Cathy Schmidt

MSW, York University; BSc. in Philosophy and Zoology, University of Toronto

Cathy Schmidt is a PhD Candidate, Course Instructor and Research Assistant at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. Her doctoral research focuses on the policies and practices which impede parents without immigration status from accessing Canada’s publicly-funded social programs, and how their differential inclusion affects families with young children. Her research is informed by ten years of practice experience, including outreach work with migrant agricultural workers in rural Ontario, and her work as a Social Worker/Therapist at a community health centre in Toronto. She is the recipient of a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Doctoral Fellowship.

Research Interests: social policy and immigration policy; the impacts of precarious immigration status for individuals and families; the neoliberal welfare state; reproductive justice; critical qualitative methodologies; connecting micro and macro social work.

Email: cathy.schmidt@mail.utoronto.ca