Chapter 5: Descriptive analysis

View the most recent version.

Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.

Archived

This page has been archived on the Web.

• 5.1 Education levels by location of postsecondary study and immigration status
• 5.2 Fields of study by location of postsecondary study and immigration status
• 5.3 Labour force status, by location of study and immigration status
• 5.4 Employment earnings differentials between the Canadian-born and immigrants

This chapter provides descriptive statistics comparing levels of postsecondary education and major field of study by location of study and immigration status. Next, we examine the distribution of the target population by location of postsecondary study, immigration status and labour force status. Finally, we briefly explore earnings differentials between immigrants and the Canadian-born, by immigrants' cohort and location of postsecondary study.

5.1 Education levels by location of postsecondary study and immigration status

The upper portion of Table 4 and its sections A, B and C show, in sequence, the percentage distribution of the Canadian-born, very-recent, recent and established immigrants with a postsecondary education in 2006 and aged 25 to 64, by university and non-university status.

In 2006, just over two out of five Canadian-born (41%) adults with a postsecondary education had a university degree, compared to almost all immigrants, especially very-recent and recent immigrants with a foreign postsecondary education. University education is particularly higher among those very-recent or recent immigrants with a postsecondary education from Eastern Europe (Poland, Romania), South Asia (India, Pakistan), East Asia (China, South Korea) and West Asia (Iran). The observed rise of education among immigrants with a postsecondary education is consistent with King (2009) who indicates that by 2006, 42% of immigrants who arrived between 2001 and 2006 had a university degree compared to 22% of immigrants who arrived prior to 2001, with only 16% among the Canadian-born.

This result is not surprising considering that Canada increasingly views postsecondary education as an accelerator of individual adaptation to the rapidly changing circumstances of its labour market.¹ For a number of years indeed, Canada has been anticipating a shortage of skilled labour as a combined result of retirement of baby boomers (i.e., those individuals born between 1946 and 1966) and low fertility rates in the general population. At the same time, the Canadian economy has been characterized by an acceleration of technological change, mainly driven by computerization and the growth of the knowledge-based economy (Ehrenberg and Smith, 2002). So as to best meet labour market needs, Canadian immigration policy became more selective and skilled-focused starting in the early 1980s (King, 2009; Picot, 2008; Kahn, 2004). For instance, changes were made in the selection policy in the early 2000s to allow applicants in the skilled worker class to earn 40% of the points required for acceptance in Canada for their educational attainment.²

Among prime-aged (25 to 64) individuals with a postsecondary education, the share of established immigrants who obtained their college/other degree in Canada, Poland, the special administrative region of Hong Kong or in the United Kingdom is similar to that for the Canadian-born (Table 4).

Table 4 Percentage distribution of individuals aged between 25 and 64 years who have completed postsecondary education, by immigration status, level of postsecondary education and location of postsecondary study, 2006

It is also worth noting that established immigrants who studied in Germany have the highest proportion of non-university graduates compared to the Canadian-born (75% vs. 59%). In Germany, students who have completed the twelfth year of schooling can either study at university or enter technical colleges (Gruetter, 2005). This result could thus reflect an overrepresentation of holders of technical/other degrees among people with a German postsecondary education who immigrated to Canada more than a decade ago. Our descriptive results indicate that regardless of the duration of permanence residence in Canada, the share of immigrants with a postsecondary education who completed a college diploma in Canada, the United Kingdom, Poland, Hong Kong or Germany is closer to the share of the Canadian-born with a college diploma.

Table 4 also indicates that most immigrants with a postsecondary education who completed their highest level of education abroad had a bachelor's degree. However, over half of very-recent and recent immigrants who completed their postsecondary schooling in South Korea, Iran, China or Philippines are bachelor's degree holders. Likewise, half of established immigrants with a postsecondary certificate, degree or diploma obtained in South Korea belong to this educational category, while this is the case for 46% of established immigrants whose highest postsecondary credential was completed in the Philippines. Statistics reported in Table 4 reveal that the highest share of master's degree holders is observed for very-recent immigrants with a Polish or an American postsecondary education, and for recent and established immigrants who graduated in the United States. Conversely, very-recent and recent immigrants who graduated in France or Germany, and established immigrants with an American or a French postsecondary certificate, degree or diploma have the highest proportion of PhD holders.

5.2 Fields of study by location of postsecondary study and immigration status

The upper portion of Table 5 and its sections A, B and C report, in sequence, the percentage distribution of the Canadian-born, very-recent, recent and established immigrants with a postsecondary education in 2006 and aged 25 to 64, by major postsecondary field of study.

Relying on terminology often used in the empirical literature (Boudarbat and Chernoff, 2009; Krahn and Bowlby, 1999, to name few), fields of study are regrouped under three broad labels. Group I refers to the so-called "soft sciences" i.e., education, visual arts, humanities and social sciences. Group II refers to the so-called "hard sciences," including engineering, computer science, the life/physical sciences and health/welfare sciences. The remaining fields of study, i.e., business/administration, agriculture and other fields, are assigned to Group III. The following discussion focuses on some of the highlights of the information shown in Table 5.

Table 5 Percentage distribution of individuals aged between 25 and 64 years who have completed postsecondary education, by immigration cohort, field and location of postsecondary study, 2006

Data from the 2006 Census show that more than two-fifths (42%) of the Canadian born aged 25 to 64 with postsecondary credentials had graduated in the so-called "hard sciences," i.e., engineering (21%), the computer sciences (4%), the life/physical sciences (3%) and the health/welfare sciences (14%) (Table 5). Another 27% had graduated in the "soft sciences", i.e., education (8%), visual arts (4%), humanities (5%) or the social sciences (10%). Finally, in 2006, 22% of the Canadian-born whose highest level of education was postsecondary had graduated with postsecondary credentials in business or administration.

In contrast, close to two-thirds of very-recent immigrants who completed their highest postsecondary credential in China (63%), Romania (64%), Russia (64%) or Iran (65%), and more than half of those who completed their postsecondary studies in the Philippines (54%) and Germany (53%) had credentials in the "hard sciences." This was true for only 32% of very-recent immigrants whose highest education was completed in the special administrative region of Hong Kong and 47% of those with a Canadian postsecondary certificate, degree or diploma. Meanwhile, over two-fifths (43%) of very-recent immigrants who completed their postsecondary education in South Korea, 33% of those who completed their studies in Poland and 35% of those who completed their education in Pakistan had credentials in the "soft sciences." It is worth noting that among very-recent immigrants with a postsecondary education, those who completed their studies in China and in the Philippines had the lowest shares of credentials in the "soft sciences," at 15% and 17%, respectively. Very-recent immigrants who completed their postsecondary education in the special administrative region of Hong Kong had the highest share of credentials in business and administration fields of study (43%), whereas those who completed their studies in Iran or Russia had the lowest shares with credentials in business and administration, at 9% and 7%, respectively.

Although different in terms of magnitude, the distribution of recent immigrants aged 25 to 64 with a postsecondary education by field of study is qualitatively similar to that observed for very-recent immigrants (Table 5). For instance, recent immigrants who completed their postsecondary studies in Romania, Russia, Iran or China had the largest shares of graduates in the "hard sciences." In contrast, recent immigrants who completed their highest postsecondary credential in Hong Kong had the smallest share of graduates in the "hard sciences," at 31%, but the largest share in business and administration, at 45%. Unlike very-recent immigrants with a postsecondary education, the smallest share in business and administration is observed for recent immigrants who completed their postsecondary schooling in Romania, at 11%. Recent immigrants who completed their postsecondary studies in South Korea had the highest share of graduates in the "soft sciences," at 42%.

Data from the 2006 Census reveal that among immigrants with a Romanian postsecondary education who studied "hard sciences," the share of recent immigrants is 16% higher than that for very-recent immigrants. Furthermore, over half of recent immigrants with a Romanian postsecondary education (57%) studied engineering compared to 42% of very-recent immigrants who completed their postsecondary studies in Romania. These results are worth discussing. Enrolment in vocational and technical programs among full-time students was remarkably high from 1950 to 1980 in Central and Eastern Europe (Malamud and Pop-Eleches, 2008). It could thus be that the focus on vocational and technical training in Romania some decades ago has produced a high combined share of graduates in engineering, computer, the life/physical and the health/welfare sciences.

The recent transition of Romania from planned economy to market economy and its entry into the European Union have been associated with significant technological and institutional changes.³ These factors could have contributed to making vocational and technical education highly valuable in the Romanian labour market. In turn, the substantial increase in the market price of vocational and technical skills acquired through the national education system could have determined at least in part the significant shift in the distribution of fields of study among applicants of the economic class with Romanian postsecondary education, all else held equal.

Finally, over half of established immigrants who completed their studies in the United Kingdom, China, Poland, Romania or Russia had credentials in the "hard sciences." Compared to other countries, established immigrants with a postsecondary credential from South Korea and India had the largest shares of graduates in the "soft sciences," both at 46%, while those who completed their studies in Hong Kong had the largest share in business and administration, at 40%. Finally, it is worth noting that 41% of established immigrants who completed their highest postsecondary credential in the United States had done so in the "soft sciences," whereas this was the case for only about 30% of very-recent immigrants and 26% of recent immigrant who completed their studies in the United States.

Overall, our descriptive results show that the distribution of postsecondary fields of study among people aged 25 to 64 with a postsecondary education is heterogeneous, regardless of the duration of permanent residence and immigration status. We also note that compared to their immigrants counterparts, the Canadian-born with a postsecondary education have neither remarkably high/low shares in the "hard sciences," nor do they have remarkably high/low shares in the "soft sciences." This result is not surprising given that the Canada's federal selection policy does not allow applicants to earn points required for acceptance in Canada for their major field of study (Sweetman and McBride, 2004). In fact, Quebec and British Columbia are currently the only Canadian provinces where individuals who want to enter Canada under the Skilled Workers Program are assigned bonus points for fields with a higher value in the local labour markets.⁴ However, our descriptive statistics show intra-group variations in the distribution of postsecondary fields of study among individual members of same immigration cohorts.

5.3 Labour force status, by location of study and immigration status

Table 6 shows the percentage distribution of Canada's 25 to 64 year-olds with a postsecondary education in 2006, by location of postsecondary study, immigration status and labour force status.

Slightly more than two out of three (68%) of the Canadian-born were paid employees. Higher wage employment is also observed for almost all immigrants, corroborating prior Canadian empirical research which suggests that postsecondary education increasingly plays a crucial role in the allocation process of paid employment (see for example, Ferrer, Green and Riddell, 2006; Hansen, 2006; Sweetman, 2004). However, the share for the Canadian-born was higher than that for almost all very-recent immigrants regardless of the location of study, and far better than that for very-recent immigrants who completed their studies in Iran or South Korea.

The observed gap in wage employment between the Canadian-born and very-recent immigrants could possibly reflect problems arising in the early years of settlement in a new country including the non-recognition of foreign qualifications and work experience, difficulties associated with living in a foreign country, and poor mastery of host country official language(s) (Liebig, 2007). It could also be that a sizeable number of newcomers are upgrading their skills and are therefore not in the wage sector. Interestingly, we observe that the Canadian-born are also far more likely than many recent and established immigrants with a foreign postsecondary education, especially those with a South Korean postsecondary degree, to work in the wage sector. Thus, it may be possible that differences in postsecondary credentials obtained in different countries account for an important part of the variation in rates of  employment in the wage sector observed when comparing the Canadian-born and landed immigrants.

Compared to other immigrant groups, the pattern of employment in the wage sector was quite different for recent immigrants whose highest postsecondary education was obtained in Romania or the Philippines, in which case the wage employment ratios were slightly higher than those for the Canadian-born, at 71% and 75%, respectively. We also observe that recent immigrants who completed their postsecondary education in France, the United Kingdom or India and established immigrants who completed their postsecondary education in Poland or Romania had employment ratios similar to the Canadian-born. Among established immigrants, however, only those who completed their studies in the Philippines, at 74%, had a wage employment ratio greater than that observed for the Canadian-born.

The fact that the wage employment ratios of immigrants who completed their highest postsecondary education in the Philippines surpass those of the Canadian-born individuals compared to immigrants with a postsecondary degree from Pakistan, Iran or South Korea could be at least in part related to the international transferability of skills acquired through schooling, along with other labour market characteristics.⁵ For instance, it could be that in comparison with immigrants who graduated in Iran, Pakistan or South Korea, those with a postsecondary education from the Philippines have acquired other skills through their training that have characteristics similar to some Canada-specific skills. This in turn could make them more successful on Canada's labour market compared to immigrants educated in foreign countries such as Pakistan, Iran and South Korea.

Table 6 Percentage distribution of individuals aged between 25 and 64 years who have completed postsecondary education, by labour market status, immigration status and location of postsecondary study, 2005

Data from the 2006 Census show that most wage-sector workers with a postsecondary education and between 25 and 64 years of age are overeducated (Table 6). But, immigrants, especially very-recent immigrants, have much higher rates of over education than the Canadian-born. Rates of over-education among very-recent immigrants with a postsecondary certificate, degree or diploma from the Philippines or India are particularly worth highlighting. More than half of very-recent immigrants who received their postsecondary education in the Philippines (58%) or India (53%) are overeducated employees, compared with just 41% of the Canadian-born.

Gilmore and Le Petit (2008) cite information from the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) that observes that the Philippines's education system is similar to that of North American in terms of factors such as the education structure, the content of the curricula, general/vocational orientations, with a strong English component. Also, several components of India's educational system reflect the British educational system, while English is one of India's official languages.⁶ It could therefore be that both international skills transferability and quality of knowledge of at least one of Canada's official languages are not the only factors behind the observed gap in wage employment between some internationally-educated immigrants and the Canadian-born. Instead, as suggested by authors such as Chiswick and Miller (2008) and Junankar, Paul and Yasmeen (2004), this gap could also reflect subjective barriers to many professional occupations and many other unobserved factors.

Other labour force statuses have also interesting patterns. For instance, self-employment is particularly greater among immigrants holding a South Korean postsecondary certificate, diploma or degree, irrespective of the immigration cohort. Further, slightly less than one third of very-recent immigrants who completed their postsecondary education in South Korea (30%), the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (31%) or Pakistan (30%) was not in the labour force, while this was the case for just 10% of the Canadian-born. Likewise, very-recent immigrants who finished their postsecondary studies in Iran, Germany, the United States, Poland or China outnumber the Canadian-born among individuals not in the labour force. In contrast, the proportion of very-recent immigrants with a Canadian postsecondary education who are not in the labour force is similar to that of the Canadian-born.

Data not controlled for interaction effects (Table 6) also indicate that all immigrants with a foreign postsecondary education aged 25 to 64, especially from South Korea, have higher unemployment rates than the Canadian-born, irrespective of the immigration cohort. As noted previously, one implication of this result is that when prospective employers who use education to assess potential productivity have a choice between individuals educated in the home country and those who completed their education in another country, they will choose the former (see, for example, Chiswick and Miller, 2008; 2009; Chiswick, 1978).

Another result worth noting is that rates of school attendance were much higher for almost all recent-immigrant groups compared to the Canadian-born, which stood at 11%; these rates were especially high for very-recent immigrants (40%) and recent immigrants (26%) who already had postsecondary credentials acquired in Canada. About two out of five (40%) very-recent immigrants with a Canadian postsecondary education were attending school.

Three reasons make this last result worth discussing. First, our sample was restricted to men and women aged 25 to 64 so as to guarantee a focus on people likely to have completed their formal schooling. Second, the available evidence indicates that Canadian-educated immigrants have higher rates of employment and better earnings than almost all internationally-educated immigrants (see, for instance, Plante, 2010; Gilmore and Le Petit, 2008; Mata, 2008). In other words, Canada-educated immigrants may face no or a smaller initial loss in earnings or employment status, in comparison with foreign-educated immigrants. Last but not least, in comparison with Canada-educated immigrants, many internationally-educated immigrants need to either improve their language proficiency or have their degrees re-accredited or updated with Canadian degree requirements. Data not reported here indicate that as of 2006, two-thirds of very-recent immigrants with a Canadian postsecondary education and identified as school attendees were aged 25 to 34, while this was the case for only 48% of the Canadian-born with postsecondary schooling who reported school attendance on a part-time or full-time basis. Given that most very-recent immigrants with a Canadian postsecondary education are very young compared to the Canadian-born, it could be that they are undertaking graduate studies in Canada.

School attendance rates are also relatively high for very-recent immigrants who completed their postsecondary education in China (28%), Romania (29%), Russia (24%) and Iran (31%). Higher school attendance rates among these internationally-educated immigrants may reflect the less-than-perfect transferability of some key productive attributes (including education) between labour markets. Many very-recent immigrants who are attending school may choose to acquire Canada-specific skills in order to have Canadian credentials, improving their prospects in the Canadian labour market. It is worth noting that: (i) China, Romania, Russia and Iran are source countries where Canada's official languages (i.e., French and English) are not commonly spoken; and (ii) prior empirical studies have linked the labour market success of immigrants to quality of official languages knowledge (Thomas, 2009; Pendakur and Pendakur, 2002a; to name few). Therefore, it could be that some very-recent immigrants who completed their postsecondary studies in China, Romania, Russia and Iran are acquiring language skills.

5.4 Employment earnings differentials between the Canadian-born and immigrants

Table 7 shows percentage differences between the mean earnings of immigrants with a postsecondary education aged 25 to 64, who completed their studies abroad/in Canada and their Canadian-born counterparts. Columns 3 through 6 look at undereducated, correctly-matched, overeducated and all paid employees, respectively. An immediate difference is obvious: the Canadian-born have a wage advantage over almost all immigrants, especially over very-recent immigrants. When considering all paid employees, we note that very-recent immigrants who completed their postsecondary education in the United Kingdom are the only ones in this cohort who enjoy, on average, a slight earnings premium (+4%) relative to the Canadian-born.

Table 7 Average wage differential between immigrants and the Canadian-born, 25 to 64 year-olds with a postsecondary education, by immigrant cohort and location of postsecondary study, 2006

Conversely, those who lag the farthest behind the Canadian-born with respect to mean earnings were those who completed their postsecondary education in Pakistan (-143%). As has been previously suggested by authors such as Chiswick (1978) and Chiswick and Miller (2008; 2009) for the U.S., it could be that postsecondary education acquired in foreign countries other than the United Kingdom, especially in Pakistan, does not fully compensate for the lack of Canadian training in Canada's labour markets. The wage penalty experienced by very-recent immigrants who completed their postsecondary schooling in the special administrative region of Hong Kong is significantly higher than that for those with an American postsecondary certificate, degree or diploma (-108% vs. -1.14%).

This finding is counterintuitive because Hong Kong's education system, though initially modelled on the United Kingdom's education system, has recently become more similar to the American education system in terms of curricula, orientations, formal and informal aspects of education (Heywood and Wei, 2004). Part of the explanation for such an unexpected result lays in Tables 4 and 5. According to Table 4, nearly three out of five (58%) very-recent immigrants who completed their highest postsecondary education in the special administrative region of Hong Kong had a university-level education, while this was the case for 86% of those who completed their postsecondary education in the United States. Furthermore, Table 5 indicates that among very-recent immigrants, those trained in the special administrative region of Hong Kong had the smallest combined share of postsecondary graduates in the "hard sciences," at 32%).

According to the research, fields of study affect the match between jobs and required skills and qualifications (see, for instance, Boudarbat and Chernoff, 2009). Furthermore, graduates from the natural sciences and engineering have, on average, higher income, earnings and employment rates than their peers in fields such as the humanities or social sciences (see, for instance, Sweetman and McBride, 2004). Arguably, therefore, it could be that, on average, very-recent immigrants with a postsecondary credential completed in Hong Kong secured paid employment in less lucrative occupations compared to very-recent immigrants with an American postsecondary education.

The magnitude of immigrants' earnings disadvantage vis-à-vis the Canadian-born decreases with the duration of residence, reinforcing the argument that the length of time spent in Canada assists immigrants in acquiring skills relevant to Canadian jobs.

However, some variations in the gaps in earnings between recent immigrants from different locations of study and the Canadian-born are worth noting. In comparison with the Canadian-born, for instance, recent immigrants who completed their postsecondary studies in the Hong Kong special administrative region had the largest earnings disadvantage (-59%), while recent immigrants with an American or a British postsecondary education earned substantially more than the Canadian-born in 2006 (+17% and +24%, respectively). Among established immigrants, those with the largest earnings gap compared to the Canadian-born had completed their postsecondary education in South Korea (-49%). In contrast, established immigrants who were educated in the United States (+24%), the United Kingdom (+25.4%) and France (+7%) had positive earnings premium over the Canadian-born.

Examination of the distribution of average earnings differentials between the Canadian-born and immigrants by education-job match level and location of postsecondary study confirms a number of findings concerning wage-sector employees overall. It also highlights many important differences.

Concerning overeducated employees, for instance, Table 7 indicates that very-recent immigrants who completed their postsecondary education in Pakistan, recent immigrants who completed their postsecondary education in South Korea or the special administrative region of Hong Kong, and established immigrants who completed their postsecondary education in South Korea have the largest earnings gap relative to the Canadian-born. Conversely, very-recent immigrant who completed their postsecondary education in the United Kingdom, recent immigrants who completed their postsecondary studies in the United Kingdom, the United States, France or Germany, and established immigrants who completed their postsecondary education in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Romania or Russian had positive earnings premiums over the Canadian-born.

Regarding correctly-matched employees, larger earnings gaps relative to the Canadian-born with a postsecondary education are observed for very-recent immigrants who completed their postsecondary education in Poland, recent immigrants who completed their postsecondary education in Canada or Russia and established immigrants who completed their education in Russia. In contrast, earnings premiums over the Canadian-born are noted for very-recent immigrants who completed their postsecondary education in the United Kingdom or the United States, recent immigrants who completed their postsecondary education in the United States, the United Kingdom or Germany, and established immigrants who completed their postsecondary education in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, India or France. The existence of a comparative earnings disadvantage for recent immigrants with a postsecondary education completed in Canada suggests at least in part that the accumulation of skills through the Canadian postsecondary education system does not necessarily translate into higher earnings for everyone over time. Put differently, it may be that individual investments in Canada-specific educational credentials are not themselves the engine of successful labour market adjustment of immigrants to Canada.

Regarding undereducated employees, Table 7 shows that very-recent immigrants with a postsecondary education completed in China, recent immigrants who graduated in the special administrative region of Hong Kong and established immigrants who graduated in South Korea lag far behind the Canadian-born in terms of employment earnings. In contrast, very-recent and recent immigrants who completed their studies in the United Kingdom and established immigrants who completed their studies in the United Kingdom and the United States had higher earnings than their Canadian-born counterparts.

While the analysis reported in this chapter does not control for interaction effects, it suggests that observed differences in the labour market outcomes of internationally-educated immigrants relative to the Canadian-born are likely due, at least in part, to variations across countries in skills transferability and/or credential recognition. The following chapter investigates this hypothesis from a multivariate perspective by simultaneously accounting for the influence of several factors often identified in the literature as being key determinants of employment status and earnings.

---

Notes

1. Given that immigrants traditionally enter Canada under economic, family and humanitarian considerations, the current overrepresentation of some recent and very recent immigrants in the highly-educated workforce could also reflect at least in part, the fact that Canada is increasingly attracting individuals from countries placing a higher value on education or labour market success. We should also stress that most countries selected in this study do not have a college system. Therefore, by definition, most of postsecondary education held by immigrants will be university.
2. King (2009); Picot (2008) and Kahn (2004).
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Such as field of study, quality of Canadian languages knowledge and pre-immigration labour market experience.
6. Ibid.