Ukrainian evacuees Dmytro Syrman, left, his wife Anastasiia, centre, and four-year-old daughter Varvara attend a news conference highlighting the need for temporary housing in Calgary, Alta., Wednesday, March 29, 2023.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
CALGARY – A Calgary charity says it has found a temporary fix to a serious housing shortage an influx of Ukrainian evacuees has caused.
The Centre for Newcomers is seeking 100 hosts for families or individuals for a month while they find housing of their own.
Kelly Ernst, with the centre, says there has been a flood of Ukrainians trying to take advantage of a federal program allowing them to temporarily resettle in Canada.
The program has been extended until July and Ernst says he expects people will continue to flee the war-torn country until then.
Ernst says many of the refugees may have landed in other parts of the country, but rents in Calgary are lower than larger centres like Vancouver and Toronto.
He says some people have been sleeping at the airport and in at least one case were at a local homeless shelter.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2023.
