Immigrant, Canadian-born employment gap widens

Immigrant, Canadian-born employment gap widens


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Lesley Ciarula Taylor
Immigration Reporter

A rising tide in employment in 2007 has failed to carry recent immigrants with it.

Statistics Canada today released its second-ever comprehensive look at immigrants in the workforce.

And the picture is worse in 2007 than it was in 2006, particularly in the Greater Toronto Area for the most recent immigrants.

In raw numbers, employment among all working-age immigrants rose slightly across Canada. But the numbers are skewed by several factors: a boom in employment for immigrants in Quebec and Alberta, stronger results for established immigrants, an increase in the number of immigrants and a healthy rise in employment for everyone.

Despite those strengths, the unemployment gap widened between 2006 and 2007 between Canadian-born workers and immigrants. For the most recent immigrants, those here for five years or less, the unemployment rate is double that of Canadian-born workers

As well, immigrants found more of their jobs in trucking and urban transit - buses, taxis and limos - hotels, restaurants and bars. Canadian-born workers found more white-collar jobs in public administration, professional, scientific and technical services, finance, insurance, real estate and leasing.

One surprise in the study was that immigrants with university degrees led the immigrant employment growth, while among Canadian-born workers, it was those with college diplomas, says study author Jason Gilmore. Integrating immigrants isn't just a matter of university education, though, he says. Factors such as language, work experience, social networks and children also come into play

Gilmore says he can't explain the surge in working immigrants in Quebec, accounting for more than half thejump for Canadian immigrants in 2007 and most of it among established immigrants. It is, he says, "a very positive story" for Quebec.

By contrast, Ontario's crawling employment rate hammered immigrants the hardest. The unemployment rate for immigrants rose slightly to 6.8 per cent; for Canadian-born workers, it stayed the same at 4.4 per cent. For immigrants who've arrived in Ontario in the last five years, the rate is up to 11.9 per cent.

In Toronto, Gilmore says, the numbers for very recent immigrants are even worse, with an unemployment rate of 12.7 per cent.

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