Abstract
The increasing population of working immigrant women in Canada demands special considerations surrounding their mental health. This exploratory-descriptive qualitative research has investigated the influences on the mental well-being of 14 working immigrant women in Calgary. Participants were interviewed to describe their unique experiences at the intersections of race, gender, religion, work, and social class, and to discuss useful interventions that support their mental wellbeing. The findings demonstrated that migration to Canada had provided participants with high awareness about mental health; however, stigma, religious beliefs, financial concerns, and discriminatory behavior in healthcare services were barriers to pursue mental health care. Racism, microaggressions, intersectional discrimination, language barriers, and employment difficulties had adversely affected their mental well-being. Conversely, freedom, security, and multiculturalism were some of the advantages of living in Canada. Ultimately, working immigrant women's needs were discussed as individual/micro-, meso-, and macro-level interventions based on ecological model.
