Canada making it easier for visible minority newcomer women
Credit to Author: Ramya Ramanathan| Date: Sun, 09 Jun 2019 16:07:42 +0000
The Canadian government is making it easier for visible minority newcomer women to find a job by providing the support and services they need to succeed. This will help these women highlight their talents and experiences as they settle in Canada.
Some newcomer women face multiple barriers trying to find work and get ahead in Canada. This includes gender- and race-based discrimination, precarious or low income employment, lack of affordable childcare, and weak social and employment supports.
Recognizing these challenges, the government has selected 22 organizations from across the country that understand visible minority newcomer women, the barriers they face, and their circumstances. These organizations will receive up to $7.5 million over the next two years to launch projects aimed at developing innovative approaches, supporting smaller organizations increase their capacity to serve visible minority newcomer women, and towards increasing digital literacy.
According to Maryam Monsef, Canada’s Minister for Women and Gender Equality: “If we want to advance gender equality, we need to acknowledge that they exist and actively work to dismantle them. Everyone deserves to be able to develop their skills and find a good job so that they can take care of themselves and their family. By supporting the organizations taking part in this pilot project, we can better ensure that all women have an equal opportunity at success.”
2016 Census numbers
Statistics indicate that visibility newcomer women have the lowest median annual income of all newcomer groups and are more likely to be unemployed.
- 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.