By Canadian Press

Young Ukrainian hockey players await Quebec government OK to attend English school

Sep 21, 2023 | 12:40 PM

MONTREAL — A half-dozen boys from Ukraine who played this year in Quebec City’s famed peewee hockey tournament have been sidelined since returning to the province to attend high school.

The youngsters arrived in Quebec on Sept. 1 but so far have not been able to attend an English high school in the Quebec City area as planned because they don’t have provincial Education Department authorization.

Sean Bérubé, a Quebec City businessman, helped arrange for the team of 11-and-12-year old Ukrainian refugees to play in the annual Quebec International Peewee Hockey Tournament in February.

He says six of those children returned to study, but under Quebec’s language law they need special dispensation to attend school in English, and that process could only begin after they had arrived.

Quebec’s Education Department says in a statement it is currently processing the requests, which takes about 10 days.

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The department says it has been dealing with a high volume of requests for access to English schooling and is working to respond quickly.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 21, 2023.

The Canadian Press