Networks of Mobility and Constraint: The Economic Integration of New Immigrants to Canada

Using data from the 2008 General Social Survey (GSS) of Canada, this dissertation extends the traditional immigration literature, while drawing on prominent issues in the network literature, by examining inequality in access to social capital, and the degree to which structural factors within Canadian immigrant social networks yield socio-economic returns and constraints. The dissertation consists of three thematically linked publishable papers. The first publishable paper (Chapter 2) compares sources of social capital including membership in voluntary organizations, comparing foreign-born and native-born. This paper highlights the reasons for the relative inadequacies of immigrant networks. Particularly for recent immigrants, factors include less time in Canada, lower rates of participation in voluntary organizations, a lack of Canadian educational qualifications, poor English/French linguistic skills, and ethnic/racial minority status. These factors contribute to embeddedness within smaller, more homogenous networks. The second publishable paper (Chapter 3) looks at the role of social networks on male immigrantsâ earnings because earnings determination differs for men and women. The paper finds that recent immigrant men have significantly lower earnings than their native-born counterparts in large part because immigrants have more close ties and fewer of the varied weak ties that are more useful in attaining employment upon arrival to Canada. The third publishable paper (Chapter 4) compares the economic returns from network resources between immigrant men and women across immigrant entry cohort. The paper finds that immigrant women have lower earnings than men and that the effect of each network characteristic on earnings significantly differs between immigrant men and women. The aim of this dissertation is to offer greater insight into the relationship between immigrantsâ social network characteristics and their earnings in Canada. There are several broad implications for this project. First, the research develops new theoretical insights concerning economic mobility within Canada, beyond race, language proficiency, and Canadian labour and work experience. Second, by recognizing the network characteristics associated with newcomer welfare, this study contributes to immigrant policy and research within Canada and elsewhere.Ph.D