Migration and Labour Mobility: The Narratives of Immigrant Women in Toronto, 1970s–1990s

Abstract

Oral histories can amplify the voices of marginalized, racialized women who have been otherwise excluded from history. The stories of six Caribbean women of colour who migrated to Canada between the 1970s and the 1990s lay bare the opportunities and the challenges of international labour mobility and migration. Shaped by the intersectionality of race, class, gender, and citizenship, the women were able to adjust to the demographic, social, political, and economic changes of the late twentieth century’s global economy by harnessing labour mobility. These women—and their life stories—form a salient part of the social history of immigration, domestic service, and health care in late twentieth century Toronto.