0 Violence against Women Migrants and Refugees: Analysing Causes and Effective Policy Response Country Review CANADA1 1 The Canadian Research Program, for which this Report has been prepared, has been funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, under the Gender-Net Plus ERA-Net Cofund: Promoting Gender Equality in H2020 and the ERA initiative. The Canadian Research Program is being carried out by an academic team of researchers from four Canadian institutions: Saint Mary’s University, University of New Brunswick, Guelph University and University of Manitoba 1 Research Team2 Dr. Evangelia Tastsoglou, Principal Investigator Dr. Myrna Dawson, Co-Investigator Saint Mary’s University University of Guelph Dr. Catherine Holtmann, Co-Investigator Dr. Lori Wilkinson, Co-Investigator University of New Brunswick University of Manitoba Dr. Chantelle Falconer, Postdoctoral Fellow Saint Mary’s University Copyright@2020 Evangelia Tastsoglou, Myrna Dawson, Catherine Holtmann, Lori Wilkinson, Chantelle Falconer 2 With the assistance of Pallabi Bhattacharyya, Michelle Carrigan, Sally Ogoe, Labe Songose and Larissa Sweeney. 2 Table of Contents Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 5 I. Introduction: A Brief Overview of Indigenous Peoples and Newcomers ......................... 12 II. Demographic Indicators on Migrants and Refugees in Canada......................................... 14 A. Who are Canada’s “Migrants” and “Refugees”? ........................................................... 14 B. Canadian Immigrant Population and Pathways to Canada ............................................ 15 1. Immigrant Women in Canada: Population, Age, Region of Birth ................................ 34 C. Implications for the Canadian Research Program .......................................................... 38 III. Gender-Based Violence in Canada .................................................................................... 39 IV. Migrant Women’s Experiences of Gender-Based Violence: A Brief Literature Review .. 48 A. Domestic/Intimate Partner Violence .............................................................................. 48 B. Forced Marriage ............................................................................................................. 52 C. Femicide ......................................................................................................................... 52 D. Female Genital Mutilation ............................................................................................. 52 E. LGBTQ Immigrant and Refugee Women in Canada ..................................................... 53 V. Regulatory Framework: Law and Policy ........................................................................... 54 A. Migration Law and Policy .............................................................................................. 54 1. Admission Categories ................................................................................................... 55 a. Economic Class ....................................................................................................... 55 b. Family Reunification .............................................................................................. 56 c. Refugee ................................................................................................................... 57 (i) Refugee and Humanitarian Resettlement Program ............................................ 57 (ii) In-Canada Asylum Program ............................................................................... 58 d. Work Permit .................................................................................................................. 59 e. Study Permit............................................................................................................ 59 f. Visitor Visa ................................................................................................................. 60 2. The Canada – US Safe Third Country Agreement ....................................................... 60 B. Gender-Based Violence Law and Policy ....................................................................... 60 1. International Framework ............................................................................................... 60 2. Federal Legislation and Policy...................................................................................... 61 3 3. Provincial or Territorial Legislation ............................................................................. 64 4. Possible Implications for Migrant and Refugee Women .............................................. 65 VI. Implementation of Legal and Policy Frameworks ............................................................. 65 A. Access to Settlement Services ........................................................................................ 65 1. Refugees in Canada by Use of Services and Type of Service ...................................... 68 B. Agents............................................................................................................................. 71 C. Settlement Programs and Gender-Based Violence ........................................................ 73 VII. Dominant Narratives and Public Discourses ..................................................................... 76 A. Voice .............................................................................................................................. 76 B. Problems ......................................................................................................................... 79 C. Solutions ......................................................................................................................... 81 VIII. Works Cited ....................................................................................................................... 83 IX. Appendices ......................................................................................................................... 98 A. Appendix One: A Map of Settlement and Gender-Based Violence Programs .............. 98 1. National Agents ............................................................................................................ 98 2. Agents by Province ....................................................................................................... 98 a. Atlantic Region ....................................................................................................... 98 (i) Newfoundland and Labrador .............................................................................. 99 (ii) Prince Edward Island.......................................................................................... 99 (iii) Nova Scotia ........................................................................................................ 100 (iv) New Brunswick ................................................................................................... 100 b. Quebec .................................................................................................................. 101 c. Ontario .................................................................................................................. 103 d. Western Region ..................................................................................................... 104 (i) Manitoba ........................................................................................................... 104 (ii) Saskatchewan .................................................................................................... 105 (iii) Alberta .............................................................................................................. 106 (iv) British Columbia ............................................................................................... 107 e. Territories .............................................................................................................. 108 (i) Northwest Territories ........................................................................................ 108 (ii) Nunavut ............................................................................................................. 108 4 (iii) Yukon ................................................................................................................ 108 B. Appendix Two: Frame Analysis Grid .......................................................................... 109 C. Appendix Three: List of Figures and Tables ................................................................ 124 1. Figures......................................................................................................................... 124 2. Tables .......................................................................................................................... 126 D. Appendix Four: Federal Legislation Pertaining to Family Violence ........................... 127 5 Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to map out the intersection of gender-based violence with migrants and refugees in Canada, providing the backdrop for our Canadian research program that is part of the international Gender-Net Plus ERA-Net Cofund Project on Violence against Women Migrants and Refugees: Analyzing Causes and Effective Policy Response. The Country Review Canada follows a template adopted by the research