How have immigrants fared in the labour market?
Historically, immigrants have performed well in the labour market. Those arriving in the 1970s and 1980s caught up with their Canadian counterparts within ten years. Immigrants arriving since the 1990s have not fared as well. Although they are the most highly educated cohort of immigrants to date – over 40 per cent have a university education – after ten years immigrant men who arrived in 1990 were earning only 79.8 per cent of the average for Canadian men, and immigrant women were earning 87.3 per cent of the average for Canadian women. Research also shows that four out of ten new immigrants are forced to make a downwardly mobile shift in their career once they arrive in Canada.
