'Welcome to your new home': More than 300 Ukrainians land in Halifax

More than 300 Ukrainians fleeing the war in their country received a warm welcome when they arrived at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport Thursday night.

"Welcome to your new home," said Premier Tim Houston. "I hope you make your life here, but you will be safe here, and you will be welcomed here."

Oleksandr Slobodianiuk flew from Winnipeg, Man., to greet his family in Halifax. He hadn't seen them in eight months.

"We have a dream to see ocean and Halifax is near ocean," said Slobodianiuk.

Others came to welcome the newcomers -- despite not knowing anyone onboard.

“I’ve spent a lot of time in Ukraine over the past 11 years doing volunteer work and it’s become a second home to me,” said Blair Haverstock.

Many people welcomed the Ukrainians with signs, chocolate, Nova Scotia tartan and Canadian flags.

"To see this many people here to say, 'You're welcome here,' and we hope you feel safe ... it doesn't get any better than this," said federal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser.

The plane, which was chartered by the Canadian government, left Warsaw, Poland Thursday morning with 319 Ukrainians onboard.

Mihkilo Chkyreno was among them.

"I'm feeling nervous, but also excited," said Chkyreno. "So exciting because it's like my distant dream to visit North America and I have a chance first time in my life."

Chkyreno only made the decision to come to Canada four days ago and says it's been a whirlwind. Now that he's arrived, he's thinking about what's next.

"First I need to find a job actually, because I need to rent my own room," he said.

Some Ukrainians will be staying in hotels until they find other accommodations. The federal government is putting people up in hotels for two weeks.

“Not all people are going to the hotel,” said Jennifer L’Esperance from Nova Scotia’s Office of Immigration and Population Growth in an interview with CTV News Wednesday.

“Some already have arranged accommodations, and for those who don’t there’ll be several options they can choose from in terms of which accommodations work for them after those 14 days.”

Labour, Skills and Immigration Minister Jill Balser says many in the province have pitched in to help with the arrival.

“Conference centres, hotels, landlords, and of course Nova Scotians who have been offering housing,” said Balser. “So, we do have a list of housing options and that’s again growing because of the nature of today and the importance of today.”

Newcomers are also eligible for financial assistance from Ottawa starting Thursday -- $3,000 for each adult and $1,500 for a child under 17.

This is the third federal charter flight that has brought Ukrainians to Canada since the start of the war.

The first brought 328 Ukrainians to Winnipeg on May 23 and the second brought 306 people to Montréal on May 29.

The flights were available to Ukrainian nationals and their family members approved through the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) program.

The program provides Ukrainians and their immediate family members of any nationality the opportunity to stay in Canada as temporary residents for up to three years.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says from March 17 to May 25, it received just over 259,000 CUAET applications, of which more than 120,000 have been approved.