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“Can Someone Help Me?” Refugee Women’s Experiences of Using Settlement Agencies to Find Work in Canada

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Abstract

This article examines refugee women’s experience with settlement agencies and their employment outcomes in Canada. Based on qualitative data, we found that employment was not a priority to settlement agencies with many counselors referring the women to low-skilled, low-waged positions with companies with whom they had pre-existing ties. Meanwhile, counselors found themselves burdened with large workloads and felt inadequately equipped to serve the needs of refugees. Through this study, we propose policy recommendations that address women’s disproportional barriers that can be integrated within programs and services offered by settlement agencies to improve employment integration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave W, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Sonja Senthanar, Ellen MacEachen & Philip Bigelow

  2. School of Labour Studies and Department of Health, Aging & Society, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street W, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4L8, Canada

    Stephanie Premji

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  1. Sonja Senthanar
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  2. Ellen MacEachen
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Correspondence to Sonja Senthanar.

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Senthanar, S., MacEachen, E., Premji, S. et al. “Can Someone Help Me?” Refugee Women’s Experiences of Using Settlement Agencies to Find Work in Canada. Int. Migration & Integration 21, 273–294 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-019-00729-1

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