Dubé wants to end health coverage uncertainty for Ukrainians
Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
editor@qctonline.com
Health Minister Christian Dubé has said the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government will not let Ukrainians fleeing war fall through the cracks in the province’s health insurance system, after many recently arrived Ukrainians reported difficulties renewing their health cards.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), at least 300,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Canada under two federal emergency programs designed to allow people affected by the war to find temporary safety here. Although IRCC does not keep track of where visa recipients settle after their arrival in Canada, Ukrainian community leaders in Quebec estimate that about 40,000 Ukrainians have settled in the province, 35,000 in the greater Montreal area and several hundred in Quebec City, Lévis and the surrounding rural areas. In light of the ongoing war, many Ukrainians who have settled in Quebec under the emergency measures have applied for work permit extensions or begun the permanent residence application pro- cess. Applicants subsequently learned that their work permit renewals were approved, but their provincial health insurance coverage would not be prolonged beyond early 2025, explained Olga Lacasse of the Alliance Ukrainienne de Québec (AUQ). They are now waiting for clarification from the Régie d’assurance-maladie du Québec (RAMQ).
“It left a lot of uncertainty, because paying for everything out of pocket is very expensive,” Lacasse said. “We have a lot of young mothers and senior citizens. At the beginning, [work permit holders] were told their work permit and their health coverage would be valid for the same amount of time. They had work permits valid into 2024 and 2025. They were told to apply for new work permits. They did that, and the validity of their work permit was prolonged, but not their health coverage.”
“Quebecers opened their homes and their hearts and their wallets to Ukrainians at the beginning of the war, and it was disheartening to hear that that support might be over … telling people they have until February to get things figured out,” said Michael Shwec, the Montreal-based head of the Quebec branch of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.
An IRCC spokesperson noted that health care and health insurance coverage are subject to provincial jurisdiction. A spokesperson for the RAMQ referred a request to the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS).
On Nov. 20, Dubé posted on X, “We’re still in discussions with the federal government, but we would like to prolong their coverage. Quebec made a commitment to [Ukrainians] and we will keep it.” Further details were not available at press time.
Local community recognizes historic famine
On Nov. 23, about 30 members of the local Ukrainian community, including several recently arrived refugees, met at the newly established Ukrainian community centre in Beauport to honour the victims of the Holodomor, a Soviet- era engineered famine which emptied Ukraine of a quarter of its population in 1932 and 1933. Over three million people died, thousands of others were exiled and many who remained ate shoe leather and hunted crows to stave off starvation. Ukrainian communities around the world honour survivors in November by lighting candles, breaking bread and reading witness statements from survivors. This is the second time a ceremony has been held for the small and growing number of Ukrainians in Quebec City, explained AUQ cofounder Bohdana Porada. “It’s a wound that will never heal, but we survive and we remember.”
Several speakers made connections between the Holodomor, the 2014 Crimea conflict and the current war. Viktor Grayvoronsky, 84, a university professor from Kharkiv and grandson of Holodomor survivors, arrived in Quebec less than two weeks ago, after the apartment building he was living in was bombed. “There’s no famine now, but we still have our neighbours trying to kill us,” he said. “It’s just so sad.”