Montreal streamlining process for welcoming Ukrainian refugees

About 400 Montrealers have offered to provide accommodations for Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion.

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In what it describes as a first in Canada, the city of Montreal has set up a system to help match up Ukrainian refugees with host families.

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The second of three charter flights bringing a total of 900 Ukrainian refugees to Canada will land in Montreal on Sunday.

The first flight touched down in Winnipeg Monday and the third one will land in Halifax in one week.

About 400 Montrealers have offered to provide accommodations for Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, said Nadia Bastien, director of Montreal’s department of diversity and social inclusion.

The city has partnered with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, the Quebec immigration ministry and the Union des Municipalités du Québec to help streamline the process for welcoming the newcomers, she said.

Twenty-three local organizations will take charge of the refugees.

Montreal’s Bureau d’intégration des nouveaux arrivants à Montréal (BINAM) has created an online form for prospective hosts, where they will enter information like the size of the dwelling, whether it is rent-free, the number of people they can accommodate and how long the newcomers may stay. Hosts are asked to provide the accommodations for a minimum of three months.

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The Ukrainian Canadian Congress will post the form on its website, she said.

BINAM will help sort through applications and set up security checks on prospective hosts.

“Currently, some Ukrainian refugees are contacting hosts directly on social media, with all (the risks) that could involve,” Bastien said.

Based on the information compiled in the forms, the 23 organizations will then interview prospective hosts directly and match them with refugees, she said.

The city will also provide a lease agreement laying out the rights and responsibilities of both hosts and newcomers.

Bastien said that while the process was created for the Ukrainian crisis, the process could later be used again in different situations, as the need arises.

Humanitarian crises tend to prompt some people to make impulsive offers, so the form will help weed out those who are not really serious, said Jessica Lagacé-Banville of the BINAM.

The federal government will provide temporary accommodation for refugees who have not yet found a place to live when they arrive, Lagacé-Banville said.