Ukrainian refugee ready to represent Nova Scotia in Canada Games, but there's one problem

When he was six years old in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, Sasha Kaplin's father told him to pick a sport and stick with it.  

His mother, Yana Kaplina, says the family would scramble to drop the child off at judo practice with their busy schedules.  

But it finally paid off, she says. "Now we have good results."

Kaplin recently qualified for the Judo Nova Scotia team, and his goal is to win a medal for Nova Scotia at the Canada Winter Games in P.E.I. later this month.

The only thing stopping him is his refugee status in this country. Canada Games requires athletes to be either permanent residents or Canadian citizens to participate.

He has until late February to receive the permanent residency papers he applied for five months ago and he hasn't lost hope. 

"It means a lot for me," says Kaplin. "It's my province. It helps me a lot."

He says judo helps him keep his mind off the war and focus on his good memories in Ukraine. His dream with judo is clear. "Olympics. First place," for Canada, he says.

The 16-year-old came to Nova Scotia with his family in April 2022 when they decided to leave Ukraine, two months after Russian forces invaded the country. Since then, he's remained committed to the sport.

Seeing Kaplin's skill, his coach, Jason Scott who also selects judokas for the provincial team, took the responsibility to cover his training fees, his Judo Nova Scotia membership, and his uniform costs to ease his family's expenses.

Pratima Devichand, an immigration consultant who also trains with Scott, helped the Kaplins process their permanent residency applications for free.

'It's a big deal for our province'

Kaplin competes in the 90-kilogram weight division and already won a silver medal at the Elite 8 Nationals, a Canada-wide tournament. He already qualified for a tournament in Germany this year.

"If he does very well there, then Judo Canada starts looking at him, and we're hoping that eventually, at some point, we'll put him on the national team," said Scott.

"I would say he's in the top two in Canada [for his age], so that's how good he is," says Scott, who is also the owner of Nova United Martial Arts.

The Nova Scotia team consists of seven males and seven females in different weight divisions. 

Scott said the number of under-18 team members in Nova Scotia is very small, so no permanent resident or Canadian citizen would be displaced by Kaplin.

He also says a person's immigration status in the country shouldn't be a deciding factor in allowing them to represent the province in sports.

"Why not give them the opportunity they deserve?" says Scott. 

"Canada alone is about diversity ... it doesn't matter who that person is. I think if he's living in our province and, at some point in time, he's going to get his permanent residency and live here for good."

Kaplin created a strong bond with his teammates in the last year.

His teammate, Abigail Smith, says the entire squad is like family, and leaving one behind would not feel right. 

"He deserves to go," she says. 

Eligibility of refugee participants discussed

Courtney Pollock, a spokesperson for Canada Games, said the Canada Games Council has had some preliminary discussions about the potential eligibility of refugee participants in future tournaments.

She said the decision to allow refugees to participate will need to be made by the federal and provincial governments, who set the eligibility requirements for the Canada Games Council.

She also said at this time, "there is no mechanism in place to allow refugees to compete as independents," said Pollock. 

According to the federal government's website, the immigration department is facing a backlog of immigration applications. The Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada did not respond immediately to a request for comment.