FactSheet: Employment Rate of Immigrants – An Update Since the Recession
Highlights:
- Overall, Canada’s employment rate has not increased from the dip that occurred during the 2008-2009 recession
- During the recession (2008-2009), the employment rate of immigrants declined faster and subsequently increased faster than the Canadian-born rate
- This was, essentially, due to the pattern for males (both for immigrants and for the Canadian-born)
- The employment rate gap for immigrants is now back to its level at the end of 2007
- The size of the employment rate gap is largely a female phenomenon. Among male immigrants, there is an employment rate gap only for those who have lived in Canada for less than 5 years
- The employment rate gap is persistent in some major labour markets – especially in Quebec
- There are relatively more immigrants than Canadian-born with a university degree. Individuals with a university degree (both immigrants and the Canadian-born) have relatively higher employment rates; however, even after 10 years in Canada, immigrants (both males and females) with a university degree still have a lower employment rate than their Canadian-born counterparts
- Recent male immigrants with less than a high school diploma have employment rates that rise over time to exceed those of their Canadian-born counterparts, while immigrant females exhibit significant early gaps and only draw even after 10 years in Canada
