Come from away: Ukrainian refugees help Newfoundland and Labrador companies soar

Iryna Zozulia works at the check-in counter at St. John's International Airport as a customer service representative for PAL Airlines.

She has a lot of questions for travellers, who are usually Newfoundlanders, but she also asks a few questions of their own. They pick a location in Europe, usually France and Germany, or Montreal.

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She is a Ukrainian refugee and building a new life for herself and her son in a place she had never heard of before she arrived in St. John's in May.

Zozulia said that it was better than he could have imagined. I saw the northern lights when I was hired byPAL. When the world stopped spinning, I wanted to bring my son with me, and he has been with me for over a month.

Tens of thousands of Ukrainians have come to Canada as refugees after Russia invaded their country. More than one half a million Ukrainians have applied for Canadian visas, which are still being processed as the war continues.

Stories of gun battles in what were once quiet Kyiv suburbs, videos of apartment blocks being targeted by missile strikes, evidence of war crimes, and pictures of citizens with bags and young children cradled in either arm made a run for the Polish border walloped hearts on this side of the city

Canadians wanted to help, but the conversation in St. John's wasn't about what could be done. The province is now home to a growing, highly literate, pop-up Ukrainian refugee community, some 1,200-plus and counting, drawn from a broad cross section of background.

The Ukrainians have brought tens of millions of dollars' worth of education, talents and skills with them, according to Newfoundland and Labrador's Minister of Immigration, Population Growth and Skills. They are making a difference in our province.

There are 18 Ukrainians on the payroll. There are several people going through the process of being licensed to fly in Canada, including pilots, accountants, ground crew, finance professionals and flight operators.

Jake Trainor, the airline's chief executive and a former Canadian army helicopter pilot, wants to hire more because he wants to make the opportunity count.

He said that the people are great ambassadors. They become extremely loyal, engaged employees, and that further builds on a culture of family, care and success, which is what we want to be known for. It's contagious.

PAL, an airline with a reputation for flying into rugged, remote communities, and CanAid Logistics, a boots-on-the-ground service provider in humanitarian hot spots, were keen to get involved when the province opened a Ukrainian Family Support Desk in Warsaw.

Trainor and the province talked and a plane was found. 166 Ukrainians were on the John's provincially sponsored airlift.

Zozulia was offered a job in St. John's after being recognized by a PAL staffer as a go-lucky person. There have been two subsequent airlifts and no plans to stop the program with a $7 million budget.

He said that more makes more. The successful community will want to stay in the larger community.

What began as a humanitarian initiative has grown into a human resources windfall for the province and its business community.

The Ukrainian talent pool is not the only one being tapped. There are three assisted-care living facilities in the province. The labour shortage in the care sector was worsened by Covid-19.

The company now has five Ukrainians on staff, and has just completed another bulk hire that will increase that to 11.

In some cases, the Ukrainian Canadians are bringing medical knowledge to the table, and we certainly understand that we are benefiting from that.

She hopes that the refugees will be able to use their skills in Canada, whether it is for her company or a nearby hospital where the health-care worker shortage is equally acute.

The tech sector, construction and building trades and large retail and wholesale outlets have all benefited from the influx of Ukrainians.

There is more to the story than meets the eye. When away has been torn apart by war, it is difficult to be from away. The refugees are looking at the future. It is impossible to avoid looking back.

The Sysa family moved into a new house on the outskirts of Kyiv in June 2021. Oleh was a captain and Anastasiia was in management. They were a middle class family who planned for purchases, dreamed of family trips and loved watching their children grow up.

It's hard to talk about the future because we had plans a year ago. You need to take care of those next to you because you don't know what will happen tomorrow.

The knowledge of life in Newfoundland and Labrador isUnderlying the Ukrainian diaspora It's a painful memory, colored with hastily packed bags, abandoned homes and the loss of security. There was a lot of chaos for the Sysas. The country was overrun with refugees. It isn't easy to start in St. John's.

Oleh said that all they were thinking about was where they could be safe.

We are able to do what we love even though we are far away from home.

A woman named Anastasiia Sysa.

Newfoundland and Labrador wasn't the obvious choice for the family, but they did some research and found out that it was.

The email was sent to the support desk. Within two days, they received a reply from the Warsaw-based program development officer. They immediately received support. It's wanted. They paid their own way to St. John's in July after their questions were answered and decisions were made.

The unexpected bonus was the hire by PAL.

It was the best day of our lives when we got the job offer. We are able to do what we love even though we are far away from home.

A family bought a white Mercedes and rented a house near the airport. Oleh said there wasn't any rust. There is a curtain covering the patio doors.

The work colleagues took the boys trick-or-treating and gave them bags of clothes. A family was given tickets to a Newfoundland Growlers hockey game after neighbours surprised them with plates of cod.

The game made a big impression on everyone. He wants to play hockey.

The Sysas owe Canada money. They have a sense of gratitude. Oleh said that if Canada is their future, they will be in St. John's. St. John's is now in Zozulia.

She said that she needed someone to help her out with her son and that she was in the process of getting a visa for her mom.

The payoff of Newfoundland and Labrador's bet on the newcomers is not certain. Will they stay now that they're here?

According to the province, 25% of the new arrivals have yet to find a job. Language, culture and made-in-Canada red tape are some of the challenges.

Oleh Sysa used to fly passenger jets for a carrier. He is doing quality assurance work while going through a pilot relicensing process that is slower than he thought.

According to the Canadian Medical Association, almost a quarter of the people of the province don't have a family doctor.

There is a language barrier. It is a challenge for the executive director of TaskForce NL, a non-profit that connects employers with immigrant candidates.

She used to be a commercial lawyer at a bank. In 2016 she and her husband moved to St. John's. Her English language skills were summed up by her name.

She signed up for English classes only to discover that the curriculum was more focused on teaching Halloween and Christmas than on writing a resume.

When customers commented on her "cute" accent, it quietly drove her nuts, although she eventually found work as a barista.

She runs her own clothing company and helps organize job fairs to put Ukrainians together with potential employers.

She recommends that employers include intensive, non- Christmas-related English classes in their employment package. It is an investment that will pay off in the long run.

If you include language classes in the hiring, you will end up hiring a person who will have enough English to work within three months.

People need to be able to pay their bills if they want to stay. Newfoundlanders are friendly and welcoming, but more needs to be done.

Iryna Zozulia pays $750 a month in rent for a one-plus-bedroom apartment that is close to her son's new school. A new backpack and supplies were given to him by his colleagues. They do everything they can to support the single mom from the other side of the world.

Zozulia was chipping away at a multinational in the supply chain. She had traveled to the US as part of a student work and travel abroad program.

Her knowledge of St. John's is best summarized by its proximity to the ocean and a preconceived notion of the weather. She was taken out for a night on the town by some new Canadians.

She was officially "scared-in" at Christian's Pub, a local ritual that involves drinking a shot of booze and kissing a fish.

She wanted to know what the fish was.

Tourists from Toronto, the US and England were among the cod-smooching pub goers. When they heard Zozulia was Ukrainian, the bar erupted in cheers.

It is November in the city and it is starting to feel like home.

Zozulia is now an official Newfoundlander. I will build a new life for myself and my son here.

Joconnor@nationalpost.com and oconnor writes on the National Post's website.