporic’ Ukrainian Canadians and those who
came post Ukrainian Indpeneence.
More recent trends
Andrij Makuch’s 2002 study of Ukrainians who
came to Canada from 1991 to 2001, examines
both the academic achievements and religious
affiliation of the newcomers as well as their
involvement in the community. Makuch concludes
that, unlike many of their predecessors,
newcomers have not linked themselves to the
Ukrainian Canadian community in a significant
way and tend to show a low level of participation
in Ukrainian community organisations and events
(Makuch, 2002). Oleksandr Kondrashov (2008),
in his MA thesis, explores the fourth wave of
Ukrainian immigration to Canada, which in his
interpretation started in 1991 and was still ongoing
during the period of his study (Kondrashov 2008).
Kondrashov’s findings related to community
engagement, stress the importance of family and
friends’ support for the adaptation process. Similar
to Makuch’s observation, Kondrashov notes that
ten out of sixteen respondents in his study
indicated that their involvement in the Ukrainian
community work was extremely low due to their
primary concern being securing employment and
taking care of family. Some of Kondrashov’s
respondents attributed lack of support to
newcomers from the Ukrainian community to the
economic reasons that served as a driving force
toward the fourth wave’s immigration, as opposed
to politically driven immigration that previous
waves experienced. Kondrashov’s findings also
indicate that people who were fluent in English
preferred receiving help and information from non-
Ukrainian institutions, such as immigration
services or universities, as opposed to trying to
engage with the Ukrainian community’s support.
At the same time, respondents indicated that
there was often misunderstanding between the
receiving Ukrainian community and the Ukrainian
newcomers due to newcomers’ level of
expectations towards the existing community
being too high without an expectation to help in
return (Kondrashov, 2008).
Olesya Khromeychuk’s personal essay
devoted to Ukraine’s thirtieth anniversary of
independence depicts the differences in
perceptions of “true Ukrainianness” between the
unwilling immigrants who came to the UK in the
post-World War II period and the economic
immigrants, Ukrainians from Ukraine, who came
after the collapse of the USSR (Khromeychuk
2021). Khromeychuk discusses the existing notion
that “true Ukrainians” are those who were forced
to leave their country as opposed to those who left
willingly, although the term “willingly” may be
debated. She acknowledges the cultural,
linguistic, and perceptional gap between the
different waves of Ukrainian immigrants and
typifies identity challenges that immigrants in the
1990s faced, not only getting used to the new
country, but also having to defend their love for
Ukraine in the eyes of immigrants from earlier
waves. Khromeychuk’s experience situated in the
UK mimics Kondrashov’s findings in Canada.
Alla Nedashkivska (2018) analyses the
processes and transformations in language
preferences practiced by the so-called sixth wave,
Ukrainian immigrants who arrived in Canada after
the 2014 Revolution of Dignity . Nedashkivska
emphasizes that the sixth wave of immigration
diverges from the previous five waves in terms of
linguistic practices due to the fact that a
substantial number of immigrants arrived from
Eastern Ukraine and Crimea, unlike the previous
waves where immigrants from western Ukraine
were prevalent. Through conducting social media
analyses and interviews, Nedashkivska concludes
that code-switching and language practices were
used by the speakers to build connections with
the hosting Ukrainian community. Thus, multiple
participants whose first language was Russian
resorted to code-switching while communicating in
the Ukrainian social media pages and even
insisted their children learn Ukrainian as opposed
to Russian as their second/third language, and
this was post-immigration (Nedashkivska 2018).
Purpose
This article describes a research project
piloted to collect oral histories of Ukrainian
Canadians from different, more recent waves, to
learn about challenges they have met and
overcome and what factors sustained them,
building resilience. The specific research
questions for this project were: What brought the
participants to Canada? What major challenges
have they had in settling? What keeps them here?
What keeps them going through hard times? How,
if at all, do the hopes and dreams for Ukraine vary
dependent upon the time spent in Canada/time
away from Ukraine/ their reasoning and timing in
coming to Canada? What are their hopes and
dreams for themselves and their new country?
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Methodology
This study uses a feminist lens of appreciative
inquiry to approach our research. Our tools are
qualitative mixed methods. Appreciative inquiry,
while often criticized for being an overly positive
approach, has been acknowledged as a
particularly respectful way to explore experiences
and possibilities (Hung, et al. 2018). Bushe (2011)
reminds that this approach does not ignore what
may be considered negative; rather it allows for
open dialogue about experiences. We wanted to
acknowledge differences in people’s experiences
noting that one does not negate another.
Participants and Recruitment
For this pilot project, we planned to interview
approximately 40 participants 18 years of age and
older who immigrated to Canada as adults and
had obtained at least permanent residency status.
We attempted to find a gender balance, and to
interview people across the age spectrum.
Initially, participants were to be residents of
Manitoba, as we planned to do in-person
interviews.
We used both a snowball approach as
described in Bogdan and Biklen (Bogdan and
Biklen 2006) and advertising through posters.
Snowball sampling is a kind of chain referral of
one participant who then usually tells another
about the study and each contacts the main
directly researcher to participate. This is a type of
non-probability sampling used when participants
may be otherwise hard to find. In this case, we
relied on people having acquaintances who have
some community connection.
Advertisements told people about the
study asked prospective participants to contact
the researchers regarding their interest in the
research. These advertisements were placed on
different Facebook pages including the Centre for
Ukrainian Canadian Studies (located at the
University of Manitoba Facebook page, at
Oseredok Ukrainian Cultural and Educational
Centre (Oseredok Ukrains'koi Kul'tury i Osvity/
Oserekok), Ukrainians in Canada, Ukrainians in
Manitoba, Ukrainians in BC, Ukrainians in
Toronto, Ukrainians in Alberta. Through these
posters, prospective participants were invited to
contact researchers by telephone or email
indicating their interest in participation. The
research was approved by the Research Ethics
Board (REB) of the University of Manitoba. When
COVID-19 struck, researcher had to again seek
ethics approval to change the format of the
interviews to audio-taped ZOOM interviews, which
finally began in fall of 2020.
Ethical Considerations and Challenges
The anonymity of our participants was
maintained unless they requested otherwise,
though as part of the informed consent process,
we sought permission from the participants to
keep their audio-recordings in a digital archive to
be kept at either Oseredok or the University of
Manitoba; however, this was not a requirement for
participation in the research. Post-interview,
participants were given a copy of their transcript
for their own review, understanding that it is
common for people to not have fully shared their
stories, or to perhaps edit themselves a bit.
Encrypted audio files of the interviews were
shared, via registered mail with participants who
wanted them. Most interviews lasted at least an
hour, though some went much longer. Although
there were challenges with virtual interviews, this
format did allow participation from different
corners of Canada, and even one participant
spoke with us while visiting family in Ukraine.
Interviews were conducted in Ukrainian and in
English, the participant’s choice.
Data collection and analysis
Interviews began with our thirty-three
participants being asked to talk about what they
knew oftheir family’s life circumstances around the
time that they were born, grounding the participant
in their history. Participants from previous studies
said that beginning personal interviews with
reflection on history pre-birth helps and then move
forward in reflection assists the individual connect
with their own values and strengths (Flaherty,
2012; Flaherty, 2016). Participants were then
asked about their life growing up, including school
experiences, what their life was like coming to
adulthood and then what made them decide to
come to Canada. They were asked to talk a bit
about the decision-making process, the process of
moving to Canada, and their experiences upon
arrival and settling in. Participants then spoke
about their challenges, joys and surprises
adapting to life in Canada. They spoke also about
their present situations as well as their dreams for
themselves and their families. Towards the end of
the interview, participants were invited to share
their hopes for Ukraine and for Canada. They
were asked to speak about what gets them
through hard times as well. Interviews ended by
summarizing the content of the contact and asking
participants if they had any questions about the
research or the processes involved.
In analyzing the responses to these
questions, as peace and conflict studies scholars,
we found our best explanations in theories related
to identity, (for example Cook-Huffman, 2015;
Verkuten, 2018), cultural tightness and looseness
(Gelfand, 2011), and of course, basic needs
theories (Burton, 1979; Marker, 2003).
Situating ourselves in the research
[Author 1]: I was born, raised, and obtained
most of my education in Ukraine. I moved to
Canada in 2016 to pursue my Masters’ Degree in
Peace and Conflict Studies and upon completing
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my studies continued my employment journey in
Canada. As a newcomer and a researcher, I was
impressed by the richness of the contributions of
Ukrainian immigrants to Canada’s social, political,
and economic fabric, and by the divergence of
historic roles, attitudes, and perceptions that
Ukrainians have assumed not only during different
waves of immigration but also between those
waves. I have participated in this project not only
as an interviewer and a co-researcher but also as
one of the interviewees, and this participation has
allowed me to contextualize my personal story
within the project.
[Author 2]: I was born and raised in Canadian
National Railway stations in small prairie villages
and towns in Canada. My earliest memories are of
being the only non-Ukrainian or Polish family in
Warspite, Alberta, adopted, in a way by those who
surrounded our large family, supporting my
parents both concretely and emotionally. In 1999
my first trip abroad was to Ukraine to participate in
developing a Social Work program at L’viv
Polytechnic National University. My colleagues
there encouraged me to complete PhD research
with them focusing on their efforts of living
peacefully in their evolving society (Flaherty,
2012). This interest extends to the resilient
adaptation of newcomers as they find their new
homes in Canada.
Results
Study findings are shared below partially
through the participants own words, to honour
them. Participants are identified as they
requested. When participant anonymity was
requested, no name is provided. In this sharing
we work to connect the findings to supporting
theory.
A multivariant group
Celia Cook Huffman outlines the obligation for
researchers as theorists to see people as multi-
identified and multi-identifiable, emphasizing that
meanings, just like identities, are complex, socially
constructed, and fluid, and thus can be challenged
and changed (Cook-Huffman 2015). Identities can
be both transitory and rigid, bound by blended
identities and migratory experiences. Verkuyten
(2018) argues that identities are contextually and
alternately salient assuming different meanings
depending on the context. Considering migration,
Verkuyten suggests additive identities where
several meanings merge into one through
recombination or fusion. In this sense the author
theorizes that hybridity concentrates on
“togetherness in difference” (interculturalism)
rather than “living apart together,” a thought
commonly associated with multiculturalism
(Verkuyten 2018).
Based on a thirty-three-nation study,
Michele Gelfand concludes that cultural tightness
and looseness is manifested not only in distal
ecological, historical, and institutional contexts but
also in everyday situations. Individuals in nations
with high situational constraints tend to be more
dutiful, have higher self-regulatory strength, a
higher need for structure, and higher self -
monitoring ability. Nations with loose cultures tend
to have a lower need for order, social
coordination, and norms compliance. The authors
also predict that nations that have experienced
chronic threats tend to develop tighter cultures
(Gelfand, Raver and Nishii 2011). Despite the
existence of numerous historic threats, during this
research, Ukraine scored as the loosest country
among the thirty-three nations that were
researched, which was attributed to a shift of
cultural paradigm that occurred in the post-Soviet
era after the collapse of the
USSR (Gelfand, 2021). We note that this may
well have changed since Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine in early 2022.
Study participants varied in many ways.
People were from different parts of Ukraine, and
different socio-economic backgrounds. Some had
never travelled outside of Ukraine prior to
immigration, and some were very well-travelled,
including people who previously resided in the US
and other countries. Some arrived after obtaining
temporary resident visas as students, spouses of
students, or workers, and others arrived with their
permanent residency status obtained either
through the federal or provincial immigration
programs by themselves or their immediate family
members. Each primary applicant for permanent
residency had to meet the point-based age,
language, education, employment history and
adaptability requirements outlined by the
respective federal and provincial immigration
programs (Permanent Resident Program 2022,
Government of Canada 2022).
A common factor was that every participant
had obtained some post-secondary qualifications
in Ukraine ranging from trade school to post-
doctoral degrees. The driving factors for
immigration also differed from searching for better
economic opportunities, dissatisfaction with the
political development, environmental concerns,
and avoiding mandatory army conscription, to
difficulties in finding their sense of belonging in
their home country and fascination with the idea of
life in North America. Nine out of thirty-three
participants arrived in Canada to pursue
education and then decided to stay. Based on the
thirty-three interviews, we would like to theorize
that the overpowering looseness of Ukrainian
society and lack of structure was among the
largest contributing factors driving people towards
immigration.
Different reasons for leaving home
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The following section outlines the main themes
shared by participants as they discussed their
reasons for leaving their home country of Ukraine.
The reasons are also summarized in Table 1 at
the end of this section.
Corruption and lack of stability, which
were identified by most of the respondents as
concerning in their home country, can be seen as
signs of a high level of looseness in a society to
the extent that legal norms are not necessarily
reflected in practices. Yaroslavna, a respondent
who studied and practiced law in Ukraine, stated:
I felt like it’s, I’m not safe, my family was not
safe… like the law in our country doesn’t work at
all, you know… We have the law, we have the
rules, but the thing is that we had to… figure
out in order to work, we had to figure out how to
skip that rule. Every morning started with stress…
Even the cadence of her spoken response
brings home the sense of uncertainty Yaroslavna
felt in her home country of Ukraine.
Two participants similarly indicated their
dissatisfaction with life in Ukraine connected with
trying to run a business legally; one even
mentioned fear associated with intimidation tactics
experienced through their business. Olha C.
spoke about security concerns; not having to think
about “these hard things that influence your
everyday life” was one of the joys of living in
Canada. Flipping the lack of stability to look at
what might be considered a positive response to
this challenge on the part of Ukrainian citizens,
Tanya Y. spoke of Ukrainians, in this instability,
being taught to be self-sufficient and strong,
relying on themselves without ever asking for
help. Another participant described life in Ukraine
as fast and unpredictable and speaking to the
notion that one must never be too nice or too
tolerant in order not to be taken advantage of.
One must be on guard, on the defensive.
Participants overall spoke of a high need to be
flexible, to be able to improvise to function with a
lack of functional laws that are a reality for
Ukrainians, laying the ground for the push factors
of emigration.
More pointedly, another participant suggested
she chose Canada because of its stability and the
availability of support systems.
So, I thought it is a so much better future in
Canada than in Ukraine, because at least you
have a future. In Ukraine you will see today. You
can’t plan anything. You don’t know what will
happen. Even with a mortgage or something. You
never know what will happen tomorrow.
As an example, she almost jokingly shared
her fear of driving in Ukraine because of the other
drivers’ recklessness when it comes to following
the rules, and the corruption she associated with
getting a driving license. Yaroslavna shared a
very similar sentiment about driving in Ukraine:
I felt so stressed every day. And when I was
sitting in my car and started travelling and
everybody violated the rules, it was horrible. Every
day! So when I… just when we went to United
States, I thought “Wow, I can feel freedom!” It was
a nice feeling.
What Yaroslavna referred to as freedom in the
United States may be attributed partially to the
prevalence of stronger social norms governing
society, which include not only driving but also
other aspects of everyday existence.
One participant inadvertently referred to
systemic looseness and lack of strong social
norms in Ukrainian society, indicating, “In Ukraine
sometimes it doesn’t matter what your education
is or how smart you are or how hard you try; the
system sometimes works against you.” At the
same time a number of participants referred to
Canada as a kind of dream place, where if one
works hard, they are usually rewarded for that
work.
Thus, many of our interviewees showcased
signs of discomfort with the overbearing
looseness of Ukrainian civil society and expressed
their satisfaction with living within a tighter
context. Even though it may sound
counterintuitive, they referred to the existence of
stronger norms and clear rules of behavior as
freedom. While it is reasonable to expect the
participants’ satisfaction with the infrastructure
that Canada offers as a WEIRD society (Western,
educated, industrialized, rich and developed)
compared to Ukraine’s transitional developing
status, several participants alluded to being
surprised that the slowness, predictability, and
cultural normality of patiently waiting in long lines
in Canada, whether related to getting coffee or
taking care of administrative issues, eventually
produced a sense of comfort in them. Although
the transition to a new more rigid society was not
always natural and flawless, most participants
appreciated existing within this tighter context
once the adaptation period is over. Based on our
respondents’ shared experiences, we can theorize
that people who find comfort in tighter conditions
when it comes to social norms, tend to express
having more positive experiences in the new
Canadian environment.
While Gelfand et al (2011) and others
acknowledge that general rules of tightness and
looseness do not apply consistently to entire
populations and are influenced by area, level of
threat, and level of mobility, a more detailed
regional study of Ukraine’s cultural
looseness/tightness and that of Ukrainian
immigrants could be warranted. However, since it
is logical to presume that loose and tight cultural
groups tend to showcase different levels of
tolerance towards compliance and deviance of
social norms, this fundamental divergence can
serve as a source of conflict among populations
who immigrate to Canada from different
backgrounds. Thus, it is important to consider the
divergence of cultural looseness and tightness of
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people’s original homes while providing
integration support to newcomers to Canada so
that multiculturalism can be embraced.
Table 1 below depicts what participants
expressed as main reasons for leaving Ukraine for
Canada. Some participants had multiple reasons;
however, economic security was a leading factor
along with improving education and seeking
adventure or personal growth. And it is even more
complicated than that as noted below.
Table 1
Ukrainian Canadian Newcomers Stories,
Hopes and Dreams: Adapting to a New
Multicultural Reality
Competing needs of personal growth, security
(economic and physical), belonging
Along with identity comes other basic needs
such as the opportunity for personal growth and
economic stability. John Burton (1979), while not
the originator of basic needs theory, positioned
that a variety of needs that transcend gender,
class, and culture drive human behaviour. Sandra
Marker (2003) explains Burton’s theory clearly
noting that while these needs exist together, they
are not necessarily in a hierarchy and include the
following: safety/security (need for
structure/stability), love/belonging, self-esteem,
personal fulfillment, recognized identity, cultural
security, freedom (choice), distributive justice
(resources for all community members), and the
ability to participate in civil society. All our
participants, in various ways mentioned the
fulfillment of basic needs as motivation for the big
move; however, for many, the spoken emphasis
was physical security for themselves and their
children, if they had them, and a future that
appears to have more economic security. It is still
not that simple. While nine participants (almost
30%) moved to Canada temporarily, seeking to
grow their education, the reason to stay was
largely related to not only economic security of
employment, but also the possibility to grow and
develop personally. Several married women
moved with husband and family, somewhat
reluctantly, for economic reasons, and what would
appear to be a more stable future for themselves
and their children, even though that meant leaving
friends, family, and work that had more personal
satisfaction and status behind in Ukraine.
A sense of adventure, and another kind of
self-fulfillment that helped propel many people,
also had its nuances. Two young women came
initially to volunteer or to work at service jobs
thinking of this as an adventure or experiment for
personal growth and ended up meeting their life
partner on that adventure. Both women, along
with two others who initially came for educational
purposes, noted the heart-wrenching choice they
eventually had to make: whether to marry and
stay in Canada or go home to family of origin. One
woman left a very good position and wonderful
climate to marry, in many ways starting over in
Canada, challenging her personal identity and
self-sufficiency. Several others who had been to
North America came overtly seeking better, more
secure employment, though they were doing
relatively well back home. Acknowledging the
competing basic needs, Nataliya S. whose
husband wanted to emigrate shared: “[b]ut for me
it wasn’t that easy as I worked I worked as a
professor. It wasn’t easy for me to start from the
bottom again. Like mentally, I wasn’t happy. I
didn’t see myself here. I didn’t see myself.”
Some spoke clearly about their need to belong
and to fully participate in society. Two people,
male and female, with very different life
experiences, different levels of economic stability
and geographical locations provided the clearest
examples of people who moved in order to
participate safely in civil society.
Five female participants spoke about their
dissatisfaction with the prevalence of traditional
patriarchal values and gender stereotypes that
exist in Ukrainian society in general, and at their
workplaces specifically which had made their
employment experiences difficult serving as a
glass ceiling towards employment opportunities
on the one hand, on the other, in some cases,
actually unsafe for females:
I love the job ethics here [in Canada]. Back in
Ukraine … I wouldn’t work as an assistant to a
male in Ukraine, to be honest with you. In Russia
and Ukraine there is a challenge if you are a
younger girl, a little bit pretty… Here I feel very
safe, the [workplace] is very safe, and it is just the
safest [workplace] I have ever seen.
Another participant spoke about the effect that
gender stereotypes and economic instability have
on young females who grow up relying on their
appearances in order to gain social status through
relationships with males instead of feeling
empowered to achieve their own economic goals
and objectives. It is good to know that the
government of Ukraine has adopted a national
action plan for the implementation of UN Security
Council Resolution 1325 On women, peace and
security and an Action Plan for the new National
Human Rights Strategy which brings hope that
systemic changes will occur not only at the judicial
but also at the grassroots level (Ukrainian
Women's Congress 2021).
Table 1: Reasons For Moving
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In addition to challenges of gender, age was
another important consideration. Two participants
were surprised to observe that in Canada aging is
not always seen as negative and age
discrimination is not so evident at workplaces. At
the same time, they expressed fascination with
the ability of older people to savor their lives,
travel, enjoy simple pleasures like sliding down
snow hills and “act young” which stereotypically
would be viewed negatively in Ukraine.
Surprises and challenges upon arrival
While our participants shared with us their
major challenges and adjustments upon moving to
Canada, they shared them with considerable
humour. Those challenges in and of themselves
provide plenty of fodder for another article on its
own. Very few participants had work similar to
what they were seeking lined up soon after they
arrived; many worked at subsistence jobs initially
and then moved up. Money that had been saved
disappeared much more quickly than anticipated
with things being more expensive and
complicated than they anticipated in Canada,
particularly housing, utilities, and public
transportation. Even though most were already
well educated (every participant had tertiary
education) and had studied English much of their
lives as a second or even third language, suffice
to say that almost all wished they had obtained a
better level of English before moving; however,
they adjusted relatively rapidly, with many saying
that they continued to learn the nuances of a
language in a new culture. For some it took a
while to find their sense of belonging and get used
to the new culture, jokes, and social norms.
Almost without exception, participants mourned
not the comfort foods of home as one might think,
but rather, the taste of fresh food, which, in much
of Canada, does not generally have the same
farm to table quality familiar in Ukraine.
Overall, participants shared that they saw
the challenges they faced upon immigration as
mostly positive, though in a somewhat
complicated way. Essentially, it was a “what
doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” attitude
bundled with sheer determination that got them
through, along with relational support, partially
from family directly (financially, emotionally) both
in Canada and in Ukraine, and indirectly through
the family and cultural values they brought with
them. Harkening back to Tanya Y.’s thoughts
earlier this article, we found that yes, Ukrainians
were taught to be strong, determined, and self-
reliant, and many commented on this. However,
the vast majority of participants also mentioned
grasping that it was not only acceptable, but also
imperative to learn to ask for help for what one
needs and to seek supports, often, in this case, in
the diasporic community, for there one’s language
is usually understood, and some affinity found.
More about this affinity later.
This next section focuses on the hopes
and dreams participants shared for themselves,
their families and Ukraine.
Participants’ Hopes and Dreams
For Ukraine
Our participants spoke both with great
sadness, sometimes frustration, and with great
hope for Ukraine, their country of birth. First, all
participants were clear that not only did they hope
Ukraine will eventually become truly self-sufficient,
strong and independent, but also all but one
individual said they know this will happen.
Remember, this was before Russia began its full-
scale invasion.
Nadia P. spoke with some frustration about
divisions in Ukraine based on political beliefs,
language, pro-European vs pro-Russian views.
She wanted to see more action toward unity and
inclusion, to see more decisiveness and clearer
articulation of goals on the part of Ukrainian
leadership. Sofiya T. shared a similar sentiment
wishing for Ukrainians to learn to respect each
other’s divergent opinions and for leadership to
take accountability over their actions and their
effect on average people.
Several participants such as Valerii P. believed
that Ukraine needs to build capacity and self-
reliance to be able to maintain independence
even when foreign support is not as prominent.
Dmytro M. similarly wished for Ukraine to become
a true democracy with stable economic progress.
Ironically, these hopes were fueled by the
challenges that were had become increasing
vivid, the catalyst being Russian aggression in the
East and the annexation of Crimea by Russia in
2014. AK noted, “In Ukraine, so I’m pretty much,
I’m pretty much there in my heart …and…it’s
getting better now, it’s getting… After Maidan
something is… something happened. So, the
nation is awake in some way, especially the new
generation…” intimating that there are strong
people in Ukraine and Ukraine will be self-
sufficient. Like many others, she went on to voice
the belief that Ukraine will continue to grow in the
globalized work, and that there is already
evidence of change.
Several speakers indicated the importance for
Ukraine to reclaim its national, cultural, and
linguistic identity, complicated as it is, and
understand what is truly Ukrainian versus what
was imposed on Ukraine by force. Iana P. spoke
to that:
You know how those cities were Russified in
the last century. We know that violence was used
to enforce and there was not much choice that
people had. So now we have this wonderful
opportunity to come back to who we are. It doesn’t
have to be traditional, no, but I think that once we
remove everything that is not ours but with
nonviolent ways of dealing with it, and we become
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aware, I think it will change the whole dynamic [of
Ukraine].
Valerii P. said he believed that Maidan served
as a catalyst for political and national mobilisation
of the Ukrainian people by creating a generation
of new “free thinking” people. However, people
with old Soviet thinking who gave in to the “ghost
of socialism” as well as those who are in the
middle and indifferent in their views still exist. He
hoped that Ukraine would continue reforms
supported by the European partners, and which
would sway the people in middle to develop
national consciousness. Igor S. also alluded to the
importance of changing the Soviet ways of
thinking, sharing that despite his first language
being Russian he chose to teach his son to speak
Ukrainian. Another participant spoke to the
importance of reclaiming Ukrainian culture and
language despite coming from an area that is
known for traditionally being Russian speaking.
This hope was supported by factual changes in
Ukraine, of which our newcomers were quite well
informed. While Ukraine’s growth and societal
reforms had been hit hard by COVID 19, (The
World Bank 2021), still the energy sector
continued to grow, particularly alternative or
renewable energy, agriculture, manufacturing
(textiles and clothing), defense and aerospace
and improvements to healthcare and education to
name a few (Kyiv Post 2021). As participants
hoped, Ukraine is continuing to develop in the
globalized world. More specifically Denis V. said,
“My hope has always been that Ukraine…joins the
European Union and sort of the western way of
life and moves away from Russia, who is clearly
moving in the opposite direction.” And of course,
while corruption is still evident, regarding the
overall picture for stability in Ukraine, most
participants noted that they could see things
changing for the better, though it will take time.
For Canada
This study took place during the full-blown
experience of COVID-19 across the world. While
many people kind of chuckled with surprise at the
question when asked about their hopes for
Canada, almost all participants responded that
they hoped for COVID to be over so that the
Canadian government and society could get back
to its work, and so that they (participants) might
be able to see family members in person. They
mentioned appreciation for the social programs
that were implemented in this time, noting a desire
“for the Canadian government to continue to
support its people (like in COVID)”, including
support for seniors, affordable housing, etc. They
wished for Canada to continue to support
democracies, including the development of
Ukraine as a full democracy. They also hoped for
“continued prosperity” for Canada, a land where
they want their children to grow and thrive. Others
drilled a little deeper into some of the issues
Canada was currently facing or not facing. Oleh
C. was adamant,
I think there is a lot that needs to happen in
terms of Child and Family Services development. I
think that current foster care is the future of – it is
gonna be the subject of multiple class action
lawsuits similar to the residential school system. I
don’t know how this cannot be seen by people in
charge because this is just unbelievable. This is
one of the biggest disappointments for me
personally in Canada – Child and Family
Services.
Oleh went on to say that true reconciliation will
require much better supports for indigenous
families.
Three participants noted that they would
like to see further improvement in the medical and
health field and three other participants believed
that Canadian society could benefit from
reforming the school system to be more rigorous.
While some concentrated on economic aspects
wanting to see Canada become more competitive
and technologically advanced, others wanted to
see more education opportunities for the general
public to learn about homelessness and ways of
tackling the issue.
Denis V., whose work, paid and volunteer
(both in Ukraine and in Canada), supports
systems of good governance, summarized saying
he thought Canada will continue to develop, and
continue to work at this development.
[Canada must] continue dealing with maybe
some of the dark parts of history that… you
know… that we are finding…we maybe knew but
never dealt with. But still having a dialogue,
allowing… I find that sometimes in Canada now…
the dialogue has been lost… It is very
polarized. You only hear one side while on the
other side the debate is shut down. My hope for
Canada is that we always, we should always be
able to debate opposing opinions. [M]aybe that is
what Canada is known for: for democracy, for
strong governance, for respectful debate… both
sides of the debate should be able to voice their
opinions and…to continue growing the country.
For themselves and their families
Participants were clear, without exception, that
they hoped for and were counting on continuing
economic stability in Canada for all, included in
what we might call “tightness” or sense of security
as noted earlier. This means continuing to grow
personally and professionally, and to have similar
opportunities available for the young people in
their lives. Parents wanted their family to do well,
for their children to feel, “secure, confident, and
loved”. Many directly mentioned finding extra
security and connection in the diaspora, while also
believing that that community connections of all
kinds were important, and what had helped them
through the hardest of times. This was not a
passive thought but rather a state of action for the
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participants. Nataliya S. said, “We always try to
be with the community. And you know, we
volunteer a lot.”
Almost all participants mentioned
volunteering and were oriented to “to help
people”. For some, like Denis V., this meant
community development work both in Canada and
Ukraine. For Olga D. this meant changing her
profession from one of successful
businesswoman to health care practitioner, “to
help people to reduce pain… emotional pain,
physical pain, it doesn’t matter.” Many others
found this connection through social service work.
Perhaps surprisingly, only four
participants mentioned any plans to help relatives
move to Canada as well. Many of these relatives
were reportedly supportive of the participants’
moves to Canada but had no plans or particular
desire to move to Canada themselves, other than
to be closer to them, and with communication
made so much easier with on-line connections,
this physical distance seemed a little less
daunting.
“What keeps you going”: Advice for those
considering the journey
Without exception, participants mentioned that
they would not have made the journey, nor would
they have stayed in Canada, were it not for
support of “dear ones” who often included family
members with them in Canada and those who
remained in Ukraine. Several participants noted
that family members who encouraged and support
them remained in Ukraine because they were
living relatively comfortably there, with established
communities of family and friends and work that
provided at least the basic necessities of life, their
basic needs as described earlier.
Many participants found strength and support
in the local Ukrainian Canadian community. Olha
C. shared how the feeling of shared experiences
with other Ukrainian immigrants made her feel
more welcome:
I was first impressed when I got to a church,
when I just came to Canada and I saw all the
Ukrainian people who were together who knew
each other who were trying to help because they
knew all… They were in your shoes before. They
knew what you are going through right now, so
everyone is really helpful. And now in Oseredok it
is nice to see the established Ukrainian Canadian
community, too. It is inspiring because you see
how people manage to succeed here, to find
themselves…
Yulia K. was pleasantly surprised by how the
local Ukrainian diaspora managed to preserve
what was lost in Ukraine. On the other hand,
several participants reflected on the importance of
respecting the fact that Ukrainian language,
traditions, music, and culture have evolved and
would like to see more acceptance for the modern
Ukrainian culture within the Ukrainian Canadian
community.
No one said that the transition was easy.
Iryna noted the hardships associated with
immigration that often get distorted in the eyes of
those who stayed behind in Ukraine due to social
media. She summarized what she saw as a
common, though misguided social media
message:
“[The immigrants] are so lucky, they just
moved to Canada or whatever and they just make
money, they eat with a golden spoon and they’re
so happy.” All those pictures on social media give
us a wrong message. It’s all about, “Look at me at
the best moment I’m right now!” Right? It’s not
about, “Look at me how I’m crying at night.” It’s
not about, “Look at me how I’m struggling with
language.” It’s not about how I get actually… I get
confused with things and I want to move [back] to
my country because it is comfortable…
Building community in Canada was and is very
important to setting down roots here and,
somewhat surprising to us, for a number of
participants that did not mean that connecting to
the Ukrainian Canadian community was a priority.
In contrast, Denis V. recommended newcomers
be brave and venture outside of their own
community, learn to interact with people who think
and live differently and find something that they
like about other cultures which will allow them to
get to know the plurality of “the Canadian life”.
Another participant recommended not sticking to
diaspora community forever so that the outside
world does not grow so unknown that it seems
hostile, something she had noticed among some
of her diasporic acquaintances.
Still, community connection of some kind
was necessary and desirable, as was a clear
decision that Canada is indeed where one wants
to live. Several participants mentioned times when
they questioned their own decisions, particularly if
they were the member of a couple who had not
been the initiator of the quest to move. However,
hope for a brighter future for themselves and their
children, founded on what they saw as evidence
of more stability in Canada than Ukraine was what
kept them going, along with having made a clear
decision to stay, being prepared to work through
tough times – and ask for and accept help.
Tanya Y. emphasized the importance of
understanding and honoring one’s roots while
building a new life in a new country:
We need to be proud of who we are and where
we came from and value – and this way we will
value even more what we have now.
Nataliya F. spoke clearly in her advice to
someone considering the move to Canada:
Well, I think my advice would be to listen to
your heart and try to figure out, first, what it is you
want. If you want to integrate into Canadian
society, then make steps to do it. Meet other
Canadians, learn language, get education, meet
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other Canadians, and integrate. If you want to
keep your Ukrainian culture, associate yourself
with Ukrainians, keep your culture, keep your
traditions, keep in touch with Ukrainian culture
and with Ukrainians from at home..
Discussion
In addition to literature searches, this study
was conducted with thirty-three participants,
between the ages of 18 and 60, from different
areas of Ukraine, living in different areas of
Western Canada, twenty-four identifying as
female and nine as male. Interviews which would
have ideally taken place in person, because of
COVID-19 were conducted in 2021 on-line using
the ZOOM pro format and audio-taped separately
on a hand-held device. Participants were provided
with their transcripts to check accuracy of
transcription and to offer opportunities to clarify or
omit any parts, a process which took some time
and was also important to the ethics of the study.
This article briefly summarizes the main themes of
these interviews, having used theories related to
identity, culture, and basic needs to better
understand our participants’ experiences.
We learned that since Independence was
declared in Ukraine, with the borders opening, so
too has migration out of the country. Most of the
participants in this study moved essentially to
meet basic human needs, which include not only
economic (and physical security in one case), but
also fulfillment of their identities as people who
work to their potential, (improved education and
job opportunities) and actively contribute to
society. People moved with vision and hope,
looking to provide more of this kind of security for
their children and some for other family members
who may eventually join them in Canada.
Of the participants, 45 per cent migrated post-
Revolution of Dignity. One woman moved around
that time and felt conflicted about her choice, but
efforts to move had been initiated several years
prior to 2014. All migrated prior to 2021.
Most of the participants who immigrated to
Canada with Permanent Residency (PR) status
took at least three years of careful planning,
preparation, and English classes prior to coming.
Many shared that doing preliminary research and
keeping their minds open allowed them to adapt
to the new reality quicker. Despite challenges the
participants demonstrated enormous amounts of
positive resilience which allowed them to reinvent
themselves in Canada.
We learned that while the fabric of post-
independence immigration to Canada from
Ukraine is divergent in terms of age, gender,
geographic region of origin, language preferences
and social-economic status, the participants were
highly educated and determined to achieve
growth and build better lives for themselves and
their families in Canada.
After the initial struggle of finding one’s place
of economic, social, and cultural belonging in the
new environment and fascination with the
resources that Canada offers as a WEIRD
(Western, educated, industrialized, rich and
developed) state, the participants started to
notice social phenomena and elements that could
be improved such as homelessness in our
population, reconciliation challenges with our
Indigenous population, racial injustice, a need for
medical and educational reforms, need for
newcomer support, need for community
connections, and a need to develop better
relationships between representatives of different
waves of immigration.
Participants reflections on life after becoming
permanent residents of Canada were heavily
focused not only on meeting their basic needs as
identified by John Burton (Burton 1990) which
now are seen to go beyond needs such as food,
clothing and shelter, safety and security, love and
belonging, to include meaningful involvement in
civil society as healthy, valued members of a
community (Public Health Agency of Canada
2022). These determinants of health are also
some of the fundamentals of positive peace, in a
culture of peace, a culture of inclusion (Boulding
2003), a society where all are supported to live
their best lives (Chinn 2004).
Narrative interviews were conducted in
2020/2021, before Russia’s February 2022
invasion of Ukraine, as another generation or
wave of people from different parts of Ukraine
moved to Canada to seek a new life. At the time
of writing, more than 8 million people have left
Ukraine, fleeing the devastation and destruction of
the Russian invasion (UNHCR 2023). Their
stories will be heard in the days to come. Still, we
believe that it is important to document the
experiences and thoughts of those who came
before, in different circumstances. The threads of
their stories, join with others who have gone
before, comprising part of the fabric of a society
that welcomes refuges from the war
Conclusions: Moving forward
This was a small study, conducted with a
desire to better understand both the reasons for
migration from Ukraine to Canada post Ukraine’s
independence (and before February, 2022), and
the change in the make-up and engagement in
the Ukrainian Canadian community.
While most of the participants eagerly
embraced Canada’s multicultural environment and
thoroughly enjoy cross-cultural interactions by
finding strength in the similarities of struggles and
desires that different groups share, they see
reconciliation, social justice, and positive peace
for different racial and ethnic groups in Canada as
the way for Canada and themselves as
Canadians to grow with positivity.
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Again, we note that the interviews and initial
analysis took place prior to the overt invasion of
Ukraine by Russia on February 24, 2022. The
delay in publication is somewhat connected to the
impact of this aggression on all of us, participants,
and writers. Still, we believe in the importance of
sharing the stories and wisdom of these
participants.
Moving forward, we believe it will be important
to research more fully and deeply into this topic,
as this was such a small study. The next steps will
include, amongst others, people who have moved
to Canada following the invasion of Ukraine by
Russia. Informal conversations with these people
have begun as we listen, careful not to re-
traumatize in our eagerness to understand and
support. We do hope that even this small study
shared here opens doors for all Canadians,
including diaspora members, to be more curious
and open to their neighbours, wherever their
origin, encouraging them to share their stories,
hopes, and dreams. Newcomers to Canada are
never a monolithic block; all contribute in different
ways depending on experiences, identities,
needs, and hopes. We are richer together,
supporting each other in good health.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts
of interest.
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