Economic and Social Reports, July 2024

There are four new articles available in today's release of Economic and Social Reports.

Newly landed permanent resident couples with employment income in the year after arrival are more likely to receive the Canada child benefit that year compared with other permanent resident couples

Among newly landed permanent resident (PR) couples with children younger than 18, those with employment income in the year after arrival are more likely than those without employment income to receive the Canada child benefit (CCB). The study "To what extent do newcomers receive the Canada child benefit? Insights from newly landed immigrants with employment income in Canada" found that around 90% of PR couples who had employment income in the year after arrival received the CCB that year. This compares with rates of about 70% or lower for other PR couples.

The study looked at immigrant couples who landed in Canada from 2016 to 2019. The relatively lower CCB take-up rate among newly landed PR couples without employment income in the year after arrival could be because they were less likely to file T1 income tax forms—a requirement for accessing the CCB—than their counterparts with employment income. The difference in take-up rates could also be due to the fact that the latter group is more likely to reside in Canada shortly after landing and therefore more likely to satisfy the residency criterion for accessing the CCB.

The CCB can help newly landed families with young children who may not have adequate financial resources shortly after landing. Examining differences in benefit take-up rates among newly landed immigrants may help inform outreach efforts.

Gender disparities in the Environmental and Clean Technology sector

The Environmental and Clean Technology (ECT) sector in Canada plays a significant role in the nation's economy and efforts to combat climate change. Although the share of women working in the ECT sector has been increasing since 2014, women represented 28.6% of the ECT workforce in 2021. The study "Women in the environmental and clean technology sector" found that even though women in the ECT sector were more likely than men to hold a college diploma or a university degree or higher, they earned 16.3% less than their male counterparts in 2021.

The paper reveals additional layers of disparity among women with Indigenous, racialized, and immigrant identities. In 2021, women held 24.6% of ECT jobs among Indigenous peoples, 31.5% among racialized people and 32.0% among immigrants. Furthermore, women in the ECT sector faced a gender compensation gap of 14.1% among Indigenous peoples, 13.8% among racialized people and 16.8% among immigrants. However, immigrant women's average hourly compensation was similar to the average hourly compensation of non-immigrant women.

The findings of the study suggest that the ECT sector is not fully capitalizing on the potential contributions of women, especially those from Indigenous, racialized, and immigrant backgrounds. This underscores the need for targeted strategies to promote gender equality and inclusion within the sector as addressing the gaps could enhance innovation and economic performance.

Graduates of many college and CEGEP health programs landed jobs closely related to their field

While the earnings of postsecondary graduates are well documented, little is known about the specific jobs these graduates typically have. The article "Most prevalent jobs of young college and CEGEP certificate and diploma graduates by detailed field of study," found that graduates of many college and CEGEP health programs landed jobs closely related to their field. For example, 92.1% of women and 86.8% of men aged 25 to 34 in 2021 who graduated from diagnostic medical sonography/sonographer and ultrasound technician programs were working as medical sonographers. Similar examples exist for many other health programs, as well as for a few non-health programs.

For the most part, however, graduates from most college and CEGEP programs were dispersed across a wide variety of jobs. In many instances, the jobs were related to the program to some degree. For example, in 2021, the most prevalent jobs held by female graduates of programs in civil engineering technology/technician included civil engineering technologists and technicians (36.1%), construction managers (7.8%), drafting technologists and technicians (7.4%), and civil engineers (6.1%). Likewise, male culinary arts/chef training graduates landed related occupations such as chefs (28.0%), cooks (14.8%), restaurant and food service managers (3.5%), and food service supervisors (2.3%).

These findings inform students, parents, guidance counsellors and policy analysts on the type of work that graduates are likely to be doing in their career, given their field of study choice. They also highlight the importance for most graduates to develop a wide range of skills that could potentially be used throughout their careers.

Canada's innovation paradox

Despite substantial investments in innovation and technology in the Canadian economy, labour productivity growth has slowed over the past two decades and, since the COVID-19 pandemic, has been trending downward. This has resulted in what's called an innovation paradox. A presentation and an accompanying article exploring links between innovation, technology adoption and productivity was also released today. For more information, see the Daily release "Understanding Canada's innovation paradox."