After months on P.E.I., some Ukrainians struggling to find jobs despite qualifications

Tetiana Lysak and her two-year-old daughter arrived on Prince Edward Island in the fall.

At the time, she thought she would have no trouble finding a job. She has two master's degrees, one in linguistics and another in tourism and hospitality. She also had years of experience working as an interpreter in Kyiv, Ukraine's capital.

But after six months on P.E.I., Lysak still can't find work. She said she sent her resumé to a number of local employers, but didn't get any responses.

"Now I'm getting desperate," she said.

"I'm getting to a point that I will be happy to take any job, like anything, because I need to feed my daughter."

Lysak is not alone.

Nikita Shupov came to the Island in June with his wife and their four children. They previously had to spend some time in Europe, after Russia's invasion forced the family to flee.

Shupov has about 15 years of experience in motion graphics design, having worked with many Ukrainian television stations.

Soon after arriving on P.E.I., he found contract work in his field with a local company, but that contract ended in October.

Shupov has been looking for work in Canada for the past five months. While he's applied for positions across the country, he said he hasn't heard back about any of them.

"I don't know why," he said.

The issue is not unique to the Ukrainian community, said Yvette Doucette, information services co-ordinator with the Immigrant & Refugee Services Association (IRSA) P.E.I.

"There's a problem finding work across the board," she said.

IRSA clients who landed in P.E.I. in 2022 came from over 50 different countries.