Melita hopes Ukrainian families settle in their community

Ukrainian refugees continue to look for places to relocate in Manitoba and Melita is one of the towns under consideration.

Last Friday the town hosted 13 people and EDO Eric Forster said it was a positive meeting. “They came from Winnipeg and we also had an interpreter and the driver, so we had 15 visitors to the town on Friday.”

“This is in association with the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council based in Winnipeg. They help Ukrainian refugees coming into Manitoba to get settled and the tours are part of that process.”

Forster says they spent the afternoon getting to know each other and they talked about living in Melita, job opportunities and what lies ahead.

“We had a great time even though some people knew very little English, other spoke broken English and others we were able to have a full conversation. We talked about jobs in the Melita area and also what kind of experience these folks have. Some have families and the wanted to know what life is like in our community.”

Forster plans to stay in touch with the Ukrainians who came to Melita to see if they’re interested in relocating to the region. "Some expressed an extreme desire to move to Melita and we’ll see what we can do.”

“We need to line up housing so if anyone has housing in the Melita area that can help out, please get in touch with me at the town office in Melita. I’ll be setting up job interviews that can be done virtually so that makes things easier.”

Forster says if the Ukrainian refugees are willing to work there’s no question there are positions available.

"We’ve got positions for tire technicians, mechanics, truck driver positions and our local Co-op has a need for staff,” said Eric Forster.

The tour was set up by the Crocus Country Economic Development Corporation.

“We’ve been looking at ways of growing the local population and our workforce and we’ve been focusing on immigration. There are a lot of avenues for immigration but with the Ukrainian refugees coming over they’re given open work permits and that cuts the red tape and makes it that much quicker for employers looking for workers.”

Eric Forster is fairly confident that following Friday’s tour some of the refugees will relocate to Melita.

“We could see as many as six new residents in our town and that includes a single gentleman and a family with three children.”