<p>Gaining a better understanding of the realities faced by immigrant women through a community literacy approach – Every year, thousands of women are forced to leave their home countries and migrate to other countries, such as Canada. This migration can require a great deal of learning in order to adapt, particularly when these women have little or no literacy skills. In Québec, community-based literacy programmes offer an alternative to the formal education system, which cannot always meet the needs of these new arrivals. The integration of these women into literacy workshops run by community organisations can present a significant challenge for everyone involved, both the learners and the facilitators. An action research project, inspired by consciousness-raising pedagogy and conducted in collaboration with a community literacy group, is aiming to gain a better understanding of the realities faced by immigrant women. The purpose of this article is to discuss the findings of this research project in light of a review of the literature. First, it presents findings based on a framework for analysing feminist pedagogies, drawing on the Equity Web model developed by Claudie Solar. Second, it examines the current state of knowledge regarding women’s literacy and numeracy in relation to empowerment. The insights gained from these two approaches help situate the study within a broader context and enrich reflections on practices likely to promote women’s empowerment.</p>