Yet current regulations disproportionately impact racialized foreign-born women. We therefore need to consider the cost of excluding this potentially important avenue of support on the well-being of new Canadians, and their perspectives of, and their attitudes towards Canadian society.
In conclusion, we need to carefully apply a gender lens to examine how sponsorship policy may differentially impact different genders in both roles as the sponsor and the sponsored, and how it may inadvertently contribute to greater gender inequality, and to constraining a sector of newcomers from manifesting their own potential in both public and private spheres.
In addition, we need to reflect on both the gendered impacts of sponsorship requirements and the Eurocentric constructs of childhood, adulthood, and the family, and by doing so consider who is most negatively impacted, and who is made most vulnerable by our policies. When immigrants are able to draw upon social networks and support systems, we will foster greater social cohesion and a more peaceful and prosperous Canada.
Thank you once again for allowing me to share my thoughts with you today.