A Windsor organization is getting some financial help from Ottawa to help immigrant women find jobs.
WEST, which stands for Women's Enterprise Skills Training of Windsor, has received $310,000 from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to launch a three-year pilot project.
The Visible Minority Newcomer Women Pilot will offer an eight week in-class program and five-week work placement along with other training programs such as in skilled trades.
Windsor was one of ten communities in Canada and only one in three communities in Ontario to receive funding.
London West MP Kate Young visited Windsor to make the announcement on Tuesday and says it gives the economy a boost.
"Immigrant women, immigrants in general, have a lot to offer us and we can't think that some people worry that immigrants are taking Canadians' jobs, that is not the fact. The fact of the matter is that they are creating jobs," she says.
Young points out this is about helping newcomer women reach their potential.
WEST Executive Director Rose Anguiano Hurst says it also builds on current programs, offered by WEST, to give women more training and confidence to enter the workforce.
"We are going to do a whole series of employability workshops, industry tours, have companies come in to help us with mock interviews," says Anguiano Hurst.
The funding is part of a larger $5-million fund.
Young says this pilot project will make a real difference in the lives of newcomer women.