Ukrainians in Canada: What Is Open in 2026 and How to Translate Your Documents

More than four years after the emergency measures began, the special doors are mostly shut. CUAET is closed, its arrival deadline passed on March 31, 2024, and the family pathway to permanent residence stopped accepting applications on October 22, 2024.

What remains is narrower: one more open work permit renewal under a public policy that runs until March 31, 2027, and the regular programs, from Express Entry to provincial nominee streams. Those regular programs are where Ukrainian documents matter most, because a permanent residence application asks for the birth certificates, marriage records, diplomas and police certificates that a temporary permit never needed.

This guide covers what is open in October 2026, the work permit renewal, which Ukrainian documents IRCC asks for, repeat certificates and records lost in the war, name spelling, police certificates, and the mistakes that slow files down.

What is still open for Ukrainians in Canada in October 2026?

For anyone in Canada whose application in that PR pathway is in processing, IRCC's public policy offers a new open work permit, a renewal, a study permit or a visitor record while the application is processed. Only the CA$100 open work permit holder fee is waived; the CA$155 processing fee and other fees still apply.

How do I renew my open work permit under the 2026 measures?

Apply online from inside Canada by March 31, 2027. IRCC says you "may be eligible to extend your open work permit for up to 3 years" if you hold a valid open work permit issued under one of the Ukraine public policies and you arrived in Canada on or before March 31, 2024, or between April 1 and December 31, 2024 under the policies for pending CUAET applications. Temporary resident permit holders are excluded, and you can extend under these measures only once.

The application is short: a copy of your passport, the IMM 5710 form, a copy of your current work permit and "a letter that says you're applying under the 2026 Ukraine special measures." Fees are standard: CA$155 for processing, CA$100 for the open work permit and CA$85 for biometrics where needed.

A renewal rarely needs translations, because the passport data page and the Canadian permit are already readable. Translation becomes central when you move to permanent residence or apply for anything that asks about your civil status, education or past.

Which Ukrainian documents does IRCC ask for?

Permanent residence through Express Entry, a provincial nominee program or family sponsorship draws on the same set of records:

The international passport's data page already carries field names in Ukrainian and English and your name in Latin letters, so it usually needs no translation. The internal passport booklet and the ID card are different: if you rely on them, they need a full translation. For Express Entry specifics, see Express Entry documents; for diplomas, see educational credential assessment.

Soviet-era certificates

Many people born before 1991 hold a birth certificate issued in the Ukrainian SSR, printed or filled in in Russian, Ukrainian or both. It is still the original record of the birth, and it is translated exactly as it stands: Russian place names as written, the parents' nationality field as "nationality", unreadable handwriting marked [illegible], never guessed. If the certificate is worn or water-damaged, a repeat certificate is the cleaner option.

How do I replace Ukrainian documents lost or left behind?

Order a repeat certificate. If the original was lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed, Ukraine's civil registration rules let any registry office re-issue it, regardless of where the event was registered or where you live, and Ukraine's embassies and consulates re-issue certificates too. Since July 21, 2022, repeat birth, marriage, divorce, death and name-change certificates and register extracts can also be ordered through the Diia portal, for yourself or a close relative with proof of the relationship, though the government noted that the service does not work in some regions under martial law.

Two rules affect the translation:

• The repeat mark. Under section IV of the rules, every re-issued certificate carries the mark "Повторно" (repeat issue). The translation must show that mark and the new issue date, so a 2025 repeat certificate never reads like a 1988 original.
• No marriage certificate after a divorce. "Після припинення шлюбу внаслідок його розірвання свідоцтва про шлюб повторно не видаються": once a marriage has ended in divorce, the marriage certificate is not re-issued. On written request the registry issues an extract from the State Register instead, which confirms the marriage and the premarital surname. Translate that extract.

How should Ukrainian names be spelled in a translation for IRCC?

Your own name follows your passport. IRCC issues your permits in that spelling, and every translation should match it exactly.

Ukraine's official romanization is Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 55 of January 27, 2010, which transliterates letter by letter. Its own examples show the rules that trip translators up:

• Г is h, Ґ is g: Богдан is Bohdan, Ґалаґан is Galagan.
• Є, Ї, Й, Ю, Я depend on position: Ye, Yi, Y, Yu, Ya at the start of a word, ie, i, i, iu, ia elsewhere. Юрій is Yurii, Олексій is Oleksii, Костянтин is Kostiantyn.
• Зг is zgh: Згурський is Zghurskyi, so it cannot be confused with ж (zh).
• The soft sign and apostrophe disappear: Знам'янка is Znamianka.

Passports do not always follow the table. Paragraph 108 of Resolution No. 152 of 2014 lets a person ask in writing for the Latin spelling used in earlier Ukrainian identity documents or in legalized foreign birth or name-change documents, and lets the surname follow a child's, parent's or spouse's passport. That is how a valid passport can read "Yuriy" or "Nataliya".

The working rules for an IRCC file:

1. The applicant's name follows the passport, even where Resolution 55 would differ.
2. Everyone else named on the document, such as parents, follows Resolution 55, the same way on every certificate.
3. The patronymic stays and is labelled "Patronymic", never "middle name".
4. Russian-language Soviet records keep the Russian form of names as written, with the passport spelling added in brackets where the person is the applicant.

How do I get a Ukrainian police certificate for IRCC?

IRCC's instructions call it an "Extract from the Information and Analytical system" on criminal prosecution and criminal records, issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. Inside Ukraine you request it online from the Ministry or through Diia and it is sent to you electronically; IRCC notes that the Ministry's service centres do not issue paper certificates. From abroad, you apply at the nearest Ukrainian embassy or consulate, or through a representative with notarized authorization.

The extract is in Ukrainian, so it needs a full translation, including any registration number and verification details. For validity windows and other countries, see police certificate translation.

Why Ukrainian translations get questioned

• Three spellings of one name: Yurii in the translation, Yuriy in the passport, Iurii in a Canadian record.
• Russian transliteration of Ukrainian names, such as Iaroslav where the passport says Yaroslav.
• The patronymic dropped or turned into a middle name, so parents and children no longer link.
• "Повторно" left out, making a new repeat certificate look like the original.
• A marriage certificate expected after a divorce, instead of the State Register extract.
• A diploma without its supplement, leaving the officer or assessor without courses and grades.
• No affidavit. A signed certificate from a translator without an association seal is not enough for IRCC.

Checklist for Ukrainians applying in 2026

Questions people ask