Immigration pilot shares story of reuniting family

A man was reunited with his family after three years, thanks to the assistance of the North Okanagan-Shuswap Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP).

In 2018, Petro Stryiskyi, with 20 years experience in construction, left Ukraine and moved to Lake Country with a work permit.

After working at a local construction company for 18 months, Stryiskyi started to plan to bring his family to the Okanagan, but his work visa was expiring soon and he did not know how to extend his stay.

Stryiskyi’s employer directed him to the RNIP program, which helped him receive permanent residency in September 2021. His wife Kateryna and their two children were then able to move to the Okanagan after being separated for approximately three years.

“I was born in Crimea and spent all my childhood there, but after the annexation, I couldn’t be there anymore,” Kateryna said.

“Here, all the nature, it’s so close to Crimea. It reminds me of my childhood back home.”

Stryiskyi is now living in Lake Country and running his own company, STR Okanagan Taping. He also acts as a contractor and regularly works for his former employer.

His son is set to graduate from high school this year and has applied to business and finance programs at university, while their young daughter is still settling into the new life.

“At first, our son was a bit confused about what we were going to do here,” Petro said.

“Now he understand the opportunity he has and says he doesn’t ever want to go back to Ukraine.”

Kateryna added “because of [RNIP], our family is now in a safe place, together.”