Canada’s Economy Is Held Back When Immigrant Women Are Held Back

In Policy Options, Nasreen Basheer examines the labour market obstacles that constrain the income and economic mobility of immigrant women in Canada — a major problem not only for immigrant women, but for the Canadian economy on the whole. Nasreen provides policy directions for dismantling these obstacles, including reforming Canada’s needlessly restrictive and inefficient credentialing processes, ensuring access to affordable childcare for all, and applying a Gender-Based Analysis Plus framework to immigration pathways.

Nasreen Basheer is a Master of Public Policy candidate at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto.

Citation

Basheer, N. (2026). Canada’s Economy Is Held Back When Immigrant Women Are Held Back. Perspectives Journal. https://perspectivesjournal.ca/immigration-women-labour-economy/

Excerpt

Labour market barriers reflected in the Statistics Canada Census, surveyed every five years, shows the outcome of how gendered and racialized norms systematically constrain immigrant women’s income and occupational mobility. The labour market channels even highly educated newcomer women through immigration programs for low-wage, feminized care roles. While approval for admission requires high human capital investments like education and work experience, the kinds of jobs afforded to high skill immigrants do not require high skill. The labour market systemically neglects to recognize foreign credentials, considers country of origin to assess language skills, even if language of instruction for education was in English, and foreign licensing, even if standards can be found to be equivalent to Canadian licenses. It is challenging for women to continue upwards from these low-wage, low-skill roles, lending to long-term economic disadvantages despite the credentials and experience from their country of origin.