A 2025 report by Toronto Metropolitan University’s BMO Newcomer Workforce Integration Lab found that immigrant women continued to have lower employment and labour-force participation rates than immigrant men and Canadian-born women, with racialized immigrant women experiencing some of the widest gaps. The recent study found the self-employment rate for racialized women was somewhat similar to that of non-racialized, non-Indigenous women. Akbar said that over the past decade, online platforms have transformed how immigrant women run home-based businesses. “Recognizing the intersecting challenges of gender, race, and immigration status is essential to ensuring immigrant women can not only survive, but thrive.” Both Basir and Akbar said that for some immigrant women, home-based businesses are a deliberate choice, offering the flexibility to build something while serving communities they understand well.