The Labour Market Performance of Immigrant and Canadian-born Workers by Level of Education

With 2006 Census data, this paper uses wages and salaries and employment status as labour market outcomes to examine the relative economic performances of low-educated, intermediate-educated and high-educated immigrants in Canada. The aim is to identify the elements that can influence individuals’ labour market behaviour, as well as any differences in labour market outcomes between immigrants and Canadian-born citizens. Geographical, socio-demographic, immigration and educational characteristics are taken into account in the models. Males and females are studied separately in order to see if the influences on outcomes differ by gender. This study finds that because low-educated individuals tend to earn lower wages than high-educated ones, immigrants with low level of education tend to face fewer disadvantages than immigrants with a high level of education. Also, for the employment status, the inequality between immigrants and Canadian-born citizens is lower than for wages. This perhaps indicates that many immigrants are being compelled to take jobs that do not match their education and skill levels