The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that newcomers have the support and services they need to make the most of their talents and experience in order to fully integrate and contribute to the Canadian economy and to their communities.
Newcomer women who are members of a visible minority group may face multiple barriers to success, including gender- and race-based discrimination, precarious or low income employment, lack of affordable childcare and weak social supports.
Recognizing these challenges, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is providing additional funding of up to $5 million to 10 service provider organizations across Canada over the next 2 years to increase employment supports and services for newcomer women.
The YWCA of Greater Toronto runs programming that equips newcomer women and female youth with the skills, connections and support they need to enter the labour market and contribute to the economy. Services include essential skills training, networking, volunteering, work placements and preparation for the credential assessment process. As a women-specific organization, the YWCA provides a safe environment and opportunity for women to voice their needs. YWCA staff are well aware of women’s needs and have extensive experience serving women in the community, and this additional funding of $310,000 will support them in serving more visible minority newcomer women.
Identifying IRCC-funded service providers that are already offering strong programming for women and giving them additional funding will provide an immediate boost in capacity to support visible minority newcomer women.
The funding announcement is part of IRCC’s 3-year Visible Minority Newcomer Women Pilot, which also includes establishing new partnerships with organizations for women. In December 2018, IRCC launched an expression of interest process for new partnerships with organizations for women not currently funded by the department. IRCC will provide up to $7 million in funding over the next 3 years for new, innovative programs and services to support visible minority women in accessing the labour market and to build capacity in smaller organizations that serve or are led by visible minority women.
Quick Facts
- Visible minority newcomer women have the lowest median annual income of all newcomer groups at $26,624, compared to non-visible minority newcomer women ($30,074), visible minority newcomer men ($35,574), and non-visible minority newcomer men ($42,591).
- Visible minority newcomer women are more likely to be unemployed. The unemployment rate of visible minority newcomer women (9.7%) is higher than that of visible minority (8.5%) and non-visible minority (6.4%) newcomer men, based on the 2016 Census.