Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is to speak in Winnipeg today to a national group that represents Canadian Ukrainians.

He's also likely to hear a request from the Manitoba government for more money to help Ukrainians who are fleeing the war.

Premier Heather Stefanson says Manitoba is happy to have welcomed almost 12,000 Ukrainians since the Russian invasion began last February.

But she says the province needs federal money to help pay for housing, health care, education and other needs of the new arrivals.

Stefanson says Manitoba has welcomed more than 10 per cent of all Ukrainians who have entered Canada and has less than four per cent of the country's population.

Both Stefanson and Trudeau are scheduled to speak at the start of a three-day meeting of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.

"They're not declaring them as refugees and giving them refugee status, and normally with that comes federal funding," Stefanson said of the federal government in an interview Thursday.

"They do have a role here. They should have a role. And we have been in discussions with them, but that's not going to stop us from doing what we're doing (in supporting Ukrainians)."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2022