Can Canada Be Home? Refugee Mothers Raising Young Children in Metro Vancouver

‘Bloom Inward II’ by Priscilla Yu, Gastown, Vancouver ( part of the Vancouver Mural Festival in 2020)

Research team 

Principal Investigator                                                  Co-investigator
Aude-Claire Fourot                                                       Jessica Forster           
SFU, Vancouver                                                              DIVERSEcity, Surrey  

📢 We’re hiring a Research Assistant! 

Summary 

This project aims to amplify the voices of refugee mothers raising young children in Metro Vancouver by exploring how they experience and “make” home in Canada. Research, policy, and settlement services often emphasize economic outcomes of resettlement, overlooking the experiences of those who cannot work—such as mothers of young children.  

This study asks: 

    1.  what “home” means to these women, 

    1.  what helps them feel included, and  

    1. what challenges they face.  

To answer these questions, we are conducting focus groups with Syrian and Eritrean refugee mothers, along with interviews with settlement workers and community members. The findings will contribute to understanding migration and home-making and will inform service providers and policymakers on how to better support refugee families during their early years in Canada.