On November 17, 1983, the Secretary of State of Canada Serge Royal wrote a letter to Maria Rodriguez, Chairperson of Women Working with Immigrant Women (WWIW). The letter informed her that his department, alongside Multiculturalism Canada, would be providing a grant of $20,500 to the organization. He added, “I trust that the grant will enable Women Working with Immigrant Women to continue with its many worthwhile projects in the community.”1 Royal’s letter marked one of the rare moments (up until the early 1990s) when the Canadian state formally acknowledged the lived experiences of immigrant women and their contributions to women’s liberation and community development. It was the highest grant WWIW had received from the state at the time. Yet, despite its symbolic and financial significance, the funding fell short of what the organization needed to sustain its extensive grassroots work.2
WWIW, founded in 1974, functioned as an umbrella organization dedicated specifically to addressing the needs of immigrant women. One of the most striking features of WWIW’s work was its commitment to moving beyond demonstrations and advocacy alone. While many women’s organizations focused primarily on protest actions and ideological campaigns, WWIW combined political collaboration with hands-on, one-on-one support for immigrant women at the grassroots level. This approach reflected the organization’s understanding that the struggle for women’s liberation required practical interventions, particularly for immigrant women whose sociocultural needs were largely neglected by the state and marginalized within mainstream feminist movements.
WWIW’s membership flyer in the 1980s articulated their socio-political commitment clearly, stating that the organization aimed “to collectively identify the needs of immigrant women and work towards the development of programs to respond to these needs.”3 This principle guided their work on creating the Agency Handbook for Immigrant Women by and For Immigrant Women. While drafting the handbook, the organization identified five priority need areas: daycare, medical care, employment, education, and recreation. Later, they expanded their framework to include legal services, housing, and seniors’ needs.4 The handbook, completed in May 1992, also listed relevant agencies associated with each service area. In a 1992 Activity Report, WWIW explained that one of the handbook’s central objectives was to support service organizations in developing and implementing anti-racist policies that would make their services accessible to immigrant women.5
WWIW’s anti-racist commitments extended beyond policy and service access into political education and cultural programming. The organization promoted film screenings to highlight positive representations of immigrant and visible minority women and their struggles for equality. A flyer, circulated in 1987, advertised WWIW’s premiere of the film “Proud Women, Proud Women, Strong Steps, Strong Steps.” In September 1992, WWIW also held videotape screenings titled “Speak Up, Immigrant Women!” These tapes addressed the immigration process, the stress experienced by immigrant women, the relationship between immigrant children and the school system, adult education, and the conditions faced by immigrant workers.6
WWIW’s political commitment was also evident in the co-sponsorship and promotion of events such as “Domitila”, a two-day program featuring film, music, and talks by Domitila Barrios de Chungara, a Bolivian mineworker and labour organizer.7 This event foregrounded women’s leadership in anti-imperialist struggles around the world and linked immigrant women’s local organizing to transnational feminist and labour movements.
Alongside these initiatives, WWIW offered a wide range of practical support services, including mental health workshops, health education sessions, employment and skills training opportunities, and ESL classes. Many of their language classes focused on practical English for work and equipped women with the knowledge to understand and defend their rights.8
Beyond advocacy and education, WWIW invested in nurturing immigrant women’s creative agency. Through its Information Kit, the organization published stories written by and about immigrant women, addressing themes such as employment, family life, and mental health. This platform enabled immigrant women to articulate their own experiences, directly contributing to broader conversations within the women’s liberation movement. The kit itself stated:
“It is, indeed, surprising, given the wealth of literature on and by the women’s movement, that immigrant women have been dealt with so peripherally. It is fair to say that most of the material that does exist is about and not by immigrant women.”9
By foregrounding first-person narratives, the kit directly challenged this imbalance. It argued for immigrant women to become primary producers of knowledge about their own lives, educating both the women’s movement and wider society about their circumstances, concerns, and demands for change. The materials focused deliberately on individual contemporary experiences rather than historical accounts, and featured contributions from a diverse group of immigrant women.
“Sometimes, you know, I’m just damned tired. There have been many times when I have felt that if this is all there is, then I’m not sure it is worth it,” Laura, a production assembler, wrote in her story, “Big Ball of Anger”.
“We have to send money home for [my husband’s] parents every month”, Lola, a domestic worker, wrote in “Our Marriage Was Over”. “So far, I haven’t been able to find any real work. I’m cleaning in a big house two days a week and one night I do some serving there for receptions and dinners. But it doesn’t earn me too much money.”
WWIW amplified these voices through various media. At the back of a flyer for the National Conference on Immigrant Women, the organization published a poem titled “Immigrant Women Speak Out”. The flyer noted that the poem was “written by an immigrant woman, out of sheer frustration, after hearing a schoolteacher’s lament on immigrant women and how sorry she felt for these ‘poor women’.”10
A part of the poem read, “It is alright to be an immigrant woman. It is even alright to be a ‘POOR IMMIGRANT WOMAN!’ But just give us time to grow… and WE WILL…”
These materials were powerful catalysts for change within Canada’s women’s movement. At the same time, WWIW actively participated in provincial and national feminist organizing and collaborated with other agencies to advance immigrant women’s rights. One of such collaboration was with INTERCEDE (International Coalition to End Domestics’ Exploitation), a prominent Toronto-based migrant-led volunteer advocacy organization established in 1979, whose objective was to protect and fight for the rights of foreign domestic workers and caregivers in Canada. On March 11, 1980, INTERCEDE’s chairperson, Frances Gregory, wrote to WWIW requesting endorsement of INTERCEDE’s objectives, including the legalization and enforcement of employment contracts for domestic workers on work permits, as well as donations to support their campaign.11 WWIW responded with a letter and donation, endorsing INTERCEDE’s call for:
1. Full inclusion of domestic work under minimum wage laws.
2. Legally binding, worker-signed contracts for domestics on work permits.
3. Government funding for independent enforcement agencies.
4. Immediate access to landed immigrant status for women on work permits.
5. Welfare rates set at a living wage, without deportation risk for immigrant women.12
Since its establishment in April 1974, WWIW worked closely with numerous organizations advocating for immigrant women’s rights. In 1984, the organization participated in the YWCA of Metropolitan Toronto’s Women of Distinction Awards by nominating Portuguese immigrant Emilia Silva, a cleaner and president and shop steward of Local 51. Emilia played a key role in the 1981 Union Certification campaign and became widely known for her statement, “You do not need to speak English to fight for your rights.”13
While Women Working with Immigrant Women collaborated extensively with labour, feminist, and community organizations, they remained a distinctly autonomous, grassroots initiative by and for immigrant women.14 Their work proved that service provision and political organizing were not separate activist and advocacy strategies but deeply interconnected practices that blended the social and political. Through practical support, cultural programming, and political education, WWIW challenged both state neglect and the marginalization of immigrant women within mainstream feminism.
Rosemary Kasiobi Nwadike is an Igbo-Nigerian cultural studies scholar and writer whose work examines the intersections of postcolonial studies, Indigenous and migrant feminist discourse, and media narratives. She is currently pursuing a PhD in English and African Studies at Carleton University, where her research engages questions of “Africanness” in African feminism, decolonial thought, and the afterlives of colonial disruption in contemporary African cultural production.
Notes
- Serge Joyal, Executive Letter to Ms. Rodriguez (17 November 1983), Archives and Special Collections, University of Ottawa, 10-058-S5-F5.
- Women Working with Immigrant Women (WWIW), “Dear Friends” Flyer (c. 1983), Archives and Special Collections, University of Ottawa, 10-058-S5-F5.
- WWIW, Membership Flyer (c. 1980s), Archives and Special Collections, University of Ottawa, 10-001-S1-F3981.
- WWIW, “Some Ideas for the Handbook” (c. 1992) Archives and Special Collections, University of Ottawa, 10-058-S5-F5.
- WWIW, “Activity Report” (1992) Archives and Special Collections, University of Ottawa, 10-001-S1-F3981.
- Women Working with Immigrant Women, “Speak Up, Immigrant Women” Flyer (1992) Archives and Special Collections, University of Ottawa, 10-001-S1-F3981.
- Union Labour, “Domitila” Flyer (c.1980s) Archives and Special Collections, University of Ottawa, 10-001-S1-F3981.
- WWIW, “Practical English” Flyer (October 1979) Archives and Special Collections, University of Ottawa, 10-001-S1-F3979.
- WWIW, Information Kit Description (October 1979) Archives and Special Collections, University of Ottawa, 10-001-S1-F3979.
- WWIW National Conference on Immigrant Women Flyer (c. 1980s) Archives and Special Collections, University of Ottawa, 10-001-S1-F3981.
- Frances Gregory, Letter to WWIW (11 March 1980) Archives and Special Collections, University of Ottawa, 10-058-S5-F5.
- WWIW, Endorsement Letter to INTERCEDE (March 1980) Archives and Special Collections, University of Ottawa, 10-058-S5-F5.
- WWIW, Emilia Silva Nomination Announcement (1984) Archives and Special Collections, University of Ottawa, 10-058-S5-F5.
- By March 1983, agencies collaborating with Women Working with Immigrant Women included the Downtown Church Workers Association, Birth Control & VD Info Centre, Centre for Spanish Speaking People, Cross-Cultural Communication Centre, Family Planning Services, Food & Service Workers of Canada, Immigrant Women’s Centre, Immigrant Women’s Job Placement Centre, International Women’s Day Committee, Participatory Research Group, Portuguese Inter-Agency Network, Rexdale Women’s Centre, Rusholme Clinic, St. Christopher’s House – Adult Services, St. Stephen’s Community House, Times Change, Women’s Press, Working Women Community Centre, and the YWCA of Metropolitan Toronto.