Immigrants faring better in Canada labour market

As per a June 2020 Report – The Improved Labour Market Performance of New Immigrants to Canada, 2006-2019 – “the labour performance of new immigrants generally improved between 2006 and 2019”.

The report provides a descriptive analysis of the labour market outcomes of recent immigrants to Canada during the period 2006 to 2019. Based on data provided through the Labour Force Survey, the report focuses on 4 labour market indicators –

• Participation,
• Unemployment,
• Employment rates, and
• Average hourly rates.

Trends in labour market outcomes between 2006 and 2019 have been compared among –

• very recent immigrants that had immigrated to Canada within 5 years or less,
• recent immigrants that had migrated to Canada in the previous 5 to 10 years, and
• Canadian-born workers.

The report came to the conclusion that the performance of new immigrants in the Canadian labour market had generally recorded an improvement between 2006 and 2019.

As a population, new immigrants to Canada were more educated and younger when compared to the Canadian-born. With high employment rates in the Canadian labour market, the participation, as well as employment rates of new immigrants, increased in absolute and relative terms across the period.

As per the report, the real wages of new immigrants increased during 2006 and 2019.

From the perspective of their contribution to the labour force as well as tax revenues, the new immigrants – with their lower average age and higher education level as compared to the Canadian working-age population – represent an important strength for the Canadian economy.

As per the report, “Employment rates tended to be higher the education level. For recent immigrants and the Canadian-born, university graduates had the highest employment rates of the education levels. In 2019, university-educated recent immigrants had the highest employment rate at 79.7 percent, signifying the substantial contribution of this group to the Canadian economy.”

6 reasons for the improvement in labour market performance of new immigrants

The Report states 6 reasons for the general improvement witnessed in the labour market performance of recent or new immigrants to Canada. These are:

Education	New immigrants were even better educated between the period 2006 to 2019. The share of very recent immigrant workers that had a university degree increased by 7.5%.
Labour market	The strong labour market in the late 2010s might have benefitted new immigrants.
Federal and provincial programs	Various federal and provincial programs specifically targeted at immigrant workers might have led to better labour performance.
Support services	Support services for new immigrants might have contributed to their better integration into the Canadian labour market.
Information	Improved labour market information may have caused prospective immigrants to enter the Canadian labour market with a higher level of preparedness.
Credential recognition	The process for the recognition of foreign credentials might have improved over the years.

Nevertheless, the Report lays down that further research is required for assessing “the validity and relative importance of these hypotheses to explain the improved labour market performance of new immigrants”.

If you are looking to Work, Study, Invest, Visit, or Migrate to Canada, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No. 1 Immigration & Visa Company.

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