A comparison of immigrant and Canadian-born resident earnings in eight major Canadian urban centres, or Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs), using the 1981 to 2001 Censuses is presented. Unlike most other studies, this one presents only averages for large groups and does not control for observable characteristics such as education, and it takes a largely graphical approach. Akin to the results found in earlier studies at the national level, the relative earnings of immigrant men and women are generally observed to decline for more recent arrival cohorts from 1966 to 1995 in each of the cities studied. Moreover, the relative performance of immigrant and Canadian-born workers living in CMAs shows a lower level of immigrant economic integration than the comparison between all immigrants and all Canadian-born persons. However, there is a small reversal for the 1996-2000 arrival cohort of men. Their earnings are generally higher than the earnings of men in the earlier 1991-95 arrival cohort in the first five years after arrival in Canada. This same improvement is much smaller for immigrant women. © 2004 by the Institute of Urban Studies All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

Canada Earnings immigrants Cities

Canada migrants experience income North America wage determination immigrant population