Central Alberta Immigrant Women’s Association is receiving $300,000 in federal funding over three years to help immigrant women in the Red Deer, Ponoka, Olds and Lacombe area who face employment challenges.
CAIWA will work with community partners to develop and implement a plan to promote the economic security and prosperity of immigrant women in Central Alberta.
Funding was approved in March and consultation has begun to identify gaps and barriers and existing opportunities.
“First of all, we want to find out why. What exactly are the issues the immigrants are having in Central Alberta?” said Halima Ali, CAIWA executive director, on Tuesday.
In the second year, a community plan will be developed that will be implemented and assessed in the third year.
Ali said the association will connect with service agencies, businesses and Red Deer College to identify resources for immigrant women’s employment and find ways to overcome barriers to their full participation.
The three-year project is one of the initiatives funded by the federal government through Status of Women Canada and its Women’s Program after a call for proposals in 2011 under the theme Women Living in Rural and Remote Communities and Small Urban Centres.
More than $14 million is funding 55 projects across the country.
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com