YWCA is one of Metro Vancouver’s largest and most diversified non-profit organizations. Their holistic, integrated programs and services help lift women and families out of poverty, provide the best start for children and create new opportunities for education, employment and leadership.

Visit YWCA’s CPRNW project pages for Model 2 and Model 4

Vision:

Our vision is to achieve women’s equality.

Mission:

Our mission is to touch lives and build better futures for women and their families through advocacy and integrated services that foster economic independence, wellness and equal opportunities.

The YWCA has focused on serving women and with Metro Vancouver having such a large immigrant, mostly visible minority population, thousands of newcomer women have participated in YWCA services. Two of the YW’s current programs – Pathways to Leadership and Mothers Without Legal Status — solely serve immigrants. Some of their programs geared for women, many of whom were newcomers include FOCUS@Work, Futures in Focus, and LEADS – Learning Employment and Development Skills.

YWCA will be testing Model 2: Navigating the Canadian Labour Market, which will provide 140 visible minority newcomer women with support in developing a clear career plan based on a thorough assessment of their skills, as well as opportunities to connect with potential employers. Potential participants will be assigned to one of two streams, streams A (offered services and activities) and B (offered services, activities, and direct employer connections).

YWCA will also be piloting Model 4: Building Canadian Work Experience. This project will provide 72 visible minority newcomer refugee women, who are receiving either Income Assistance, RAP benefits or private sponsorship, with 12 week-long paid work placements in order to gain on-the-job language practice and practical experience in a Canadian workplace. The program will include a six-week training program followed by a 12-week work placement. Participating employers are eligible for a wage subsidy to cover part of the employee wages.

Model 2 research design: A quasi-experimental design that compares the outcomes of the two streams of participants will be used to estimate the impact of the direct employer connections. The quasi-experimental impact analysis will address whether the addition of direct employer connections further improves outcomes.

Model 4 research design: Model 4 will be evaluated using a small-scale proof-of-concept study to provide evidence that shows whether the concept is feasible and should be consider for wider implementation and testing. The focus of the evaluation is the implementation evaluation. Outcomes will be tracked through pre-post comparisons and some participants’ and may be compared with the outcomes of other refugees through publicly available statistics.