Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion of their country and arriving in Newfoundland are being asked to pay thousands of dollars more for car insurance than the provincial average. (Colleen Connors / CBC)
Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion of their country and arriving in Newfoundland are being asked to pay thousands of dollars for car insurance, and advocates say high rates are complicating refugee efforts to establish in the province.
The Canadian press saw two car insurance quotes provided to Ukrainian refugees in St. Petersburg. John’s: $ 5,592 a year and $ 8,288 a year. Meanwhile, the average annual rate in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2020 was just over $ 1,200, according to the General Insurance Statistics Agency.
Adilya Dragan, a liaison for many of the 166 Ukrainian refugees who recently landed in the province, says high rates are the main reason for many who have chosen to settle in the St. John area.
“It’s really a lot,” Dragan, originally from Russia, said in an interview on Tuesday.
Most have gotten jobs that earn between $ 15 and $ 20 an hour, which makes high insurance rates completely out of reach, he added.
Newfoundland and Labrador led the country in bringing Ukrainians to Canada. The province set up an office in Warsaw in March to help those fleeing Russian attacks, and was the first province to rent a plane carrying refugees to Canada. That flight landed on May 9 in St. John.
Dragan said some Ukrainians, especially those who do not speak English, have only been able to find work outside the city center. Others have found work in St. John’s, however, cannot find housing in the region’s restricted rental market, he said.
The vacancy rate in St. John’s was 3.1 percent in October 2021, down from 7.5 percent the year before, according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
Dragan drives a 31-year-old Ukrainian to work every day because he can’t afford insurance, he said. He works on construction in Conception Bay South, about 30 miles southwest of St. John’s.
Pressure on housing
Monica Abdelkader, director of settlement services for the province’s New Canadians Association, says she agrees that high insurance rates are putting pressure on the need for affordable housing in the St. Louis region. John’s.
Abdelkader, like Dragan, points out that there are many single mothers in the group who will also have to pay for summer camps and daycare as schools drop out for the summer.
He says very high insurance rates are not exclusive to Ukrainian refugees.
“This is a problem that has long affected newcomers,” Abdelkader said in an interview Tuesday. “A lot of work has been done in this area, research has been done in the past and nothing has really changed.”
A meeting at St. John’s International Airport after the arrival of 166 Ukrainians in May. (Danny Arsenault / CBC)
Refugees arrive without a Canadian driver’s license, from countries where it is likely to be difficult or impossible to obtain driving licenses and other paperwork, he said, adding that costs tend to drop slightly after the first 90 days in the country. , and then again after a year. .
But in the meantime, Abdelkader said, newcomers start from scratch and often on their own to find a solution. In the case of Ukrainians in Newfoundland and Labrador, some employers have increased the salaries of refugees to help them pay for insurance until rates are more manageable, he added.
Immigration Minister Gerry Byrne says insurance companies have no obligation on the part of the province or its public service board to charge such high fees.
“The government is asking our province’s insurance industry to do what the whole province has done, to come forward and offer solutions and not take advantage of it as an opportunity to increase revenue,” Byrne said in an interview Tuesday.
The province is looking for a way to get Newfoundland and Labrador driver’s licenses to licensed refugees in Ukraine, and an announcement is expected in the coming days, he added.
Amanda Dean, the vice president of Atlantic for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, said it could be “useful.”
He encouraged Ukrainians and insurance brokers to call the office to express their concerns. Ukrainians should also inform brokers about why they may be missing certain paperwork or driving records, Dean said, so that brokers can explain the situation to insurers, who ultimately decide prices.
“We’re having a lot of conversations on this topic, this same topic and others right now,” Dean said in an interview Tuesday.
“It’s something new and we want to work with runners and the government.”
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