The Geographic Variation of Earning Differentials in Canada: A Comparison of Immigrants and the Canadian-born in 2006

With a significant proportion of Canada's population being foreign-born, it is important to study how immigrants are performing in the labour market compared to their Canadian-born counterparts. Current research finds that recently arrived immigrants are facing greater challenges when economically integrating in the labour market than ever before. Using the 2006 Census of Canada Public Use Microdata Files, this research highlights the salient differences in earning disparities between immigrants and the Canadian-born on national, provincial and census metropolitan area (CMA) levels by immigrant cohorts and Canadian-born generations. This study seeks to provide insight to policy-makers about the current economic situation of immigrants in different labour markets across Canada.

Extending current research, paper shows that recent immigrants have a larger earnings differential than established immigrants in comparison to the Canadian-born. More specifically, these earnings differentials are largest when compared to second generation Canadians. The examination of earning disparities at the three geographic scales of nation, province, and CMA has also shown that the greater attention to geographic scale is pertinent to the discussion of how well immigrants are faring economically across different labour markets.