Canadians open their homes to Ukrainian relatives and refugees
CBC
Olga Renneberg's mother arrived in Canada this week with nothing but a backpack with her essentials and the clothes she was wearing.
"I suggested to her to pack the most important things — money, important documents and her necessities — because a suitcase would slow her down," said Renneberg, who lives outside Edmonton.
"You never know where you could end up. Will you need to run quickly to get the bus or train?"
Her mother, 57-year-old Liudmyla Volovyk, arrived in Edmonton late Monday after leaving her home in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Friday.
Renneberg said her mother took a train from Kyiv to the western city of Lviv, then went by bus to the Polish border, travelling more than 24 hours straight. A volunteer in Poland took her in for the night.
Volovyk, who still has a valid visa to enter Canada, then flew to Zurich and Montreal before landing in Edmonton to be reunited with her daughter after more than three years.
"The most important thing is she is here right now and I'm relieved," Renneberg said.
The 36-year-old said seeing her country ravaged by war has been devastating and she fears for friends and relatives still there. She said she hopes NATO will declare a no-fly zone over Ukraine to limit attacks from Russian warplanes.
"People wouldn't be fleeing in these numbers if our sky would be closed and if we know we wouldn't be hit randomly by jets," said Renneberg, adding her mother had spent each night in Kyiv in a shelter since the war with Russia intensified last month.
Renneberg said many people in the Ukrainian-Canadian community would welcome Ukrainians fleeing war into their homes, but it's a matter of them being able to reach Canada.
A Ukrainian food company in central Alberta has said it will employ and support some Ukrainian refugees.
Baba Jenny's Ukrainian Foods, based in Mannville, has a goal of welcoming 15 Ukrainian refugees in the coming year, said Garry Pulyk, director of marketing.
The family-run business will employ the refugees, house them and cover any rental costs for the first few years.
"They could help our company grow and at the same time we can give them a better way of life," he said.
Canada is preparing for U.S. President Donald Trump to hit the country with potentially devastating tariffs on Tuesday, but the federal government and the premiers say they are in the dark about what will actually materialize and how high those promised levies will be.
Former P.E.I. Premier Dennis King has been appointed as Canada's new ambassador to Ireland, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday in a news release.
Oxford and Elgin counties have the highest number of measles cases in the country, the province's public health agency says, as local medical officials warn of more possible exposures to the deadly virus.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford will take questions from media Monday for the first time since his Progressive Conservatives won their third-straight majority in a snap election last week.
Newfoundland and Labrador is staring down federal, provincial, and municipal elections in the next eight months, but for one new Canadian the opportunity to vote is something she's not taking for granted.
Even with a dirt trench running down the hallway, and exposed wires and pipes hanging from the ceiling, it still kind of looks like an elementary school.
Some of the most affordable rental housing in Nova Scotia is rapidly becoming less so, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation data analyzed by CBC News.
A two-time federal Conservative candidate in Miramichi says he doesn't think current party MP Jake Stewart can win again in a federal election that is expected to start within weeks.
Quebec municipalities and human rights groups are voicing concerns about proposed legislation that would require newcomers to abide by a set of common values.
Amazon and Walmart Canada have so far ignored the NDP government's requests to restrict the online sale of machetes to Manitobans, the province says.
Saskatoon city council is seeking money to crack down on unlicensed short-term rentals in the city, like those on AirBnB and VRBO, amid an active moratorium on licensing certain new short-term rentals.
When Kwaku Ayisi lost a friend who hadn't even reached 40 to breast cancer, it inspired him to look at the barriers Black women face in Saskatchewan's breast-health system.
A northern Alberta town is losing its only family doctor clinic and officials are trying to find solutions before the doors close for good at the end of May.