Since war broke out in their country, some 140,000 Ukrainians have emigrated to Canada. About 11,000 have chosen Manitoba as their destination and communities, large and small, have welcomed these newly landed immigrants who are filling gaps in the workforce.
At present, none of the many jobs advertised within Virden have been filled with the new Ukrainian immigrants, although some community members, employers and even Virden Employment Skills office staff have sought ways to bring Ukraines here.
However, within the RM of Pipestone, two Ukrainians have found employment, one with a large agricultural operation and another in an auto repair business.
In the spring of 2022 when war showed signs of intensifying, Reeve of the RM of Pipestone, Archie McPherson saw an opportunity to meet local needs and help out people fleeing Ukraine. Council supported the idea of preparing to receive Ukrainian families to the area.
McPherson says, “We all started seeing the carry-on over there a year ago, the hundreds of thousands fleeing Ukraine, knowing a lot of them weren’t going to go back - there wasn’t a lot to go back to. And then we heard that maybe Canada was going to start accepting them. We brought it up with the council and we had a lot of community support. We started getting the word around and it went from there.”
Contact with Westman Immigration Settlement yielded an employee for a farmer and when the call came that a worker could be there the next day, the scramble was to find housing.
However, the municipality had made some preparations. “We set some money aside to help these families, to kind of get their feet under them.”
That included paying six months’ rent on housing which in this case, turned out to be in the Sinclair area.
Community businesses stepped up to provide fuel and groceries, while individuals donated home furnishing needs.
One Ukrainian family initially landed in Edmonton, but saw that Manitoba was preferable for Ukraine immigrants needing a quick start, and they were willing to fill the job opportunity in the RM of Pipestone.
McPherson explains, “The Mennonite community donated a truck and a trailer to move one family from Edmonton and to provide for the meals. It was a community effort over all.”
The contact for immigrants in the RM of Pipestone is the Economic Development Officer, Parker Janz, who works with the Community Development Corporation (a seven-person board).
“Our CDC is working hard, because our farmers - everyone - is short of help. We’re looking at bringing immigrants, doesn’t have to be from Ukraine,” says McPherson.
He says immigrants have proven to be good workers.
“There are human resource agencies that can help you with what you need… whether a grain farmer or whatever, so you don’t have to go through a lot of training,” he says.
“It’s a learning curve for everybody. It’s nice if we can bring people into the community. One family has two little kids, and a third on the way. It helps the school system and everything,” says Reeve McPherson.
Staffing agency navigates the hurdles
Meanwhile, an innovative private staffing agency was born out of necessity when a Manitoba businessman of Ukrainian heritage – Mark Myrowich - discovered there was a need. He was looking for skilled workers for his own two businesses and found it possible to fill the gaps for his company with Ukrainian immigrants, and knew he could help other employers as well.
In early 2022, in light of the war in Ukraine, the Canadian Government, through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) introduced new measures to admit Ukrainians to Canada under the CUAET (Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel) program.
The opportunity for Ukrainians to obtain a three-year open work permit through the CUAET program was the perfect opportunity to match Canadian needs while helping Ukrainians come to Canada.
It was mid-December when Myrowich announced the Myrowich Staffing Agency (MSA) was up and running.
“There is a talent shortage in Canada and a talent surplus coming from Ukraine. I cracked the code and figured out how to connect the two for the benefit of all,” Myrowich stated.
With 25 successful placements in Myrowich’s two factories, something unexpected happened. He learned that the talents, knowledge, skills and experience of some of the Ukrainians he hired far exceeded the requirements of the jobs they were placed in. After a few illuminating conversations with some of his key hires, Myrowich Staffing Agency was born from a need to get people into the right jobs with the right companies to the benefit of all.
MSA TEAM
Now, with a team of 12 talented Ukrainians (most of whom are fluent in three to four languages), MSA has an online tool to connect incoming Ukrainians with local businesses.
Myrowich also came up with an idea on how to break the language barrier. The concept is called Myrowich Crew. These crews are vetted, similarly skilled candidates grouped together for rapid deployment to a target company. The synergy of such a group is matched in accordance with the job requirements and duties while making sure there is at least one skilled crew member that speaks fluent English and is able to lead the crew and communicate both with an employer and other members.
While MSA helps Ukrainians find jobs at no cost, there is a flat fee charged to companies who wish to take advantage of the various services provided.
“They’re fantastic people. They’re here to build. They want to get their permanent residency.” Anyone with a Ukrainian passport can come to Canada.
He estimates that there are some 2 million Ukraine workers all over the world now. One of the people he worked with to set up the MSA had been working in China and spoke Mandarin. A group of three drywall professionals had been working in Israel. They’re part of the approximately 1000 individuals in the MSA database at present.
“My mission is to positively affect 10,000 families.”
At present, with an erosion control blanket business and another company in the business of manufacturing a spray product to mitigate the raw cuts from road and other construction, along with now an employment agency, Myrowich employs some 40 newly emigrated Ukrainians.
Like many who have escaped bad situations in their homeland and settled in Canada over the past hundred-plus years, the Myrowich family came to Canada decades ago as part of what Mark Myrowich describes as the Ukrainian diaspora from the First World War. Now, along with running his manufacturing companies, his goal is to “get people into the right seats.”
IN HIS GENES
“I remember the stories my grandparents told me about the challenges they experienced settling in Canada just after World War I. They told me how tough it was, not knowing the language, not knowing the culture of the place, but knowing that they had a new life ahead of them for their children. They got a little piece of land, started a farm and that’s where my father was born. I was born on that same farm. And now, with this new generation of Ukrainians that are coming to Canada, I want to pay it forward, for the help that my grandparents got, to this generation.” – Mark Myrowich
