Summary and concluding remarks

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Immigration is an increasingly important component of population growth in Canada, with over 200,000 immigrants arriving in Canada each year. Immigrants make an enormous contribution to the pool of people in Canada with postsecondary qualifications.

Upon their arrival, however, internationally-educated immigrants face an adjustment process both in terms of integrating into society at large and finding work related to their field of study. As shown by the 2006 Census, employment rates recorded by core working-age internationally-educated immigrants (75%) were, in general, lower than those recorded by the Canadian-born with a postsecondary education or to immigrants who completed their highest level of education in Canada, both at about 82%.

One important reason for this relative disadvantage is that the skills immigrants have acquired in their home country are often not directly transferable to the host economy. There may also be other skills that immigrants lack when arriving in Canada, such as fluency in either English or French. Recognition of foreign credentials, level of educational attainment, degree and length of experience abroad and within Canada, differences in quality of education in some countries, language barriers and related difficulties, varying strengths of social networks, knowledge of and information about the Canadian labour market and both real and perceived discrimination may also represent some of the factors influencing the labour market outcomes of immigrants compared to those of the Canadian-born. Many internationally-educated newcomers engage in further education and training as they recognize the barriers that exist without Canadian education and experience. In 2006, slightly more than one in five (22%) very-recent internationally-educated immigrants reported attending school. In comparison, about 12% of recent immigrants and 7% of established immigrants aged 25 to 64 who had completed their education abroad reported attending school in 2006.

Although the chances of obtaining employment increase with time, many immigrants have to wait many years before getting a job. In fact, while less than seven in ten (68%) very-recent internationally-educated immigrants reported being employed in 2006, this was the case for about eight in ten recent (79%) and established internationally-educated immigrants (77%) in Canada.

It may also be expected that the longer an immigrant is unable to practice in his or her field of expertise, the more likely he or she will experience "skills atrophy," reducing their chances of finding work in their field of expertise (Lochhead 2002). Economic factors, such as the state of the economy during a particular period of landing, will also play a role in this regard.

Even after having secured employment, internationally-educated immigrants generally earned less than their counterparts educated in Canada and Canadian-born workers with a postsecondary education. In 2005, internationally-educated immigrants working full-time full-year in the core working-age group of 25 to 64 earned $40,800 on average, slightly less than the median earnings reported by their counterparts educated in Canada ($49,000) and full-time full-year Canadian-born workers with a postsecondary education ($49,300).

These results seem to support the argument that the lower earnings of immigrants may often be attributable to the specificity of human capital to the country from which it originates, the argument being that skills generated through education or work experience in the source country cannot be directly transferred to the host country, resulting in apparently well-qualified immigrants holding low-paying jobs.

Information on the proportion of internationally-educated immigrants working in their field of study also is of interest to the various stakeholders, since it provides an indication of recognition (or lack thereof) of foreign credentials and work experience. As shown by the Census, only a small share (17%) of internationally-educated immigrants aged 25 to 64 not attending school in 2006 reported working in an occupation related to their field of study (for example, individuals with credentials in engineering working as engineers). This proportion increased to 41% when considering occupations requiring similar or higher skill levels (for example, individuals with credentials in engineering working as architects or as managers). Nevertheless, this percentage was much lower than the proportion observed for their counterparts educated in Canada (61%) and for the Canadian-born with a postsecondary education (63%).

This gap decreased somewhat over time. About 45% of internationally-educated immigrants established in Canada for more than ten years reported working in the best corresponding occupation or in an occupation requiring similar or higher skill levels in 2006 compared to about 34% for very-recent immigrants. However, even after ten years in Canada, internationally-educated immigrants in the core working-age group of 25 to 64 who reported not attending school in 2006 still trailed the Canadian-born match rate by 18 percentage points (45% vs. 63%).

These lower match rates for internationally-educated immigrants suggest that these individuals face difficulties in having their foreign credentials or previous foreign work experience recognized. Other factors may also contribute to this situation: labour market conditions such as demand for particular occupations; language skills; and personal decisions such as the desire to work in the occupation related to their field of study.

Provincially, the likelihood of working in the best corresponding occupation or in an occupation requiring similar or higher skill levels was highest for internationally-educated immigrants in the Atlantic Provinces (51%) and in regions that had strong labour markets in 2006 such as in Saskatchewan (47%) and Alberta (45%). Canada's largest provinces, Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia had overall education-job match rates that were at about the same as the national average (between 40% and 42%).

Among the characteristics associated with an easier transition of internationally-educated immigrants into the Canadian labour market, men were more likely than women to report working in the 'best possible but not necessarily corresponding occupation' (49% vs. 33%). This was also the case for internationally-educated individuals aged 35 to 44 and 45 to 54 in comparison to their counterparts in the younger and older age groups (25 to 34 and 55 to 64).

Countries from which internationally-educated immigrants reported receiving their highest level of education also had an impact on the likelihood of working or not in their field of study. Overall, more than 60% of internationally-educated immigrants with credentials from Ireland (70%), New Zealand (66%), Israel (64%) and Australia (63%) reported working in their field of study or in an occupation requiring similar or higher skill levels. In contrast, with education-job match rates below 45%, immigrants with credentials from regions other than Europe, Oceania, North America, and Southern Africa experienced greater difficulties in finding jobs in their fields of study or in equivalent occupations.

The role played by country of education also varies by credential held. While more than 90% of immigrants with credentials in medicine from New Zealand, Sweden, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom reported working as a physician or in an occupation requiring similar or higher skill levels; this was the case for less than one-quarter of those with similar credentials from Japan and South Korea. Country of education did not seem to be as important for internationally-educated immigrants with credentials leading to the occupations of chef, cook, hairstylist and barber.

It is important to note that the analysis discussed in this report is descriptive in nature, presenting a profile, based on data from the 2006 Census, of the socio-demographic characteristics of immigrants to Canada who have a postsecondary education and making comparisons to the Canadian-born with a postsecondary education, whether completed in Canada or abroad As such, care should be taken in making interpretations based on the findings. This report, as well as previous studies, have established that immigrants, particularly very recent immigrants, have poorer labour market outcomes — lower employment rates and earnings — than the Canadian-born. While various studies have proposed competing explanations of the observed differences, the extent to which each factor contributes to immigrant disadvantage has been debated. This report shows that among immigrants, differences in labour market outcomes also exist between those who were educated outside Canada and those who completed their postsecondary education in Canada.

The next stage of the analysis, which will be discussed in a separate report, will examine the interrelationship between factors in a multivariate framework. This will allow an assessment of the contributions of various factors to the integration of internationally-educated immigrants into the Canadian labour market.