(August 5 2003)

Using 1991 and 1996 Canadian Census data, we replicate the finding of others that more recent immigrants to Canada have had poorer earnings outcomes compared with earlier immigrant cohorts and Canadian born workers. However, we also show that the immigrants who were born in the US or UK continued to enjoy relatively high average earnings. It is the more recent immigrants born outside the US and UK whose average earnings fell below the earnings of the Canadian born. The proportion of immigrants born outside the US and UK rose over time so that their experiences came to dominate the overall immigrant picture. After establishing these facts, we develop a framework for considering how immigrant inflows of different sorts would be expected to affect traditional and new concepts of labour input and productivity growth