Resources for Women

Resilience and Health: Salvadoran Refugee Women in Manitoba (2008): The Prairie Women's Health Centre of Excellence conducted interviews with 12 women from El Salvador about the health of Salvadoran refugee women, their understanding of the causes of health and illness, and the strategies they use to maintain health and cope with health problems. http://www.pwhce.ca/resilienceAndHealth.htm

Protecting vulnerable workers (2008): The Manitoba Government has developed legislation to better protect workers who can be vulnerable to exploitation. Labour and Immigration Minister Nancy Allan has proposed the Worker Recruitment and Protection Act to better regulate modelling agencies and foreign temporary worker recruitment agencies. Among the goals of the legislation are to ensure that young women and girls are protected from predators posing as modelling agents. In addition, measures will be put in place to protect temporary foreign workers who can be at a heightened risk of exploitation, including those working as live-in caregivers. Find more information at the Employment Standards Division, Room 604-401 York Ave., Winnipeg MB R3C 0P8 or email employmentstandards@gov.mb.ca. Further details can be found in the Manitoba news release available online at http://www.gov.mb.ca/labour/standards/wrpa.html

Manitoba Immigration Facts - 2007 Statistics Report: The annual report, titled Manitoba Immigration Facts - 2006 Statistical Report, contains analysis and trends. The report is available at: http://www2.immigratemanitoba.com/asset_library/en/resources/pdf/mif07.pdf.

Policy Barriers for new immigrants (released 2006): A research study conducted by Community Foundations of Canada and the Law Commission of Canada concludes that Canadian social policy is undermining the success of newcomers to this country, hampering their access to employment and vital services, and creating a web of discrimination that makes it harder for immigrants to settle here, even though they are more educated and more skilled than their predecessors. Download the 63-page report at: http://www.cfc-fcc.ca/socialjustice/pdf/LegalPolicyBarriers.pdf.

Calls to protect human rights of female migrants: The State of World Population 2006 report, A Passage to Hope: Women and International Migration, examines the scope and breadth of female migration, the impact of the funds they send home to support families and communities, and their disproportionate vulnerability to trafficking, exploitation and abuse. The web cast of the media conference on this report is available at: http://www.newswire.ca/en/webcast/viewEvent.cgi?eventID=1585100. Press kit and all background information is available at: http://www.acpd.ca/acpd.cfm/en/section/Home.

New Community Immigration Planning website: The province recently launched the new Community Immigration Planning Website, a practical how-to guide for regions considering immigration as part of their economic growth strategy. The immigration planning guide is available at http://www.gov.mb.ca/labour/immigrate/partners/community/