COVID & Us: Newcomer Women in Pandemic
Like other Canadians, newcomer women are experiencing unemployment and working from home while caring for their children. But for newcomers with smaller networks, the strain is Immense.
Isolated at home, community classes cancelled. Wait times for husbands and family members to enter Canada have been extended, past promised deadlines. They worry about their families in India, Azerbaijan, Zimbabwe, or Turkey, where aid is limited. These women came here with hopes pinned on the future. Now the future is Unknown.
Read their stories. Listen to their voices.
The Shoe Project holds writing workshops where Canadian writers exchange skills with newcomer women, enabling them to share their stories of arrival in and adaptation to Canada -- through a pair of shoes.
Our Program
Many newcomer women are professionals and leaders in their original countries but need to work on their writing and speaking skills in English to attain similar roles in Canada.
Our Shoes, Our Stories
Every woman has a special pair of shoes in her life. For those who embark on the long journey to a new life in a new country, her choice of shoes is not only vital -- it is also a powerful metaphor for that journey.
Watch a performance in Toronto
Heels in My Life, Vathsala Aswathaman
News and Media
Stay up to date with the latest news from The Shoe Project
Media Advisory
Read More
Teenaz Javat, Mississauga ON
Read More
Joy Kogawa, “It Feels a Bit Like Déjà vu, Anti-Asian sentiment"
Read More
Grandma Therapy
Read More
Immigrant Arts Mentorship Program
Read More
Mountain FM, "Canmore musician Nurdjana recording her late father’s songs."
Read More
Edmonton Journal, "Women new to Canada put best foot forward in The Shoe Project at Workshop West."
Read More
Sanaa Al-khannaq Calgary AB
Read More
Venera Loshaj-Balaj, Surrey BC
Read More
Himanshi Upadhyay, Vancouver BC
Read More
Zeynep Ergun, Calgary AB
Read More
Nelli Antepli, Calgary AB
Read More
Manisha Shrestha, Canmore AB
Read More
2020 Giller Prize Winner Souvankham Thammavongsa
Read More
Ava Homa, "Minority Writers Have to Work Thrice as Hard"
Read More
Ngozi Onyinye, Edmonton AB
Read More
Read about us in Halifax Examiner!
Read More
Gurpreet Nain, Toronto ON
Read More
Women's Courage Can Change the World
Read More
Bow Valley Shoe Project searching for immigrant women to share life stories
Read More
Caroline Adderson, "I consider the novel a work of imagination based on fact."
Read More
Levia Ququezana, Calgary AB
Read More
Our American Friends!
Read about The Shoe Project in Foreign Bodies newsletter
A Happy Birthday
Read More
No Safe Haven from Racism
Read More
Little Shoes
Read More
The Only Friends I Had
Read More
My Shoes Left Behind
Read More
My Brown Bata Slippers
Read More
Seran Celik, Calgary AB
Read More
Noriko Ohsada, Canmore AB
Read More
My Mother and Grandmother Walk with Me
Read More
In Salmon’s Shoes
Read More
Natalia Mokhovikova, Richmond BC
Read More
Beneath the Surface
Read More
Heels in My Life
Read More
Teenaz Javat, Mississauga ON
Read More
Tenzin Palzom, Banff AB
Read More
The book by Tanaz Bhathena has been awarded the 2019 Nautilus Gold Award.
Read More
Mariana Barron, Banff, AB
Read More
Dana Roman, Canmore, AB
Read More
Umut Duygu Uzunel, Toronto, ON
Read More
Cordelia Tang, Toronto, ON
Read More
Sinthia Zaman, Calgary AB
Read More
Shaima Jaff, Vancouver BC
Read More
New Chapter in Edmonton
Read More
The Shoe Project Shorts
Read More
Rhoda Akuol Philip, Toronto ON
Read More
Canmore author and Shoe Project founder to become member of Order of Canada
Read More
Shoe Project searching for new participants
Read More
In her shoes, after she got on her feet: In The Shoe Project workshops, women write about their immigration to Canada
Marsha Lederman, The Globe and Mail
Stepping into Their Shoes: An encounter with Immigrant Women
By Cindy Lapena
Read More
Human Flow and the Shoe Project pulled me deep into immigrants’ and refugees’ stories: Timson
Read More
The Shoe Project on Mountain FM 106.5 in Canmore-Banff
Read More
The Shoe Project lands on its feet
Read More
Immigrant women bare their souls through their soles
Read More
Shoe Project seeks immigrant women with a story to tell
Read More
The Shoe Project lets listeners walk a mile in an immigrant’s shoes
Read More
Events and workshops
Upcoming Events