Based on coverage from The Globe and Mail, The Peterborough Examiner, and Lethbridge News Now.
Ottawa is adding another $51 million to Canada’s support package for Ukraine, with the money aimed less at battlefield needs and more at the daily grind of keeping people safe, housed, and ready for life after the war.
The funding, announced Friday by the federal Liberal government, is drawn from a broader fund laid out in the 2025 federal budget. It includes humanitarian assistance, help for veterans returning to civilian life, and support for Ukraine to prepare for elections when it becomes possible to hold them safely.
Canada’s $51 million Ukraine funding breakdown
The largest slice, $32 million, is earmarked for humanitarian aid delivered through outside organizations, including the Red Cross, the United Nations Refugee Agency and the World Food Programme. The government framed this as immediate, practical support such as food and shelter.
Beyond humanitarian help, the package includes several smaller targeted commitments: - $5 million for programming to help Ukrainian veterans reintegrate into society - $6 million to support Ukraine’s eventual ability to administer elections and educate voters - $5 million for UN Women to help Ukraine meet technical requirements tied to European Union accession, including applying gender-based analysis to legislation in Ukraine’s parliament
Veteran reintegration support modelled on Canada’s experience
Randeep Sarai, Secretary of State for International Development, said Canada is building on a memorandum of understanding signed with Ukraine a few years ago focused on technical assistance for veterans.
Speaking by phone from the Kyiv Post newspaper office, Sarai said the goal is to share what Canada learned supporting veterans after the Afghanistan conflict, including help with health issues such as PTSD and pathways into skilled jobs. He described the work as something many countries put off until a war ends, but said Ukraine began planning earlier.
“Most countries don't really think about this until after the conflict is over,” Sarai said, adding that he credits Ukraine for starting the work about two years into the conflict.
Elections planning amid mines and displacement
Another $6 million is set aside to help Ukraine prepare for elections and voter education. Sarai pointed to the real-world hurdles: mine hazards near potential polling locations, displaced people inside the country, and Ukrainians living abroad who may want to participate.
He raised practical questions that reflect how complicated voting logistics could be after years of attacks and population movement: setting up polling stations safely, enabling participation for people who have fled or been relocated, and ensuring Ukrainians abroad, including those in Canada and European countries, can vote.
UN Women funding tied to EU requirements
The package also includes $5 million for UN Women, aimed at helping Ukraine meet technical standards connected to joining the European Union. Sarai said those requirements include applying gender-based analysis to legislation passed through Ukraine’s parliament, a step meant to align lawmaking with EU expectations.
Sarai’s visit to Ukraine amid ongoing attacks
Sarai travelled to Poland and Ukraine this week and met with Ukrainian cabinet ministers, including Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. He said it was his first visit to Ukraine; a trip planned years earlier was cancelled because of hostilities.
He described experiencing the conditions Ukrainians live with daily, including missiles and drones overhead, air horns, and a night when he had to go to a bunker. Sarai said it was “very eye-opening” to see schools equipped with shelters, and to watch people return to work and take children to school the next morning.
Canada has provided almost $26 billion for Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, according to the federal government, and the war has stretched to nearly 1,500 days.
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