A Windsor agency that helps female newcomers to Canada is getting a boost from the federal government.
The Women's Enterprise Skills Training of Windsor (WEST), an agency funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), provides counseling, mentoring, work placements and networking opportunities for newcomer women. Labour market information is also given to women who are actively looking for employment in their fields. Consequently, WEST of Windsor will be able to assist more visible minority women after they receive a $310,000 funding increase from IRCC.
WEST of Windsor is one of ten similar agencies across Canada that will receive up to $5-million over the next three years. The funding announcement is part of the Visible Minority Newcomer Women project, a three-year pilot program from IRCC that also establishes new partnerships with women's organizations.
The funding will be discussed at a media event at WEST of Windsor on Ouellette Ave. Tuesday afternoon. London West MP Kate Young will represent IRCC Minister Ahmed Hussen in reviewing the details of the funding the agency will receive.
The IRCC says female newcomers who happen to be members of a visible minority may face multiple barriers to success, such as gender or race-based discrimination, low-income employment with high rates of turnover, weak or non-existent social supports or a lack of affordable child care.
According to the IRCC, visible minority women have the lowest median annual income of all newcomer groups, at a little more than $26,600 a year. They are also more likely to be unemployed, with a 9.7 per cent jobless rate according to the 2016 federal census.
Complete information on this pilot program is available on the official Government of Canada website.
