Employment Barriers Experienced by Hispanic Immigrant Women in the Greater Toronto Area.

Employment Barriers Experienced by Hispanic Immigrant Women in the Greater Toronto Area.

Domestic roles constrained the job searches of immigrant hispanic women. The groups of women consider hispanics in this research are from Latin America and the Iberian peninsula (Spain) in Canada. Both groups of women found it difficult to combine paid work with their roles as mothers and wives. In LA, women had managed child care and housework with the assistance of relatives and paid domestic help. Many women in LA had also had domestic help. In Toronto, far from family members and unable to pay for expensive domestic help, the women were often solely responsible for domestic work. School schedules reduced the time women were able to enrol in language and skills training and their availability for employment. Women noted that they could not afford the high costs of child care without a well paid job.

Among the women from LA who qualified for subsidized child care, cost was not as important as the availability of a subsidized space. The gender division of labour is high among men and women from LA than between Canadian couples and, two factors mediated the gender division of labour. Men and women from LA were much less likely than their spouses to be enrolled in full-time studies to obtain professional accreditation in Canada, so they were less available for child care. Almost half of the women from LA were members of construction crews and mine families in which the husbands were away for long periods of time, leaving all household responsibilities to their wives.

Place also affects the women's involvement in paid work. The residential locations of most of the women from LA differed markedly. Women from LA were more likely to live in Toronto's southern suburbs in old and middle residential developments, while women from Spain lived near the centre or west area of the Greater Toronto Area. Although the distribution of informants reflects the locations of the community partners who helped us recruit informants, it also corresponds to the distribution of LA and Spanish immigrants within the Greater Toronto Area. In the suburbs, women found that long commuting times and long travel times for all purposes limited their availability for paid work even though the majority of women had learned to drive. Women from Spain who were more likely to live downtown had easy access to public transportation, but they had to learn enough English to navigate the city. Even downtown, women found that long work trips made it difficult to pick up children on time. Both groups of women commented on the benefits and drawbacks of living in neighbourhoods with other immigrants. Initially, the availability of services in their own languages helped both groups of women settle. Over time, several women noted that living in a Spanish-speaking or Portuguse-speaking environment did not help them improve their proficiency in English.

Conclusion:

Although accreditation is an issue for some women, recognition of prior work experience is equally important, particularly for women from LA. Some formal method of recognizing prior work experience similar to the qualifications assessment programs that have been established in Quebec and other provinces is needed. Alternatively, internships by which women might establish the value of their prior experience on the job and gain invaluable Canadian experience would be helpful.


In sum, the research has confirmed that immigrant women from LA and Spain are earning less than Canadian-born women despite high levels of education and occupational status. In-depth interviews identified several labour market challenges facing immigrant women that range from accreditation issues, employers' unwillingness to value foreign experience, and limited proficiency in English. The labour market challenges are heightened by women's domestic roles and their residential locations. The complex interrelations between labour market challenges, women's domestic roles, and residential location call for coordinated policy responses rather than the current patchwork of settlement services.