Although immigration policies and regulations select immigrants based on their human capital, newly arriving immigrants find it increasingly difficult to integrate into the Canadian labour market. An analysis of 1996 Canadian census data concentrates on the province of British Columbia to examine the relationship between labour market outcome among immigrants, residency in large, mid-size and smaller settlements, and the size of local immigrant and ethnic communities. In particular, comparisons are made between the metropolitan area of Vancouver, which is the major immigrant gateway, and the metropolitan area of Victoria, smaller cities and the non-metropolitan area of British Columbia. It also differentiates between gender, levels of education and place of birth. The results reveal high labour force participation rates and higher incomes among groups that settle outside of the Vancouver metropolitan area, but this advantage is contingent on gender, place of birth and the size of existing ethnic and immigrant communities. © 2003 by the Institute of Urban Studies. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

immigrants British Columbia Place of origin Labour markets Settlement area

Canada Victoria [British Columbia] migrants experience labor market British Columbia Vancouver North America labor participation human capital immigrant population