Economic and Social Reports, May 2024

Released: 2024-05-22

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

Unsuitable housing among international students varied across municipalities

In 2021, international students were more likely to live in unsuitable housing (i.e., a dwelling without enough bedrooms for the household members) compared with Canadian-born students, but there were disparities across municipalities. The article "Housing international students: Housing suitability across municipalities" found that the rate of unsuitable housing in 2021 was highest in Brampton, Ontario (63%), followed by Surrey, British Columbia (61%). The lowest rate was in Calgary, Alberta (25%).

Much of the variation across municipalities in the rates of unsuitable housing for international students was related to the students' country of origin. In Brampton, 91% of international students came from India, compared with 79% in Surrey and 26% in Calgary. In most municipalities, international students from India reported living in unsuitable housing at much higher rates than students from other countries.

In addition to increasing numbers, the sociodemographic characteristics of the international student population have also been changing rapidly since 2021. These trends demonstrate the need for and importance of ongoing monitoring of the housing circumstances of international students.

Educational pathways of students in bachelor's degree programs differ significantly across population groups

Black and Latin American students, followed by White students, had the lowest rates of full-time enrolment in a bachelor's degree program compared with other population groups. The study "Pathways of Black, Latin American and other population groups in bachelor's degree programs" found that 57% of Black men and 68% of Black women graduated within six years of enrolment, compared with 71% of White men and 79% of White women. Latin American students ranked higher than Black students, but lower than White students.

Meanwhile, Chinese students ranked near the top in bachelor's degree enrolment rates, and were the most likely to graduate with 79% of Chinese men and 86% of Chinese women graduating within six years of enrolment. They also ranked among the top in enrolment in math-intensive science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs. White students ranked low in terms of bachelor's degree enrolment rates, including in math-intensive STEM programs, however, their graduation rates from a STEM program were among the highest. By contrast, Korean students were among the most likely to enrol in a bachelor's degree program, but their overall graduation rates and math-intensive STEM enrolment rates were about average.

The well-documented earnings differences among population groups are explained in part by differences in the educational attainment among them. The results of this study could contribute to understanding the differences in labour market outcomes that exist across population groups. They could also inform programs that support the pursuit of higher education.

Fewer recent immigrants to Canada are over-educated compared with 2016

Recent immigrants to Canada are often over-educated—having more qualifications than what is typically required for a job. However, from 2016 to 2021, the rate of over-education among recent immigrants aged 25 to 64 has decreased. The article "Trends in education–occupation mismatch among recent immigrants with a bachelor's degree or higher, 2001 to 2021" shows that, in 2021, 27% of recent immigrants with a bachelor's degree or higher had occupations that required no more than a high school diploma. This was down from 31% in 2016.

From 2016 to 2021, the stronger demand for high-skilled workers and changes in immigrant selection reversed a 15-year trend of recent immigrants being over-educated. Even with these changes, the percentage of recent immigrants with a bachelor's degree or higher who had a high-skilled job in 2021 (44%) was lower than it was 20 years earlier (48%). Thus, the education-occupation match rates of recent immigrants have not improved in the long term.

Increasing active presence of immigrants in Canada

Concerns have been voiced about a potential rise in the number of immigrants leaving Canada, but a lack of national data makes it difficult to determine whether emigration rates among immigrants have increased. The article "Active presence of immigrants in Canada: Recent trends in tax filing and employment incidence" analyzes the active presence of adult immigrants since the early 1990s, using tax-filing rates and employment incidence as indicators. Active presence refers to the extent to which immigrants who were admitted to Canada during a specific period actively engage in Canadian society within a designated timeframe.

The findings reveal that for immigrants who arrived between the ages of 20 and 54, the percentage filing income taxes in the first full year after immigration rose from 85% for the 2005-to-2009 arrival cohort to 90% for those arriving in 2020. Similarly, employment incidence in the first full year after immigration increased from 63% to 76% over this period. Moreover, both tax-filing rates and employment incidence in the 5th and 10th years after immigration have shown steady growth since the early 1990s. These trends are consistent across immigrants from a variety of sociodemographic backgrounds, indicating an increasing active presence of immigrants in Canada.

Women-owned and immigrant-owned businesses were more likely to close during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic than men-owned and Canadian-owned businesses, respectively

The study "Survival and growth of women-owned and immigrant-owned businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic" examines how the survival, closure and employment growth of women-owned (WOBs) and immigrant-owned (IOBs) businesses compare with those of men-owned (MOBs) and Canadian-owned (COBs) businesses. Among businesses that did not use the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), WOBs were more likely to close during the first year of the pandemic compared with MOBs, with a closure rate gap reaching 3.8 percentage points among businesses with 5 to 19 employees. In 2020, the closure rate of IOBs was higher than that of COBs among businesses that did not use the CEWS, regardless of employment size. Furthermore, in the retail trade sector and the transportation and warehousing sector (which are among the sectors with the largest number of IOBs), the gap in the survival rate reached 8.4 and 10.6 percentage points in favour of COBs, respectively.

Since the impact of the pandemic on businesses was disproportionate, and varied depending on the characteristics of both the businesses and their owners, this article addresses an important information gap on the impact of the pandemic on WOBs and IOBs. Moreover, the fact that business survival rates also vary according to the gender or immigrant status of owners, even before the pandemic, underscores the need to continue tracking business dynamics by these owner characteristics, but also to extend them to other groups such as Indigenous peoples, racialized groups, and persons with disabilities.

How did high inflation in 2022 affect the Canadian economy?

The pent-up demand following the easing of public health restrictions in early 2022, along with supply shocks from the war in Ukraine and supply chain disruptions, contributed to high inflation in 2022. The article "High Inflation in 2022 in Canada: Demand–pull or supply–push?" examines the role each played in inflation in 2022. It found that inflation on household final consumption of goods and services averaged 6.0% in 2022, of which 54.0% was caused by the product-specific supply shock (sudden decrease in availability of goods and services), 23.7% was caused by the product-specific demand shock (unexpected change in demand), and 22.3% was related to overall demand shock.

Food and fuels are the top two contributors to high inflation in 2022, while travel services and rental fees for housing also contributed to high inflation. These top contributors are mostly essential goods and services, implying that many households may not have been able to keep up with the rising costs of the essential goods and services during the high inflation period.

Products

The May 2024 issue of Economic and Social Reports, Vol. 4, no. 05 (36280001), is now available. This issue contains the articles "Housing international students: Housing suitability across municipalities," "Trends in education–occupation mismatch among recent immigrants with a bachelor's degree or higher, 2001 to 2021," "Pathways of Black, Latin American and other population groups in bachelor's degree programs," "Active presence of immigrants in Canada: Recent trends in tax filing and employment incidence" "High Inflation in 2022 in Canada: Demand–pull or supply–push?" and "Survival and growth of women-owned and immigrant-owned businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic."

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