Insights on Canadian Society
Results from the 2016 Census: Earnings of immigrants and children of immigrants in official language minority populations

by René Houle

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Today, Insights on Canadian Society is releasing a study based on 2016 Census data. This study uses census information on first official language spoken (FOLS) and immigration.

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Introduction

Although much work has been done on the economic integration of immigrants and the children of immigrants in Canada,^Note few studies have examined their economic situation based on their official language minority (or majority) status. Yet one known determining factor in the economic integration of immigrants is their knowledge of the country’s official languages. The level of proficiency in the host country’s language is positively associated with better economic integration (in terms of wages and labour market participation), an association that has been found in several Western countries, including Canada.^Note In this context, it is worth exploring whether the level of economic integration of immigrants or children of immigrants whose first official language is the minority language is comparable to that of people with an immigrant background whose first official language is that of the majority, or whether the level of integration is lower because of a language barrier.

This issue is all the more important because immigration can contribute positively to the vitality of a minority language community when immigrants and their children can fully integrate into that community.^Note This integration is particularly important for French-speaking minority communities outside Quebec, as immigrants and their children are expected to be the only sources of population growth by 2036, while the third generation or higher population is expected to decrease in absolute numbers.^Note

The demographic situation of the English-language minority in Quebec differs in many ways from that of French-language minorities outside Quebec. The population of immigrants, children of immigrants and the third generation or higher whose first official language spoken (FOLS)^Note is English should grow in Quebec by 2036. In addition, the English-speaking population in Quebec is highly concentrated in the Montréal census metropolitan area, while the French-speaking population outside Quebec is spread over a wide area.

For the English-speaking immigrant population in Quebec, the issue of integration also differs. In the past, immigrants and their children tended to integrate more fully into the English-speaking minority, but this situation has evolved differently over the past 40 years, particularly because of language legislation. As a result, the challenges of integrating populations with immigrant backgrounds into Canada’s official language minority communities are complex.

The purpose of this study is to examine how immigrants and children of immigrants integrate economically in these minority language contexts. This study does so by using 2016 Census data in order to examine the employment earnings of these populations, based on their majority or minority language context and immigrant status. Specifically, this article provides answers to the following questions:

1. How does the economic situation of the population with an immigrant background (i.e., immigrants and children of immigrants) compare with that of the third generation or higher among official language populations in Canada outside Quebec and in Quebec?
2. Among the population with an immigrant background, how does the economic situation of the official language minority compare with that of the majority?

Because the three indicators examined in this article (annual earnings, weekly earnings of full-time workers and the proportion of people with at least $10,000 in employment income) vary not only by immigration status but also by other factors, regression models were used to compare populations. The statistical methods used in this article are described in the Data sources, methods and definitions section. Although Statistics Canada does not have an official definition for English-speaking or French-speaking populations, for the purpose of this study, English-speaking people refer to those who reported English as FOLS, and French-speaking people refer to those who reported French as FOLS.

French-speaking immigrants are mainly from Africa, while English-speaking immigrants are mainly from Asia

There are differences in the proportion of immigrants and children of immigrants among those aged 25 to 59 in the four linguistic communities.

In Canada outside Quebec in 2016, immigrants accounted for 12% of the French-speaking population aged 25 to 59, while this figure was 7% for the children of immigrants. In total, the population with an immigrant background represented 19% of the French-speaking population in this age group (representing 90,800 people). Among Canada’s English-speaking community outside Quebec, almost half (44%) of the population had an immigrant background as 21% were immigrants and 23% were children of immigrants, resulting in a total of just over 5 million people with an immigrant background.

In Quebec, there were larger differences between the two communities. Among the population aged 25 to 59 with French as their FOLS, the 513,000 people with an immigrant background represented 16% of the total French-speaking population—10% were immigrants and 6% were children of immigrants. English speakers with an immigrant background (332,000 people) made up the majority of Quebec’s English-speaking population (65%) in the same age group. This population was divided almost equally between immigrants (32%) and children of immigrants (34%).

With respect to region of ancestry, French-speaking immigrants were mainly from Africa, while English-speaking immigrants were mainly from Asia (Table 1). Close to one half (47%) of French-speaking immigrants living in Canada outside Quebec and 39% of those living in Quebec were from an African country. In Canada outside Quebec, just over one-third of French-speaking immigrants were from Sub-Saharan Africa, while in Quebec, just over one-quarter were from North Africa.

Among English-speaking immigrants, the percentage of immigrants from South Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia was higher: 56% of those living in Canada outside Quebec came from one of these three regions, while this figure was 39% for those living in Quebec. Among immigrants with French as their FOLS, this percentage was 6%, both for those living in Canada outside Quebec and for those living in Quebec.

Between 40% and just over 50% of immigrants had a university degree. Among English-speaking immigrants, this figure was about the same (44% in Canada outside Quebec and 45% in Quebec); among French-speaking immigrants, the figure was 54% for those living in Canada outside Quebec and 41% for those living in Quebec.

The proportion of recent immigrants (admitted between 2010 and 2014) in all four linguistic groups varied between 21% and 29%. However, in terms of admission category, 22% of French-speaking immigrants residing in Canada outside Quebec were admitted as refugees, compared with less than 16% of the three other populations.

The degree of English–French bilingualism varied from one population to another. In Canada outside Quebec, the bilingualism rate was 91% among French-speaking immigrants, compared with less than 3% among English-speaking immigrants. About half of the immigrants in Quebec were bilingual (English–French), regardless of their FOLS.

The sociodemographic characteristics of the children of immigrants are presented in Table 2. The differences between the four populations tend to be less pronounced among children of immigrants than among immigrants.

A significant proportion of children of immigrants (between 49% and 69%) came from the United States or Europe. This latter percentage (69%) represents the English-speaking children of immigrants living in Quebec, whose parents were, for the most part, born in Southern Europe, primarily in Italy, Greece or Portugal.

The percentage of children of immigrants with a diploma or university degree ranged from 34% to 47%.

As was the case for immigrants, English–French bilingualism among children of immigrants in Canada outside Quebec was significantly higher among the French-speaking population (98%) than among the English-speaking population (8%), although this figure was higher than that observed among immigrants. In Quebec, the English–French bilingualism rate among French-speaking children of immigrants was 81%, a rate that was higher to that observed among immigrants in the province. The English–French bilingualism rate for children of English-speaking immigrants was 7 percentage points higher than that of French-speaking children of immigrants, at 88%.

The results above show that immigrants and children of immigrant are relatively different. Immigrants who arrived in recent decades are predominantly from new source countries of immigration in the Americas, Africa and Asia, while the children of immigrants are mostly from previous waves of migration from the United States and Europe. Another difference is the distribution of immigrants and their children by level of education: the high percentage of university-educated immigrants is mainly the result of immigration policies in recent decades (particularly skilled worker programs) that have led to highly educated immigrants being admitted.

Employment earnings vary by immigrant status in all linguistic communities

The descriptive results for the three indicators used in this article are presented in Table 3 for women aged 25 to 59 and Table 4 for men in the same age group.

Overall, the annual and weekly earnings for both men and women were higher among the Canadian-born population than among the immigrant population. Among those born in Canada, it is often the second generation—not the third generation or higher—that had the highest earnings, particularly in Canada outside Quebec. For example, among second-generation women living in Canada outside Quebec, average annual earnings were $55,400 for those with French as their FOLS, compared with $49,200 for their third-generation counterparts. This situation was the same for people with English as their FOLS.

Although the profile by immigrant status was essentially the same for annual and weekly earnings across all linguistic groups, there were a few exceptions. Within the French-speaking population living in Canada outside Quebec, weekly wages were higher for immigrants who were admitted between the ages of 25 and 59 than they were for the third generation or higher ($1,760 compared with $1,710, respectively, for men, and $1,390 compared with $1,290, respectively, for women).

The results, however, were different for the proportion of both men and women with at least $10,000 in employment income. In all linguistic groups, this proportion was significantly lower among immigrant women —particularly those admitted to Canada between the ages of 15 and 59—than among Canadian-born women. The gap between immigrant women and their Canadian-born counterparts ranged from 6 to 10 percentage points in Canada outside Quebec and from 12 to 16 percentage points in Quebec.

The proportion of men with at least $10,000 in employment income (around 80%) varied little from one group to another. However, this figure was somewhat lower among English-speaking male immigrants and men from the third generation or higher in Quebec.

When the results for official language majorities and minorities are compared, two distinct profiles emerge. In Canada outside Quebec, the earnings of the French-speaking population (the minority) tend to be higher than those of the English-speaking population (the majority), except for second-generation males, the mixed generation (i.e., those born in Canada to an immigrant parent and a Canadian-born parent) and the third generation or higher. In Quebec, the differences between the French-speaking majority and the English-speaking minority are generally smaller.

In all linguistic groups, immigrants have lower earnings than Canadian-born people

The results presented in the previous section do not take into account the compositional differences that characterize these populations, such as age, length of residence, education level and marital status. In the rest of this study, multivariate methods are used to account for these factors. First, the differences are examined between population with an immigrant background and the rest of the population within each linguistic community. Second, the differences between official language majorities and minorities are examined for the immigrant and Canadian-born populations.^Note

In this section, differences in annual earnings (in percentage), estimated using separate regressions for Canada outside Quebec and Quebec, are shown between the population with an immigrant background and people from the third generation or higher (Table 5). The third generation or higher population is the reference category.

The results show that annual earnings are consistently higher among the Canadian-born population than the immigrant population. This gap is even more pronounced than the one presented in Table 1, mainly because of the differences in educational attainment between immigrants and the rest of the adult population.^Note After taking other factors into account, the annual earnings of immigrants were lower than those of people from the third generation or higher by a margin of 7% to 31%—except for female English-speaking immigrants admitted before the age of 15 (in Canada outside Quebec and in Quebec), for whom annual earnings were comparable to those of their Canadian-born counterparts.

Among non-immigrants^Note , the results show that there was little difference in earnings between the second generation, the mixed generation, and the third generation or higher. This is observed in both linguistic groups, both in Quebec and in the rest of Canada, but some significant differences remain between the Canadian-born populations, often to the advantage of those from the third generation or higher. However, a few exceptions can be observed mainly among English-speaking women (both in Canada outside Quebec and in Quebec). In this group, the annual earnings of second generation Canadians were 2% to 4% higher than the reference category (the third generation or higher population).

The results also show that the younger immigrants are when admitted, the higher their annual earnings, regardless of linguistic group. For example, the annual earnings of English-speaking male immigrants admitted between the ages of 25 and 59 were about 30% lower than those of third-generation men (both in Quebec and in Canada outside Quebec). This difference was 20% to 24% among those admitted between the ages of 15 and 24, and 11% for those who arrived before the age of 15.

Immigrants who arrive in Canada at a young age learn the country’s official languages more quickly and more fully. They also have more opportunities to develop social networks across the country, including a higher likelihood of forming a union with a Canadian-born person. Furthermore, they generally complete their education in Canada. After controlling for level of education and other factors, results showed that immigrants who were admitted before the age of 15 had earnings that were higher than those of other immigrants and were closer to those of the Canadian-born population—more so for women. These results were essentially the same in Quebec and the rest of Canada, for both the French-speaking and the English-speaking populations.

The results on the weekly earnings of full-time workers are similar to those obtained for annual earnings, both in Canada outside Quebec and in Quebec (Table 6). In almost all cases, there were significant differences in earnings between immigrants and the Canadian-born population and, for the most part, people from the third generation or higher had the highest earnings (except for English-speaking women, where second generation people had the highest earnings in both Canada outside Quebec and in Quebec).

Immigrants were less likely to have at least $10,000 in employment income

The results associated with the proportion of people who reported at least $10,000 in employment income in 2015, which can be interpreted as having at least some degree of participation in the labour market, also showed a significant gap between immigrants and the Canadian-born population (Table 7).

In all linguistic groups, the predicted probability of having at least $10,000 in employment income ranged from 58% to 67% for immigrant women who were admitted between the ages of 15 and 59, while this figure was 72% and over for Canadian-born women. Adjusted rates were higher for men than women, but the differences between immigrants and the Canadian-born population were also significant for men, with adjusted percentages for immigrants ranging from 72% to 78%, while those for the Canadian-born population ranged from 77% to 85%.

The results presented to date show that, in each linguistic group, immigrants have less favourable outcomes than the Canadian-born population, and that the magnitude of the earnings’ gap is similar in all four linguistic group. In the next section, comparisons are made between official language minorities and majorities in Canada outside Quebec and in Quebec.

In Canada outside Quebec, the earnings of French-speaking immigrants are similar or higher than those of English-speaking immigrants

To see how immigrants belonging to linguistic minorities compare with those belonging to the majority, a series of regressions were estimated for each linguistic community, by sex and immigrant or generation status (eight groups). The results^Note show the relative differences between the official language minority and majority for each population defined by immigrant and generation status and sex for each of the three indicators analyzed in this article: annual earnings, weekly earnings among full-time workers and the proportion of people with at least $10,000 in employment income. A negative coefficient corresponds to a lower result than the linguistic majority and a positive coefficient corresponds to a higher result.

Table 8 shows the extent to which the minority differ from the majority in terms of annual earnings. Outside Quebec, the earnings of French-speaking people with an immigrant background are comparable with those of their English-speaking counterparts, and are even higher in some cases, particularly among women. For example, female children of immigrants whose FOLS is French had earnings that were almost 6% higher than those of English-speaking children of immigrants. A comparable result was observed among French-speaking immigrant women admitted between the ages of 15 and 59.

Of note, a significant difference was also observed among the third generation or higher population. In Canada outside Quebec, French-speaking women from the third generation or higher earned 6% more than their English-speaking counterparts (this gap was 3% for men). In other words, the results for the population with an immigrant background mirrored those observed for the rest of the population (third generation or higher).

In Quebec, the earnings of English-speaking immigrants were similar to those of French-speaking immigrants

In Quebec, the annual earnings of English-speaking immigrants who arrived in the country between the ages of 15 and 59 were not statistically different from those of their French-speaking counterparts. By contrast, the earnings of English-speaking children of immigrants tended to be lower than those of their French-speaking counterparts.

More particularly, among women and men from the second or mixed English-speaking generation, earnings were 4% to 8% lower than those of their French-speaking counterparts. Similar results were also observed in the third generation or higher. English-speaking women in this latter group earned 6% less than their French-speaking counterparts, and this gap was even higher for men (9%).

The results obtained for weekly earnings (Table 9) were generally similar to those obtained for annual earnings: in Canada outside Quebec, the French-speaking population had earnings that were comparable with—or even higher than—those of the majority, particularly among women. In contrast, in Quebec, the English-speaking population had lower weekly earnings than the French-speaking majority, with the exception of immigrants admitted between the ages of 15 and 59.

The differences were even more pronounced when examining the adjusted proportions of those with at least $10,000 in employment income (Table 10). In Quebec, the proportions of those who were members of the English-speaking minority were almost always lower than those of the majority, for both women and men. The differences between the majority and the minority were particularly high among the third generation or higher population: English-speaking women and men were more than 7 percentage points less likely than their French-speaking counterparts to have employment earnings of at least $10,000.

In Canada outside Quebec, the differences between the French-speaking minority and the English-speaking majority were either statistically insignificant or higher for the French-speaking minority.^Note For example, among female immigrants admitted between the ages of 25 and 59, the probability of having at least $10,000 in employment income was 2 percentage points higher for French-speaking immigrants relative to their English-speaking counterparts.

Conclusion

The results of this study showed that the earnings of immigrants who arrived between the ages of 15 and 59 are lower than those of the children of immigrants and of people from the third generation or higher, both in Quebec and in the rest of Canada. However, the earnings of children of immigrants are comparable with those of the third generation or higher in the four linguistic communities and therefore better than those of immigrants, both in Quebec and in the rest of Canada.

This study also showed that in Canada outside Quebec, the French-speaking population had economic outcomes that were comparable with or better than the English-speaking population—a finding that also applies to the third generation or higher population. The high level of English–French bilingualism among the French-speaking population could have a positive effect on their integration into the labour market, as the official status of French allows some of these immigrants to integrate into French-speaking institutions or institutions where the knowledge of French represents an asset (e.g., schools, public administration and non-profit organizations). A more in-depth study on this topic would be required.

In Quebec, by contrast, the results for the English-speaking minority are generally lower than those for the French-speaking population, particularly among the children of immigrants and people of the third generation or higher.^Note The English-speaking population may face some barriers or obstacles that are not necessarily explained by census data. Furthermore, a study on different aspects—such as the neighbourhood or region of residence in Montréal and Quebec, as well as the detailed industry and occupation—would undoubtedly enhance understanding of the labour market integration issues facing the English-speaking population living in Quebec. This study, however, uses various indicators based on income data from the Census, and therefore does not provide any information about other indicators of financial well-being, such as debt, assets, or wealth. More research will be needed to understand the economic integration of people with an immigrant background who belong to an official language minority in Canada.

René Houle is a senior research analyst with Statistics Canada’s Social and Aboriginal Statistics Division. This report was made possible thanks to the support of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

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