The dependent status has other ramifications such as:

i.) the contributions of such women to the economic and social aspects of Canadian life are underestimated in research, planning and policy development and implementation. They are assumed to make no contribution, therefore, no one bothers to look closely at what they in fact are contributing to both the economy and the society. Since they are rarely included in social or economic studies, they are assumed to have no needs which are the responsibility of the government; and therefore, no social services are planned. This type of argument which is based on a false assumption becomes a vicious circle. Interested groups cannot obtain the money to conduct the research on their own because the target population has no needs, because the government says so.

ii.) an immigrant woman who is well-educated and highly trained for some occupation may have difficulty finding employment through lack of Canadian experience or training or through poor fluency in French or English. If she is an independent immigrant she can receive help on the same basis as is provide to all independent immigrants. However, if she is a dependent, she becomes dependent still further on the discretion of the manpower officer who handles her case. She may be dealt with as an unskilled labourer and told Manpower cannot help her. She may receive some refusal on the basis of some rule about two members of one family not both receiving manpower assistance. She may be referred to a social agency, She may be granted admission to the course best suited to her needs. The most consistent element in all this is of consistency in the way immigrant women in particular are dealt with by CMC counselors. This is the direct result of a lack of an affirmative policy on the eligibility of women for training programs, at least none which have reached the implementation stage. However, the policy does not deal in any affirmative way with immigrant women.

iii.) although some women who immigrate are well-educated and trained, the greater number are untrained in any occupation and functionally illiterate by Canadian standards (i.e. less than grade 9 education). Further, they may be as illiterate in their own language as they are in French or English. Some immigrants may have schooling only up to grade 5, the limit of compulsory education in some countries. Those who immigrate from countries with a "British" system of education are generally better educated and have fewer problems adjusting to the Canadian system of education. To begin to train such women for any occupation might require extensive English/French as a Second Language classes or basic education classes. The CEIC will not fund any classes below the Grade 7 level. Persons with educational needs below that level must obtain their education from other agencies.

iv.) the dependent status has an overall diffuse negative effect on the immigrant woman. This is particularly true if she comes from a culture which places a high value on the contributions a woman makes both within the family and within the larger society. Such women have always held a status that is derived from being an interdependent and equal (albeit different) partner in the family and the social structure. To reduce them to the level of an unequal and dependent person may be a severe blow to their self-esteem, which then compounds the problems related to education, training and language.

^1. "The Canada Manpower Training Program. A policy review: September, 1977" Employment and Immigration Canada, Manpower Training Branch, 1977. pp. 15-16.