Data hub group selection analysis: Immigrants
1 Group definition
The LFS disinguishes between landed immigrants (i.e., permanent residents) and persons born in Canada. Labour market outcomes for immigrants are made available at three additional levels of granularity:
- immigrants landed 5 years or less,
- immigrants landed between 5 and 10 years, and
- immigrants landed more than 10 years earlier.
Statistics Canada defines very recent immigrants as those persons having landed in Canada 5 years or less (also referred to as newcomers); recent immigrants as those persons who landed in Canada more than 5 to 10 years earlier; and established or long-term immigrants as those who landed in Canada more than 10 years earlier.
2 Selection criteria data and analysis
2.1 Labour market representation (Need)
Three key metrics for evaluating the representation of immigrants–or any group–in the labour market are the unemployment, employment, and labour force participation rates.
The unemployment rate of recent immigrants has been declining relative to other demographic groups in Canada since 2010, at which time their jobless rate was the highest of all groups considered. In 2011, the rate of unemployment for recent immigrants fell below that of youth workers, and then in 2015, fell below that for Indigenous Peoples in Canada.
Despite the drop in joblessness, the unemployment rate for recent immigrants remains higher than that for the total population and women, which suggests that recent immigrants still face barriers finding jobs in Canada. As a result, this group may benefit from better information to address those factors preventing effective labour market integration, such as language and literacy challenges, credential recognition, and skills-related issues.
Moreover, higher unemployment rates in general tend to be associated with greater dispersion in income. As a result, the higher unemployment of recent immigrants might indicate lower income for this group as well.
As a percentage of all working age immigrants, however, there is a high share of immigrants working, and this number is on the rise. From 2014 onward, employment of immigrants has increased, surpassing that of the total population in 2018. Similarly, the participation rate of immigrants in the workforce has been on the rise, increasing significantly relative to other groups in more recent years.
2.2 COVID-19 impact (Need)
One way to measure the impact of COVID-19 is to examine the average monthly employment loss from February through June 2020. From the table below, we observe that recent immigrants experienced the largest average monthly decline in employment between February and June 2020 relative to youth, women, and the total population.
| demographic | Average month-over-month growth (%) |
|---|---|
| 15 to 24 years | -1 |
| Females | -2 |
| Total population | -3 |
| Immigrants, landed 5 or less years earlier | -5 |
Although recent immigrants experience the largest average monthly decline in employment, their decline was not as volatile compared to youth workers, for example, who experienced a large decline in employment followed by a large gain, or women.
2.3 Accessibility of LMI (Need)
Another factor to consider is the group’s relationship to LMI. Specifically, we want to know their experiences locating and interpretating LMI. For example, among those recent immigrants surveyed as part of LMIC’s Public Opinion Research project, close to half (47%) reported difficulty finding this information, and 45% said that what information is available is difficult to understand.
2.4 Use and impact of LMI (Impact)
It is also important to consider the impact that LMI will have on this group. Knowing, therefore, whether this group uses LMI and the impact it has had on their previous job-related decisions can be beneficial. With respect to recent immigrants, three out of five reported using LMI (60%) and nine out of 10 (90%) said that this information had an impact on their decision making.
2.5 Dedicated career professionals (Impact)
There are several organizations that are dedicated to supporting the labour market outcomes of immigrants, which includes offering career counseling activities.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) maintains a list of newcomer services by location. The IRCC also funds the Job Search Workshop for Immigrants (JSW). Finally, the federal government runs the Federal Internship for Newcomers program (FIN).
2.6 LMIC’s pre-existing knowledge base (Feasibility)
LMIC has invested in collecting and analyzing data with respect to the labour market outcomes of immigrants. First, recent immigrants constituted one of several demographic groups explicitly targeted during our POR project. In addition, there are four published blogs (and a fifth upcoming) dedicated to immigrant outcomes: