Visible minorities with physical challenges: A study of their experiences in integrating into Canadian society

This thesis is the result of a qualitative research study exploring the experience of visible minority persons with physical challenges in trying to integrate into Canadian society, in the Kitchener-Waterloo area and Toronto. To capture the larger picture regarding the particular conditions of the challenged visible minority persons in this community, l also examined the experiences of those providing services to them. Another objective of this research was for me to learn to incorporate the values of community psychology into a research process. Using two partia|ly-structured interview guides, one set for the physically- challenged visible minorities and the other for the service providers, I conducted eleven personal interviews; six with the visible minority participants and five with the service providers. The results show that the visible minority persons experience discrimination primarily because of their physical challenges, especially in terms of employment opportunities. Meanwhile, the service providers observe that the difficulties associated with their integration into Canadian society are rooted in cultural differences and language barriers. Following this research, I attempted to build a network system among agencies working with persons with physical challenges and agencies providing services for newcomers. This attempt involved service providers from those agencies, visible minority persons with physical challenges and myself. At the time this thesis was written however, this attempt was only at the initial stage