Exploring the employment experiences of Inuit receiving employability services at Ivirtivik

  • Sianna Williamson is a member of St’uxwtéws in British Columbia. They are an undergraduate student at McGill University pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Indigenous Studies. Inspired by their experiences in the IMPRESS Indigenous Undergraduate Research Program, their Honours Equivalent thesis project focuses on social cognition, gender and bipolar disorder. In the future, they intend to pursue graduate studies and a career focused on decolonizing research, uplifting Indigenous perspectives, and advocating for collaborative and culturally informed approaches.

Presently and historically, Inuit have faced unequal access to employment. Douglas Health Research Center (DRC) members and Ivirtivik, an employment centre for Inuit, seek to create a collaborative, meaningful research relationship to better understand Inuit employment experiences in Tiohtià:ke (the geographical region called “Montréal”). Ivirtivik offers employability and skills development opportunities for Inuit in Tiohtià:ke. They seek to help Inuit connect to a community through concrete activities that combine their values, talents and preferences. This collaboration between DRC members and Ivirtivik fosters an exchange of research expertise, community connections, and cultural insights, empowering both groups to achieve their shared goals. Through this project, Ivirtivik and DRC members aim to learn about employment facilitators and barriers experienced by Inuit receiving services at Ivirtivik. Inuit cultural knowledge guides this endeavour, emphasizing inclusive, collaborative and consensus-building research that respects the Inuit worldview. Accordingly, the methodology is participatory and qualitative, enacted through focus groups.

This project represents a first step toward a long-term objective shared by Ivirtivik and DRC members: to co-design culturally sensitive tools that promote employability for Inuit wishing to work in Tiohtià:ke. Members of the DRC wish to respectfully, sincerely and actively contribute to research decolonization and reconciliation by working with Ivirtivik to support and empower Inuit communities in their self-determined path to employment. This study will notably contribute to building bridges between Inuit and non-Indigenous employers to create culturally sensitive and safe workplaces that benefit all.

This project is co-funded in partnership with Mitacs and Indigenous Women’s Fund of Canada.