Historical Antecedents and Challenges of Racialized Immigrant Women in Access to Healthcare Services in Canada: an Exploratory Review of the Literature

Examining the historical antecedents of racialized immigrant women are important precursors to understanding the challenges they face in access to quality and timely healthcare in Canada. Changes to immigration policies, structural and systemic racial discrimination perpetuate the feminization of migration in Canada, create structural barriers in labour market integration, increase social exclusion and ultimately create unequal access to healthcare services. Despite their high levels of education, racialized immigrant women in Canada are over-represented in low-paid, low-skill precarious jobs. They also face powerful structural barriers to decent professional employment due to the lack of acceptance of foreign educational and licencing credentials. Ultimately, these challenges negatively impact how they interact with healthcare services. Utilizing an intersectional and socio-ecology framework, this review aims to highlight the historical antecedents of racialized immigrant women in access to healthcare services in Canada and examine the challenges racialized immigrant women face in access to healthcare services in Canada. Findings from this review can be used to open dialogues on possible changes to immigration and social policies in Canada, including changes to labour market practices, and initiatives to address structural and systemic barriers, to enable racialized immigrant women overcome the challenges they face in accessing quality healthcare services in a timely manner.