A detailed look at the experiences of migrant and immigrant women’s working conditions in low-wage essential sectors in Nova Scotia before, during, and following the most acute periods of the COVID-19 pandemic, this report draws on 27 in-depth, qualitative interviews.
Before the pandemic, the women interviewed experienced barriers to and challenges in employment. Finding work was difficult, and once it was secured, many confronted racism, exclusion, and exploitation. These worsened during the pandemic. Illustrating this, our study offers four features of employment in essential sectors experienced by migrant and immigrant women during the pandemic. Decreased earnings and opportunities for employment; increased workload; being responsibilized for enforcing public health regulations; and increased emotional and affective labour.
From these findings, our study makes six key observations. These are:
1. the pandemic reinforced existing stratification in labour markets, wherein newcomer immigrant and migrant, women, and racialized people are represented in greater numbers in service and retail work;
2. the vulnerability already prevalent in feminized, essential sectors is compounded by the immigration process and intensified by temporary legal status;
3. the conditions present in essential sectors worsened at the height of the pandemic, such that the burden migrant women carried—already vital for the reproduction of Canadian families, society, and economy—increased;
4. the challenges already associated with migrant family life and securing permanent immigration increased;
5. taken together, these conditions or features of work during COVID-19 generated considerable stress and anxiety, culminating in a decrease in overall well-being and mental health;
6. despite the official end of the COVID-19 pandemic, migrant women and in turn, their families struggle to recover from the financial and emotional strain they experienced during the pandemic.