Socio-Economic Integration of Immigrants and Refugees ... · • The 2.5 generation includes those who were born in Canada to one immigrant parent and one Canadian-born parent. •

Socio-Economic Integration of Immigrants and Refugees: overview

Ümit KiziltanDirector General, Research and Evaluation BranchImmigration, Refugees and Citizenship CanadaMay 13, 2016

Presentation Objectives

• Highlight the economic outcomes of immigrants:– High level comparison with the Canadian-born– More nuanced analysis by immigration category – Examination of the occupational skill level of immigrants – Recent research findings on immigrant economic outcomes

• Highlight immigrant social outcomes as part of their socio-economic integration

• Provide an overview of the outcomes of the children of immigrants

2

Are immigrants performing well in terms of economic integration in Canada?

• Some research has highlighted that recent immigrants, especially those with high educational attainment, have not performed as well in the Canadian labour market compared to earlier immigrant cohorts (Worswick 2004; Worswick & Green 2010; Picot 2008)

3

4

On average, and compared

to the Canadian born,

immigrants as a whole

have:

• Lower rates of labour

force participation,

• Lower employment

rates, and

• Higher unemployment

rates.

The recession (2008-2009)

has widened the gap.

Gap* in Labour-Market Rates, ages 25-54

*Gap is calculated as landed Immigrant population less Canadian-born population. Data Source: Labour Force Survey

Economic Outcomes of Immigrants Compared to the Canadian-Born

1.

Average Entry Employment Earnings by Immigration Category

Average Entry Employment Earnings by Immigration Category - Canada ($2012)

Tax Years 1982 - 2012

5Data Source: IMDB 2012

• Canadian

Experience Class

PAs and Provincial

Nominee PAs have

similar or higher

entry employment

earnings than the

Canadian average.

• Family class,

economic spouses

and dependants,

and refugees have

earnings that are

below the

Canadian average.$0

$10,000

$20,000

$30,000

$40,000

$50,000

$60,000

$70,000

$80,000

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Canadian Experience Class PA

Provincial Nominee PA

Canadian Average (2102)

Skilled Worker PA

1.Family Class*2.Economic Spouses

and Dependants*3.Refugee**These categories are not chosen for economic integration

High level comparisons of all immigrants mask a more nuanced story of both the low and high-performing immigrant groups.

Principal Applicants: Skilled Worker, Provincial Nominees and Canadian Experience Class

The average employment earnings of SW, PN and CEC principal applicants are well above the average of all immigrants, and surpass the the Canadian average ($45,426) shortly after landing.

Average Employment Earnings by Years Since Landing – Canada ($2013)

6Data Source: IMDB 2012 and CRA 2012

• These are economic programs with built-in human capital selection characteristics (e.g., Canadian work experience prior to obtaining permanent residency or social connections) which contribute to positive entry earnings.

$0

$10,000

$20,000

$30,000

$40,000

$50,000

$60,000

$70,000

$80,000

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Years Since Landing

Series1 Series2 Series3 Series4 Series5

Refugees A

vera

ge E

mp

loym

ent

Earn

ings

($

20

13

) b

y Ye

ars

Sin

ce L

and

ing,

G

AR

s an

d P

SRs,

(2

00

2-2

01

3 L

and

ing

Co

ho

rts)

Inci

den

ce o

f Em

plo

ymen

t Ea

rnin

gs (

%)

and

So

cial

Ass

ista

nce

(%

) b

y Ye

ars

Sin

ce L

and

ing,

G

AR

s an

d P

SRs,

(2

00

2-2

01

3 L

and

ing

Co

ho

rts)

7Source: The Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB); a database combining immigration and taxation records.

Labour Force Participation, Employment and Unemployment Rates of Immigrants and Canadian born among 25 to 64 Year Olds

8

87

78

78

79

78

81

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Labour Force Participation Rates

Immigration Programs – Landed between 1980 to 2011

82

71

71

71

73

76

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Employment Rates


6

9

9

9

8

6

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Unemployment Rates


Source: 2011 National Household Survey – Immigration Landing File Linkage Database

Similar patterns across all three labour force indicators

• Canadian born have stronger results than immigrants

• Economic principal applicants out perform all other immigration classes and the Canadian born population

• The results for refugees, family class and economic spouses are relatively similar

Labour Force Participation, Employment and Unemployment Rates among 25 to 64 Year Olds Who Landed between 2006 and 2011 (Very Recent Immigrants) and between 2001 and 2005 (Recent Immigrants)

9

91

79

75

75

81

85

70

69

64

74

Economic immigrants - p.a.

Economic immigrants - s.d.

Family class

Refugees

Immigrants

Labour Force Participation Rates

2006 to 2011 2001 to 2005

86

72

67

67

74

76

59

60

54

65

1

2

3

4

5Employment rates

Series2 Series1

6

9

10

11

8

10

15

14

16

12

1

2

3

4

5

Unemployment Rates

Series2 Series1

• Very recent and recent immigrant Economic PAs have much higher participation and employment rates than other immigration classes

• Very recent Economic SDs and Family Class immigrants have much lower participation and employment rates than recent immigrants

• Of all immigration classes, refugees who landed between 2006 and 2011 have the lowest participation and employment rates and highest unemployment rates

- Refugees see the largest participation and employment rate increases with time spent in Canada; the participation and employment rates for recent refugees is ten percentage points higher than for very recent refugees

- Recent refugees have participation and employment rates that are on par with

family class immigrants.

Time spent in Canada makes a difference; the rates for recent immigrants are consistently stronger than those for very recent immigrants


Labour Force Participation, Employment and Unemployment Rates by Immigration Categories among 25 to 64 Year Old Immigrants

10

8990

9387

7878

8179

12345678

Participation Rates

7

5

5

4

9

9

8

11

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Unemployment Rates


83

86

89

84

72

71

75

71

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Employment Rates• Canadian Experience Class PAs have

the highest participation and employment rates, followed by Provincial Nominees PAs, while Live-in Caregivers have the lowest unemployment rates

• Of the refugee categories, Privately Sponsored Refugees have the highest participation and employment rates and the lowest unemployment rates

• The results for the spouses and partners categories are similar to those of the refugee categories

Economic immigration categories consistently have higher participation and employment rates and lower unemployment rates than refugee and family categories

11

• The immigrant population is working in occupations at all skill levels

Economic immigrants have higher percentages of immigrants working in Skill Level A and B occupations

Family Class and Refugees have higher percentages of immigrants working in Skill Level C and D occupations

11%

13%

21%

19%

29%

34%

28%

26%

11%

8%

1

2

Total Population

Percentage of the Working Population Aged 25 to 64 in NOC Skill Level Occupational Categories by Immigrant Status and Immigration Class

8%

9%

17%

13%

9%

15%

16%

46%

35%

23%

30%

27%

28%

27%

31%

33%

34%

9%

19%

27%

15%

14%

5%

11%

1

2

3

4

5

Immigration Programs - Landed between 1980 and 2011


Data Source: 2011 National Household Survey-Immigration Landing File Linkage Database

Occupational Skill Level of Immigrants

Distribution of the population across skill levels

12

76% 78% 74%79% 75% 71%

5%6%

5%5%

5%5%

5%5%

5%5%

5%6%

6% 5%7%

5%7%

8%

7% 5% 8% 6% 8% 11%

1 2 3 4 5 6


Skill Levels D has the highest shares of immigrants

Just over one in ten Skill Level D workers (11%) is an immigrant who landed between 2001 and 2011

Occupational Skill Level Categories for the Working population Aged 25 to 64 by Immigration Status and Period of Immigration

Data Source: 1980 to 2011 National Household Survey – Immigration Landing File

At least one in five workers is an immigrant across all skill level categories

Immigrants have a higher rate of entrepreneurship, but tend to own smaller firms compared to the Canadian-born• In Canada, a larger share of immigrants than the Canadian-born are entrepreneurs. In 2010 about

5.8% of longer-term immigrants owned a private incorporated company, compared to 4.8% of the Canadian born.

• The likelihood of an immigrant being a business owner increases with years since immigration and the propensity to be an entrepreneur is higher among more highly educated immigrants.

• Economic class immigrants had the highest probability of owning an incorporated private firm while refugees had the highest likelihood of being “primarily” self-employed.

• Immigrant owned firms were on average smaller than similar businesses (private incorporated companies) owned by the Canadian-born.

• Refugee entrepreneurs tend to be overly concentrated (compared to Canadian-born entrepreneurs) in specialty trade contracting, ground transportation, retail trade, food services and services to dwellings (e.g. janitors).

• Economic class immigrants were about twice as likely as the Canadian-born to own a company in the knowledge based industries, notably architecture and engineering services, computer systems design and management and scientific consulting. 13

Immigrant Class % of private incorporated business owners who are immigrants

Family Class 28%

Economic Class (not including Business class) 43.5%

Business Class 12.1%

Refugees 11.3%

Other 5%

Children of immigrants: University Completion ratesChildren of immigrants have a higher university completion rate than that of the third generation and higher

14

59

50

32

29

29

21

19

36

41

34

24

0 20 40 60 80

Business immigrants

Skilled workers

Privately sponsored refugees

Refugees landed in Canada

Government-assisted refugees

Family class

Live-in caregivers

1.5 generation

Second generation

2.5 generation

Third generation and higher

University completion rate (aged 25-44), 2011

Generational status

1.5 generation by immigration Category

• On average, the second generation has the highest university completion rate, the third generation and higher has the lowest rate

Among 1.5 generation:⁻ Those admitted through the live-in

caregiver class had a university completion rate(19%), lower than those with Canadian born parents (24%);

⁻ Those admitted through business (59%) and skilled worker class (50%) have the highest rates

Notes: • 1.5 generation include those who immigrated to Canada before age 18 and before 1980.• The second generation includes those who were born in Canada to two immigrant parents. • The 2.5 generation includes those who were born in Canada to one immigrant parent and one Canadian-born parent.• Third generation or above includes those who were born in Canada to two Canadian-born parentsSource: Statistics Canada, authors' calculations based on the 2011 National Household Survey and Immigrant Landing File linkage.

Outcomes of Children of immigrants

15

• The children of immigrants constitute an emerging population in Canada (22%, 32%, and 35% of all adults, young adults, and children in 2011); with a growing ethnic diversity: 33% of those in prime age (25-44) and 60% of young adjust (15-24) are visible minorities.

• Immigration and integration can be conceptualized as an intergenerational process, and it is also essential to explore the outcomes of the children of immigrants, including those born in Canada (2nd generation) and those who came to Canada as children (1.5 generation)

• The children of immigrants overall outperform their peers of Canadian-born parents in educational attainment, but their labour market advantages observed in earlier data are no longer seen in the latest data (2011).

• There are variations in educational and labour market outcomes by immigration class and ethnic origin/visible minority category among the children of immigrants.

o Overall, children of immigrants earn more than 3rd generation and higher. However, children of immigrants of nearly all visible minority groups have lower earnings compared to their peers with Canadian-born parents, and the gap is especially large for visible minority categories of black, Latin America, W Asian/Arab and SE Asia. (Result obtained controlling for the effect of educational attainment and other key social-demographic variables; 2011 NHS).

o Under-employment (work in part-time/year jobs) and over-qualification (highly educated in low-skilled jobs) are more prominent among the children of immigrants; the children of visible minority immigrants are also largely underrepresented in the public sector.

Immigrants’ economic and social engagements are connected

• Official language ability ability facilitates higher earnings soon after landing (Bonikowska, Hou and Picot, 2015) and social engagement (Derwing and Waugh, 2012)

• Being a naturalized Canadian citizen increases the probability of employment, and of having higher occupational status and earnings (Hou and Picot, 2011)

• Having social networks across several occupational categories is associated with a higher probability of being employed, and higher earnings among the employed (Thomas, 2011)

• Newcomers (especially women and those with lower education) are more likely to find employment if they have strong personal ties (friends, family), and to earn more if their workplace network is ethnically diverse (Xue2008a and b, LSIC)

• Having a job and income at the mid-range or above is positively associated with subjective well-being (higher score on life satisfaction scale)(Schellenberg and Houle 2010; Lu, Schellenberg and Hou, 2015; current R&E research)

• Low income, unemployment and job over-qualification are associated with poorer health outcomes (Aycan and Berry 1996, Beiser and Hou 2001, Chen et al 2010)

16

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Immigrants, especially recent immigrants, report a significantly lower level of social support and connections compared to the Canadian-born.

Source: CCHS, 2011-2012

• Immigrants have a lower level of social support and connections than the Canadian-born, in terms of – weaker sense of being integrated to

society (Social Integration Scale), – weaker assurance that others can

be counted when needed (Reliable Alliance Scale),

– less advice or information available to them (Guidance Scale),

– fewer close relationships with others (Attachment Scale), and

– a lower level of recognition of competence (Reassurance of Worth Scale). *

• Established immigrants have slightly more social support and connections than recent immigrants.

NOTE: The scales are based on data from Qc, BC, and Territories

6.0

6.5

7.0

7.5

1 2 3 4 5

Scales of social support and connections: a higher score means more support and connections

Series1 Series2 Series3

33

34

35

36

37

1 2 3

Social Provision Scale: a higher score reflects a higher overall level of social support and connections

18

Employment Status and Social Support

Employed immigrants enjoy significantly more social support and connections than

unemployed immigrants.

Source: CCHS, 2011-2012.

• Compared to immigrants without a job, employed immigrants report:

– stronger sense of being integrated into society (Social Integration Scale),

– more access to advice or information (Guidance Scale),

– closer relationships with others (Attachment Scale), and

– a higher level of recognition of competence (Reassurance of Worth Scale).

• This evidence is consistent with the literature, e.g. social network helps immigrants find jobs, and conversely, employment reinforces immigrants’ social capital.

34.0

34.4

34.8

35.2

1 2

Sco

re o

f in

de

x

Social Provision Scale: a higher score means more social support and connections

6.0

6.4

6.8

7.2

1 2 3 4 5

Sco

re o

f in

de

xes

Scales of social support and connections: a higher score means more support and connections

Series1 Series2

NOTE: The scales are based on data from Qc, BC, and Territories

19

Employment Status and Social Outcomes

Employed immigrants have a high level of social well-being, more participation in society,

and stronger perceived political influence

Source: CCHS, 2011-2012, *PIAAC, 2012, data for all PTs.

• Compared to unemployed immigrants, immigrants with a job are more likely – to be satisfied with life,

– to feel contributed something important to society,

– to participate in voluntary organizations, and

– to perceive political influence.

92.1%

59.7%

29.2%36.1%

85.1%

49.5%

23.7%

32.7%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1 2 3 4

Social outcomes by employment status

Series1

Series2

55%

56%

66%

60%

1

2

3

4

61%

67%

1

2

23%

27%

29%

21%

34%

40%

38%

40%

30%

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

26%

33%

36%

30%

1

2

3

4

32%

37%

1

2

Engagement through volunteering and social organizations --a facilitating factor for social networks -- varies across immigration categories

20

Volunteering - 95% ci’s

Membership social organization(s) (excluding volunteering) - 95% ci’s

Immigrants have lower rates of volunteering and organization membership than the Canadian born

Spouses and dependents of economic class immigrants have rates comparable to those of the Canadian born population

PNPs (both PAs and SDs) have relatively high volunteering rates, followed by FSW spouses and dependents and Family Class spouses and partners, who also have the highest rate of organization membership

Refugees have lower rates of engagement overall. GARs have slightly higher rates of volunteering, while PSRs have slightly higher rates of organization membership

Data source:2013 GSS on Social Identity linked to IMDB

Immigration Programs – Landed 1980 to 2011Immigration Programs – Landed 1980 to 2011

56%

61%

52%

47%

57%

63%

67%

57%

62%

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Recent immigrants are more likely to have some work related health conditions.

• Recent immigrants (16%) were more likely to have risky work conditions that resulted in a disability compared to non-recent immigrants (9%) and the Canadian-born (9%).

• While work-related injuries were the largest source of serious injuries (38% of all causes) for recent immigrants, the largest cause for non-recent immigrants and the Canadian-born was “sports and leisure” (46% and 45%).

21

16%

9% 9%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

1 2 3

Percentage of disability caused by work conditions

38%

30%

11%

4%8%

46%

5%

17%16%

45%

8%13%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

1 2 3 4

%, s

har

e o

f ca

use

s

Causes of serious injuries



Work related health outcomes

Note: “Disability caused by work conditions “ is based on data for all PTs, and “Causes of serious injuries” are on an optional component data for Alberta and Northwest Territories.

A much smaller share of recent immigrants reported health problems as a reason for not participating in labor market compared to established immigrants and the Canadian-born.

22


Note: The information is based on an optional component data for Quebec and PEI.

Health related labour-market participation

2%

22%

42%

1%4%

15%

7%

11%

3%

39%

14%

8%

14%

2%

49%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

1 2 3 4 5

%, s

har

es o

f ca

use

s

Reasons for not working


Tax Data Based on T1FF, converted to LAD structure (not held in GCMS)

Application for permanent residency

(e.g. language, age, education …)

Sponsorship Agreements

Pre-landing Canadian Experience

(study experience, refugee claim)

Citizenship Grants

IRCC

General Social Survey (GSS)

2011 National Household Survey

(NHS)/2016 Census

23

Confirmation of Permanent Residency

Landing years 1980 to 2010

Canadian Employer Employee Dynamic Database (CEEDD)

PR & TR

Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS)

PT Health Data Linkages

Landing – Health Linkage (ICES)

Landing – Health Linkage (PopData BC)

STC (Statistics Canada )

Landing – Health Linkage Manitoba

IRCC’s Data Roadmap

Health Related Datasets

STC surveys linked to ILF/IMDB

IRCC administrative data at STCIRCC data linked to

provincial/territorial health data

Maintained at IRCC

Settlement services iCARE

Settlement Outcome Survey

Longitudinal Immigration Landing File

(IMDB)

Temporary Resident Database

Immigration Landing File (ILF)

Documents

Socio-Economic Integration of Immigrants and Refugees ... · • The 2.5 generation includes those who were born in Canada to one immigrant parent and one Canadian-born parent. •