Winnipeg —
Immigrant Women (3rd)
November 30, 2006
Employment Projects of Winnipeg

Back to Workshops Page

Winnipeg Workshops

Facilitators: Jennifer deGroot & Becky Thiessen
Participants: 16 women

Thanks to Employment Projects of Winnipeg for hosting this workshop with immigrant women.

The following ideas were generated by workshop participants as part of our gender budget consultations. Please note that this list does not represent the official position of the UN Platform for Action Committee Manitoba (UNPAC). Neither UNPAC nor all of the participants have endorsed these suggestions.

1. What are key concerns for women in your community?

• Employment
  • Training credentials are not recognized
  • Must start from zero
  • Immigrants get factory and production jobs
• Housing
  • Need a good environment
  • Save and conducive for children
  • Affordable
  • Accessible
  • Need more parking
• Health
  • Long waiting list to see professionals/specialists
• Credit
  • Difficult to get loans/credit for new immigrants if you have no credit history.
    How can you get a mortgage?
  • Once you get credit, then it overflows: hard to manage
• Childcare
  • Very expensive
  • Waiting lists — 2 weeks to one year
• Education
  • Need good education for parents and children
• Transportation
  • A necessity in winter
  • Not enough public transit

2. a) What Government programs and services have really worked to meet women’s needs and concerns? How could they be expanded upon or made better?

• Employment Projects of Winnipeg
  • Computer training
• Healthy Moms & Me
  • Training on childcare
  • Subsidies
• ESL classes
• Child Tax Benefit
• Entry Program for new immigrants
  • Employment
  • Housing
  • Laws
  • Places to go

2. b) What ideas do you have for programs and services that could meet women’s needs?

• After school activity centre
  • Especially during the winter
  • Week-ends
• ESL for children
• Citizenship class
• Free summer leisure activity for families
• Free training & Education for immigrant women — skills and profession

3. Women often do not have enough money to do the things they need to do and they often do not have enough time to do the things they need to do either. Where are you crunched for time? What could the government do to give you more time to do the things you need to do?

• Employment opportunity upon arrival
• Higher wages for the employed
• Immediate accommodation/housing upon arrival
• School location nearby housing
• Skills training during the night
• Childcare at night
• Easy access to information and education regarding women’s rights
  • Organized by neighbourhood/translated
• Put values/money to the household chores that women do.
• More children’s activities
• Less complicated forms
• More transit buses
• Funds for moms who need to go to chiropractor or physiotherapy
• More grant money for housing
• Better wages for part time work

4. What ideas do you have on how the Government could earn more money? Examples include: raising existing taxes, introducing new taxes, or stopping programs that don’t work. Use the creativity you have learned from your experience as a woman living with a tight budget.

• Stop programs that don’t work
• Creating more jobs/business establishments
• Recruiting more immigrants
  • Business class
• Raise corporate taxes
• Have some energy saving measures
  • Minimize number of working days/time (if not necessary) to save electricity, water etc.
• Fines for smoking in public places
• Fines for littering
• Higher tax on cigarettes
• More fitness/nutrition programs

TAKE ACTION!

• Voice out our concerns — we can be heard!
• Newspapers/media/TV
• Meet other women — assemble, gather and organize
• Internet
• Meet city councillors
• Meet with MLAs
  • Come prepared with tools
  • Focus on 2 or 3 areas of concern
  • Ask them for follow-up information and action