Denys Derzhavets and Andrey Sychev met many years ago as boys in school. Neither could have known that their childhood connection would turn into a lifeline many years later.
When the Russians invaded Ukraine, Sychev texted his longtime friend asking for help.
"I text him back that was has started, and Kyiv is under bombardment," Derzhavets recalled.
Derzhavets has been living in Canada for more than two decades, and without hesitation, the Thornton man said he offered his home to his friend.
"A program opened [called] Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel," Derzhavets said. "They were able to apply and move quickly to Canada."
The Federal government introduced the Canada-Ukraine emergency travel program to support the people of Ukraine, offering Ukrainians and their family members free, extended temporary status.
The program allows them to work, study and stay in Canada for up to three years.
Sychev, his wife, their three children and their dog packed what they could into a few suitcases and left their homeland, a move Sychev said is difficult to describe.
"Because when [the] war started, all my life was changed. In fact, you feel yourself like in some bad dream."
Needing some extra mattresses, Derzhavets posted on a community page and said his phone was immediately ringing off the hook.
"Everybody is messaging, 'What can we do? What can we bring?' And people started bringing lots of different things."
Sychev said the generosity of the community was overwhelming.
"Canada peoples, who never knew about us or anything, they just give us money, gift cards, and other [things]. It's really, very good."
While life may look much different for the Sychev family, they are starting to adjust.
The children enjoy taking the school bus, and Sychev's wife started working at a local Ukrainian bakery.
"I want again, to say my very, very grateful to all Canadian people and [the] Canadian government," he said.
Sychev said above all he can't thank his childhood friend enough for taking him and his family in during a difficult time.
"We say to them, you can stay as long as required," Derzhavets said.
Canada's special rapporteur on foreign interference David Johnston calls the allegations swirling around his objectivity 'quite simply false,' and said Tuesday he plans to push ahead with his work, launching public hearings next month
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should see to it that mass murderers serve their entire sentences in maximum-security prison.
The lawyer representing a woman who alleges she was sexually harassed by a former Northwest Territories premier says her client would likely have to end her lawsuit if a judge determines the trial should be moved to Quebec.
Across Canada, the average price of rent climbed back up after pandemic lows, with the monthly rate new tenants face now 20 per cent higher than it was two years ago, according to just-released rental data.
Crown prosecutors say charges against an Alberta woman accused of mailing two puppies and a kitten have been dropped.
While the Liberals insist a Pacific Rim trade bloc should welcome anyone who meets its standards, an internal document suggests Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants China kept out.
The PGA Tour ended its expensive fight with Saudi Arabia's golf venture and now is joining forces with it, making a stunning announcement Tuesday of a merger that creates a commercial operation with the Public Investment Fund and the European tour.
Video shows Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) staff leading the rescue of a severely entangled humpback whale off the coast of British Columbia last week.
The number of interactions between killer whales and humans has increased alarmingly in recent years. CTVNews.ca asked an expert to explain the reasons behind the increase in interactions, explore the types of encounters, and examine the implications for both humans and killer whales.
Firefighters battling the 25,000-hectare Shelburne wildfire say the wet weather has helped crews directly attack the blaze, now they’re hoping for a break in the rain.
Hammonds Plains Road reopened to traffic early Tuesday morning more than week after wildfires began in the Halifax area. Officials say the fires in the area are contained, though crews continue to deal with hot spots and flare ups.
Canada's emergency preparedness minister says images of wildfires burning across the country are some of the most severe ever witnessed in Canada and the current forecast for the next few months indicates the potential for continued higher-than-normal fire activity.
One Quebec city that had been threatened by approaching wildfires has lifted an evacuation order, but other parts of the province continue to deal with out-of-control blazes that are taxing firefighting resources.
Insurance industry group Equite Association says vehicle theft in multiple provinces surged last year. Vehicle theft was up by 50 per cent in Quebec year over year, by 48.3 per cent in Ontario, by 34.5 per cent in Atlantic Canada and by 18.3 per cent in Alberta.
Montrealers woke up to hazy sun and smoky skies again Tuesday morning. Northerly winds from wildfires burning north of the city continue to blow smoke into Southern Quebec.
A special air quality statement remains in effect for the National Capital Region because of wildfire smoke blowing across the region. Environment Canada's air quality health index is at its highest level of risk.
The wildfire burning at Centennial Lake, about 150 km west of Ottawa has been significantly reduced and is being held with a burnt area.
The federal government has given an updated deal to a public-service union that signed its collective agreement in the fall in order to match deals reached with the Public Service Alliance of Canada during a strike this spring.
The smell of smoke is in the air throughout the city of Toronto and could get worse before the week is over as wildfires continue to burn in Quebec and northern Ontario.
The actions of the teen who repeatedly slashed a North York massage parlour receptionist 42 times with a sword, killing her and injuring her manager, were an act of terrorism, an Ontario Superior Court Justice found Monday in a 'historical' decision in Canada.
A wrong turn landed a U.S. driver in jail after she accidentally ended up on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls and officers discovered she was in a stolen car.
They buzz. They bite. They carry diseases that can be bad for your health. It seems there’s more mosquitos than ever this year – and people are noticing.
Environment Canada says several groups of people across southwestern Ontario are at a higher risk of experiencing health effects caused by wildfire smoke.
Wellington County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) say at least one person is dead following a collision just north of Acton.
Marking the two year anniversary of the alleged terror attack that took the lives of four members of the same family, the board has announced an Anti-Islamophobia Strategy.
On this day in 2021, four out of five members of a London, Ont. family were killed while they were out for a walk and struck by a vehicle, in an apparently deliberate attack.
Members of a London, Ont. social justice group, tenants, and supporters marched into the downtown offices of a prominent city landlord Tuesday. The ACORN tenant union delivered a list of demands to an executive with Old Oak Properties.
While firefighters get more forest fires under control in northern Ontario, travel restrictions declared under an emergency order are being expanded in several communities.
A 13-year-old male from Elliot Lake in northern Ontario has been charged with sexual assault again, bringing the total to 10, after another survivor came forward.
Tent caterpillar infestations are a problem in northern Ontario every few summers and it looks like they could be returning this year.
Windsor police say they have arrested a Michigan man for the murder of his estranged wife, who was reported missing last month.
Windsor police say E.C. Row eastbound closed near Howard Avenue and Dougall Avenue after a collision.
Smoke from wildfires burning across Canada is beginning to cause poor air quality in Windsor.
Crown prosecutors say charges against an Alberta woman accused of mailing two puppies and a kitten have been dropped.
An Edmonton man convicted of killing his pregnant wife and dumping her body in a ditch has been granted full parole.
A restaurant in Calgary's Hillhurst neighbourhood is out thousands of dollars after it was broken into over the weekend.
While Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC) publicly mulled moving its downtown emergency shelter to a location on 20th Street near the city's core, city documents reveal the wellness centre's present Fairhaven area location was heavily favoured early in the process.
The former site of the city’s bus barns is getting a facelift.
A new pilot project that just rolled out onto Saskatoon streets is off to a rocky start.
The Kiwanis slide, commonly known as the big yellow slide, opened in 1974 but hasn't been in use since 2019 due to structural problems, Explore Edmonton said.
An Edmonton man convicted of killing his pregnant wife and dumping her body in a ditch has been granted full parole.
Crown prosecutors say charges against an Alberta woman accused of mailing two puppies and a kitten have been dropped.
Job action has halted all classes at Capilano University in North Vancouver as the Ministry of Finance enters agreements with CUPE support staff at five post-secondary institutions in B.C.
A B.C. woman has agreed to cancel her nursing registration for at least 18 months after failing to provide round-the-clock care for a patient with “significant” needs.
The search for a 23-year-old man who went missing after a night out in Vancouver last month has come to a tragic end, police confirmed Tuesday.
