According to a 2007 survey by the RCMP, there are an estimated 500,000 undocumented migrants in Canada, and over 200,000 of them are estimated to live and work in Toronto. They contribute to our society by working, paying taxes, raising families, building relationships, starting businesses, and, ultimately, supporting the economic, cultural and social fabric of this country. Despite this, undocumented people are routinely unable to access essential services and resources, which exacerbates poverty, precariousness, marginalization and exclusion in this city. They are also unable to seek legal work, leading to economic precarity and dangerous working conditions.

Despite these tremendous obstacles, migrant communities continue to be extremely resourceful, and many undocumented workers have discovered legal ways of generating income through their own entrepreneurship. As a result, for this project, current and former undocumented members of Vivimos Juntxs, Comemos Juntxs sought out to explore, research and document these entrepreneurship opportunities to further build community resiliency within our undocumented communities.

In this workshop, members of VJCJ, alongside participants in the research project that lead to the development of VJCJ’s guide to Financial Resistance, will provide information and resources on how to start a business in Ontario that is inclusive of everyone and very much applicable to artists.

This event is an online webinar. To attend, please log into your TQFF account and return to this page when the event is live. No other registration is required.

The VJCJ guide to Financial Resistance toolkit is available for download in the following languages:

English
Portuguese/Português
Spanish/Español
Chinese/中国人

Final Report – Hidden Resilience: Entrepreneurship for Undocumented People