Census - Profile of Immigrants
Census – Data on Labour Market Activity, Industry, Occupation, Education & Language of Work
Profile of Immigrants
Immigrants made up over one-fifth of Canada's labour force in 2006
Of the 17,146,100 people in the labour force in 2006, an estimated 3,634,800 were foreign-born individuals. They accounted for slightly over one-fifth (21.2%) of Canada's total labour force in 2006, up from 19.9% five years ago in 2001.
Employment rates for immigrants and Canadian born increased between 2001 and 2006, particularly in the core working-age group, those aged 25 to 54. The employment rate for core working-age immigrants increased from 76.4% in 2001 to 77.5%. Meanwhile, the employment rate for the core working-age Canadian born increased from 80.9% in 2001 to 82.4% five years later.
The census enumerated 1,110,000 recent immigrants (those who arrived in the country between 2001 and 2006). Of this group of recent immigrants, 636,500, or 57.3%, were in the core working-age group.
The employment rate of core working-age recent immigrants was 67.0% in 2006, up 3.6 percentage points from 63.4% in 2001. This was faster than the gain among their Canadian-born counterparts, causing the gap between their employment rates to shrink from 17.5 percentage points in 2001 to 15.4 percentage points in 2006.
Labour market conditions improved for recent immigrant men and women
Labour market conditions improved for both recent immigrant men and women in the core working-age group in 2006 compared to 2001. Despite this, recent immigrants continued to have lower employment rates and higher unemployment rates than the Canadian born.
Employment rates among recent immigrant men and their Canadian-born counterparts were closer in 2006 than they had been five years earlier. About 78.6% of recent male immigrants aged 25 to 54 were employed in 2006, up 4.1 percentage points from 2001. During the same period, the employment rate of Canadian-born men rose by only 0.6 percentage points, from 85.7% to 86.3% in 2006.
Similarly, the unemployment rate of recent immigrant men declined nearly twice as much as it did for Canadian-born men. The rate for immigrant men fell from 11.4% in 2001 to 9.3% in 2006; the rate among Canadian-born men fell by 1.1 percentage points, from 6.3% to 5.2%.
Recent immigrant women also narrowed the gap with their Canadian-born counterparts. Their employment rate rose 3.6 percentage points from 53.2% to 56.8% between 2001 and 2006. This was greater than the increase experienced by Canadian-born women, whose employment rate rose from 76.3% to 78.5%.
Similarly, recent immigrant women saw a larger decline in their unemployment rate. Theirs slipped from 15.7% in 2001 to 14.3% in 2006, while the rate for Canadian-born women fell from 5.7% to 5.0%.
Slight drop in the use of languages other than English or French at work across the country
Links to highlight tables on language of work by mother tongue:
English
http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/highlights/LanguageWork/Index.cfm?Lang=E
French
http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/highlights/LanguageWork/Index.cfm?Lang=F
The use of non-official languages at work among Canadians whose mother tongue was neither English nor French was down slightly in all provinces and territories, with the exception of British Columbia. Whereas in 2001, 23% of allophones used a language other than English or French at work (11% most often, 12% regularly), this proportion was 22% in 2006.
The large rise in immigration by allophones in the past five years did not result in an increase in the use of non-official languages at work for allophone immigrants as a whole.
Among the provinces that received the majority of immigrants, British Columbia remained the one with the highest use of languages other than English or French. In 2006, the proportion of allophones in this province who reported using these languages at work was the same as in 2001, that is to say 30%. In Ontario, the province that received the most immigrants in Canada, the proportion of allophones who used non-official languages at work was 20%, compared to 21% five years before.
In Nunavut, the use of another language applied to 85% of allophones (most of whom reported Inuktitut as their mother tongue), which was down from 2001 (88%). The proportion of allophones who reported using a language other than English or French was also down in the other territories.
In the three large census metropolitan areas (CMAs), the rate of use of languages other than English or French, at least on a regular basis, remained more or less the same or fell. In Vancouver, this proportion remained unchanged at 33.1%. In Toronto, it decreased from 22.7% in 2001 to 21.9% in 2006, while in Montréal, 17.3% of allophones reported using a language other than English or French at work in 2006 compared to 19,8% five years earlier.
It is in the Greater Montréal Area that the use of a language other than English or French most often at work saw the most pronounced decrease, mainly because of the strong rise in the group whose mother tongue was Arabic. Workers in this group tended to use mostly French at work.
In 2006, in the Montréal census metropolitan area (CMA) and those of Toronto and Vancouver, the largest allophone groups used a language other than English or French to varying degrees. In Montréal, 34% of people whose mother tongue was Chinese and 27% of those whose mother tongue was Spanish reported using a language other than English or French at least regularly at work. In Toronto, this applied to 39% of people whose mother tongue was Chinese and 31% of those whose mother tongue was Punjabi. Finally, in Vancouver, just over one out of two workers whose mother tongue was Chinese or Korean reported using a language other than English or French at work, compared to 40% of those whose mother tongue was Punjabi.
Just as the use of official languages at home tends to rise the longer immigrants remain in Canada, so does the language used most often at work.
In Vancouver, the use of languages other than English or French is the highest in Canada among allophone immigrants (18% most often, 16% regularly). Among those who arrived in Canada since the mid-1980s, the use of English most often at work tended to rise between 2001 and 2006 for a same cohort of workers. For example, whereas 30% of allophone immigrants who had immigrated between 1996 and 2000 reported using a language other than English or French most often at work at the time of the 2001 Census, this proportion was closer to 24% for the same cohort at the time of the 2006 Census.
The same situation was also observed in the Toronto and Montréal CMAs, although to a lesser extent. The case of Vancouver, similar in some respects to that of the other two CMAs, is nonetheless unique due to the strong growth in immigration in that metropolitan area since the mid-1980s as well as the highest proportion of people of Chinese origin among its immigrant population. In effect, the immigrant population more than doubled in only a quarter-century, since 1981.
Immigrants account for a large proportion of doctorate and master's degree holders
The census enumerated 4,076,700 persons born outside Canada between the ages of 25 and 64. Of these people, 1,287,500, or about one-third (32%), had a university degree.
Of the 'recent' immigrants – those who immigrated between 2001 and 2006 – 349,800, or 51%, had a university degree. This was more than twice the proportion of degree holders among the Canadian-born population (20%) and much higher than the proportion of 28% among immigrants who arrived in Canada before 2001.
In contrast, only 11% of recent immigrants in this age range had a college diploma and only 5% had a trades certificate. These proportions were considerably less than the 14% of the Canadian-born population who had a trades certificate and the 22% with a college diploma.
Nearly 101,300 recent immigrants, or 15% of the total, had a high school diploma, and 63,900, or 9%, did not have a high school diploma.
Although 23% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 were born outside Canada, they accounted for nearly one-half (49%) of the doctorate holders in Canada and for 40% of adults with a master's degree.
About 16% of recent immigrants who had a doctorate or master's degree earned their degree at a Canadian university. About 14% of those with a doctorate earned their degree in the United States of America, but only 36% of these immigrants were born in the United States of America.
The biggest source country for master's degrees for recent immigrants, after Canada, was India; about 14% of them earned their master's degree in India. Another 10% earned their degree in China. The vast majority (97%) of these graduates were also born in these countries.
Field of study: One-quarter of university-qualified recent immigrants had a degree in Engineering
The most popular field of study among recent immigrants aged 25 to 64 having a university degree in 2006 was Engineering, followed by Business, Management, Marketing and Related Support Services in second place, and Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences in third, according to the census.
An estimated 25% of those who arrived between 2001 and 2006 with a university degree had graduated in Engineering. In contrast, just 6% of Canadian-born degree-holders in this age group had a degree in Engineering.
About 19% of university-qualified recent immigrants had graduated in Business, Management, Marketing and Related Support Services. This was just above the proportion of 16% among the Canadian-born population.
Some 6% of recent immigrants having a university degree had studied in Computer and
Information Sciences and Support Services. This was three times the proportion among the Canadian-born population (2%).
2006 Census – Data on Labour Market Activity, Industry, Occupation, Education & Language of Work
Profile of Immigrants
Immigrants made up over one-fifth of Canada's labour force in 2006
Of the 17,146,100 people in the labour force in 2006, an estimated 3,634,800 were foreign-born individuals. They accounted for slightly over one-fifth (21.2%) of Canada's total labour force in 2006, up from 19.9% five years ago in 2001.
Employment rates for immigrants and Canadian born increased between 2001 and 2006, particularly in the core working-age group, those aged 25 to 54. The employment rate for core working-age immigrants increased from 76.4% in 2001 to 77.5%. Meanwhile, the employment rate for the core working-age Canadian born increased from 80.9% in 2001 to 82.4% five years later.
The census enumerated 1,110,000 recent immigrants (those who arrived in the country between 2001 and 2006). Of this group of recent immigrants, 636,500, or 57.3%, were in the core working-age group.
The employment rate of core working-age recent immigrants was 67.0% in 2006, up 3.6 percentage points from 63.4% in 2001. This was faster than the gain among their Canadian-born counterparts, causing the gap between their employment rates to shrink from 17.5 percentage points in 2001 to 15.4 percentage points in 2006.
Labour market conditions improved for recent immigrant men and women
Labour market conditions improved for both recent immigrant men and women in the core working-age group in 2006 compared to 2001. Despite this, recent immigrants continued to have lower employment rates and higher unemployment rates than the Canadian born.
Employment rates among recent immigrant men and their Canadian-born counterparts were closer in 2006 than they had been five years earlier. About 78.6% of recent male immigrants aged 25 to 54 were employed in 2006, up 4.1 percentage points from 2001. During the same period, the employment rate of Canadian-born men rose by only 0.6 percentage points, from 85.7% to 86.3% in 2006.
Similarly, the unemployment rate of recent immigrant men declined nearly twice as much as it did for Canadian-born men. The rate for immigrant men fell from 11.4% in 2001 to 9.3% in 2006; the rate among Canadian-born men fell by 1.1 percentage points, from 6.3% to 5.2%.
Recent immigrant women also narrowed the gap with their Canadian-born counterparts. Their employment rate rose 3.6 percentage points from 53.2% to 56.8% between 2001 and 2006. This was greater than the increase experienced by Canadian-born women, whose employment rate rose from 76.3% to 78.5%.
Similarly, recent immigrant women saw a larger decline in their unemployment rate. Theirs slipped from 15.7% in 2001 to 14.3% in 2006, while the rate for Canadian-born women fell from 5.7% to 5.0%.
Slight drop in the use of languages other than English or French at work across the country
Links to highlight tables on language of work by mother tongue:
English
http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/highlights/LanguageWork/Index.cfm?Lang=E
French
http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/highlights/LanguageWork/Index.cfm?Lang=F
The use of non-official languages at work among Canadians whose mother tongue was neither English nor French was down slightly in all provinces and territories, with the exception of British Columbia. Whereas in 2001, 23% of allophones used a language other than English or French at work (11% most often, 12% regularly), this proportion was 22% in 2006.
The large rise in immigration by allophones in the past five years did not result in an increase in the use of non-official languages at work for allophone immigrants as a whole.
Among the provinces that received the majority of immigrants, British Columbia remained the one with the highest use of languages other than English or French. In 2006, the proportion of allophones in this province who reported using these languages at work was the same as in 2001, that is to say 30%. In Ontario, the province that received the most immigrants in Canada, the proportion of allophones who used non-official languages at work was 20%, compared to 21% five years before.
In Nunavut, the use of another language applied to 85% of allophones (most of whom reported Inuktitut as their mother tongue), which was down from 2001 (88%). The proportion of allophones who reported using a language other than English or French was also down in the other territories.
In the three large census metropolitan areas (CMAs), the rate of use of languages other than English or French, at least on a regular basis, remained more or less the same or fell. In Vancouver, this proportion remained unchanged at 33.1%. In Toronto, it decreased from 22.7% in 2001 to 21.9% in 2006, while in Montréal, 17.3% of allophones reported using a language other than English or French at work in 2006 compared to 19,8% five years earlier.
It is in the Greater Montréal Area that the use of a language other than English or French most often at work saw the most pronounced decrease, mainly because of the strong rise in the group whose mother tongue was Arabic. Workers in this group tended to use mostly French at work.
In 2006, in the Montréal census metropolitan area (CMA) and those of Toronto and Vancouver, the largest allophone groups used a language other than English or French to varying degrees. In Montréal, 34% of people whose mother tongue was Chinese and 27% of those whose mother tongue was Spanish reported using a language other than English or French at least regularly at work. In Toronto, this applied to 39% of people whose mother tongue was Chinese and 31% of those whose mother tongue was Punjabi. Finally, in Vancouver, just over one out of two workers whose mother tongue was Chinese or Korean reported using a language other than English or French at work, compared to 40% of those whose mother tongue was Punjabi.
Just as the use of official languages at home tends to rise the longer immigrants remain in Canada, so does the language used most often at work.
In Vancouver, the use of languages other than English or French is the highest in Canada among allophone immigrants (18% most often, 16% regularly). Among those who arrived in Canada since the mid-1980s, the use of English most often at work tended to rise between 2001 and 2006 for a same cohort of workers. For example, whereas 30% of allophone immigrants who had immigrated between 1996 and 2000 reported using a language other than English or French most often at work at the time of the 2001 Census, this proportion was closer to 24% for the same cohort at the time of the 2006 Census.
The same situation was also observed in the Toronto and Montréal CMAs, although to a lesser extent. The case of Vancouver, similar in some respects to that of the other two CMAs, is nonetheless unique due to the strong growth in immigration in that metropolitan area since the mid-1980s as well as the highest proportion of people of Chinese origin among its immigrant population. In effect, the immigrant population more than doubled in only a quarter-century, since 1981.
Immigrants account for a large proportion of doctorate and master's degree holders
The census enumerated 4,076,700 persons born outside Canada between the ages of 25 and 64. Of these people, 1,287,500, or about one-third (32%), had a university degree.
Of the 'recent' immigrants – those who immigrated between 2001 and 2006 – 349,800, or 51%, had a university degree. This was more than twice the proportion of degree holders among the Canadian-born population (20%) and much higher than the proportion of 28% among immigrants who arrived in Canada before 2001.
In contrast, only 11% of recent immigrants in this age range had a college diploma and only 5% had a trades certificate. These proportions were considerably less than the 14% of the Canadian-born population who had a trades certificate and the 22% with a college diploma.
Nearly 101,300 recent immigrants, or 15% of the total, had a high school diploma, and 63,900, or 9%, did not have a high school diploma.
Although 23% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 were born outside Canada, they accounted for nearly one-half (49%) of the doctorate holders in Canada and for 40% of adults with a master's degree.
About 16% of recent immigrants who had a doctorate or master's degree earned their degree at a Canadian university. About 14% of those with a doctorate earned their degree in the United States of America, but only 36% of these immigrants were born in the United States of America.
The biggest source country for master's degrees for recent immigrants, after Canada, was India; about 14% of them earned their master's degree in India. Another 10% earned their degree in China. The vast majority (97%) of these graduates were also born in these countries.
Field of study: One-quarter of university-qualified recent immigrants had a degree in Engineering
The most popular field of study among recent immigrants aged 25 to 64 having a university degree in 2006 was Engineering, followed by Business, Management, Marketing and Related Support Services in second place, and Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences in third, according to the census.
An estimated 25% of those who arrived between 2001 and 2006 with a university degree had graduated in Engineering. In contrast, just 6% of Canadian-born degree-holders in this age group had a degree in Engineering.
About 19% of university-qualified recent immigrants had graduated in Business, Management, Marketing and Related Support Services. This was just above the proportion of 16% among the Canadian-born population.
Some 6% of recent immigrants having a university degree had studied in Computer and
Information Sciences and Support Services. This was three times the proportion among the Canadian-born population (2%).
Similarly, 4% of those having a university degree who arrived between 2001 and 2006 studied Physical Sciences, while only 2% of the Canadian-born population did so.
In contrast, recent immigrants accounted for small proportions in some fields of study, compared to the Canadian-born population. For example, 5% of all foreign-born degree holders aged between 25 and 64 had a degree in Education, compared with 19% of the Canadian-born population.
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Radostina Pavlova 3/4/2008 |
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