Current Studies

How Conditional Settlement Impacts Immigrant women

The Migrant Mothers Project is launching a new three-year study to explore “How Conditional Settlement Impacts Immigrant women”. This new study will continue the MMP’s focus on how immigrant policies impact the rights, safety and security of women with precarious immigration status. The study will engage with communities in Ontario and Alberta with a focus on women who enter Canada through the Caregiver temporary foreign worker program or as sponsored spouses/partners. Through this research, we aim to inform the development of programs, policies, and advocacy strategies to support immigrant women.

Quick Links

Caregivers’ Journeys – Project Details
Summary of Discussion at Caregivers’ Journeys Project Launch (Toronto, June 26, 2016)
Summary of Community Consultation (Calgary, April 30, 2016)
Summary of Community Consultation (Toronto, March 26, 2015)

Study Objectives
  • Explore the changes in immigration policy that impact the settlement of sponsored spouses;
  • Examine how changes to the Live-in-Caregiver program are impacting access to permanent residency and settlement of live-in-caregiver and domestic workers;
  • Understand how immigration enforcement (deportation and removal from Canada) impact immigrant women’s safety and access to support services
Background Information

Within the last years there have been many changes to the Canadian immigration system. These are impacting immigrant women and the services they receive.

In Canada, women represent 58% of the sponsored spouses and 96% of the Live-In-Caregiver entries (Citizenship & Immigration Canada, 2014).

Sponsored spouses might be legally and financially tied to their sponsor. Women within the Live-in-Caregiver program might be similarly tied to their employers.

Both right be in positions of vulnerability to violence and insecurity. While they do have the opportunity to acquire citizenship they also risk removal and deportation if they do not abide by the conditions of their stay.

Why is this research important?

With the rising concern for economic and social conditions facing immigrants with precarious statue, this research aims to develop a gendered lens that will help us think of new ways to support immigrant women and influence public policy to better assist them in times of crisis and need.

This project is grounded within the principles of action research. it aims to generate knowledge to inform policy change and to provide recommendations for policy and program development.

Study Timelines

Study goals in year 1 (2015) include:

  • Holding community consultations with service providers and policy makers in Alberta and Ontario;
  • Forming a Research Advisory Committee to guide the development of the study;
  • Conducting a scan of parliamentary debates and policy changes related to sponsored spouses and the live-in-caregiver program;

Study goals in years 2 and 3 (2016-2017):

  • Conducting interviews with service providers who work with immigrant women
  • Conducting interviews with immigrant women who are either sponsored or either working under the Live-in-Caregiver program;
  • Holding community forums to disseminate preliminary findings