This update is available on Drop box here.

Access to Data

• The partnership has received Statistics Canada’s approval for accessing the confidential Master Data Files for the 2006 and 2011 Censuses and the 2011 National Household Survey.
• An amendment will be added to access the 2016 data to investigate changes between 2006 and 2016.
• An application has been submitted to access the Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB) and the Integrated Permanent and Non-permanent Resident File (PNRF). We have received a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) from IRCC. The Office of Research Services at York University is reviewing the MOU.

Completed Analysis

Analysis of immigration class is completed. The 2016 public use microdata file available on the Statistics Canada website is used for the analysis. The goal of the analysis is to investigate provincial and urban trends in immigration class in Ontario and Quebec. The findings of the analysis are outlined in the BMRC Report 1. The report is available on the project dropbox.

Only immigrants who landed in Canada as permanent residents are considered in the analysis. The census metropolitan areas included in this report are main sites for the BMRC-IRMU partnership: Toronto, Ottawa-Gatineau, Kitchener-Waterloo and Windsor in Ontario, and Montreal, Quebec City and Sherbrooke in Quebec. Four aspects of immigration class are compared between Ontario and Quebec as well as among the selected metropolitan areas: the distribution of people admitted by immigration class, immigration class by region of origin, immigration class by period of immigration, and immigration class by gender. The comparative analysis reveals how the admission categories of immigrants reflect distinct migration histories and policies in each province.

Publicity of analysis: The findings outlined in the report will be used to prepare info-graphics to post on the partnership website.

Analysis in Progress

• Using the 2006 census master file and the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS), I am investigating the research questions that are identified by city networks to address specific settlement challenges in Ontario and Quebec cities.

• The compilation of research questions involved two phases. The first round of questions was collected through one-on-one consultation with co-chairs of the city networks. The second round of questions was gathered through group discussions that took place in Ottawa. The research questions are then grouped under specific themes, and the themes are organized in order of priority: economic structure, education, employment, migration flows, gender, visible minority status, temporary status, language, health, neighbourhood and networking.

Right now, I am investigating the following two questions regarding economic structure:

• How does employment by occupation and industry vary between Canadian born and immigrants populations in each metropolitan area and across metropolitan areas and provinces?
• Is there a mismatch between job availability in specific sectors and immigrants’ skills across Ontario and Quebec cities?

After answering these questions, I will investigate the questions regarding education and employment. Please see Appendix-A (page 3) to have an idea about the research themes, questions, and the order of analysis.

Future Plans

• Data from the 2006 and 2016 censuses will be compared at the provincial and metropolitan levels to address the research questions, and update changes in 10-year interval.
• IMDB and PNRF will be analyzed to compare settlement characteristics between permanent and temporary residents in Ontario and Quebec, and across selected metropolitan areas.

Data Requests and Suggestions

Please contact Marshia Akbar (marshia@yorku.ca):

• If you have specific data request to examine research question(s) that are not included in Appendix-A
• If you have any suggestion regarding data analysis and the order of addressing research questions (see Appendix-A)
• If you have any comments on the report on immigration class

Appendix A: Research Themes and Questions

The themes and questions are organized in order of priority of analysis

Economic Structure of the City

• Is there a mismatch between job availability in specific sectors and immigrants’ skills across Ontario and Quebec cities?

Education: 

• How does university education affect labour market outcomes?

Comparison of university-educated and non-university educated immigrants

Identify immigrants who have equivalent or better labour market outcomes than Canadian-born

• How do levels of education shape the labour market outcomes of immigrants in terms of earnings, unemployment rate and participation rate in each metropolitan area and in each province?
• How does the place of study for university-degree holders affect the earnings, unemployment and labour market participation for immigrants?

Canadian degree vs. non-Canadian degree

• How does the treatment of foreign degrees by Canadian postsecondary institutions influence labour market outcomes of immigrants?
• Is there income disparity between university-educated immigrants based on country of origin (for example, do immigrants who attained a university education in Hungary or Spain earn more than immigrants educated in Pakistan or India)?

Employment 

• How are the economic outcomes for immigrants related to their demographic characteristics (i.e. gender, level of education, age at arrival in Canada, and visible minority status)?
• Employment rate
• Full-time and part-time employment
• Income
• University educated immigrants in professional occupations

How do these relationships change with length of residence in Canada?

• How are labour market intention, skill level and labour market outcomes related for immigrants in Ontario and Quebec cities?
• How many newcomers are working in their field (of education? Occupation?) after one year of arrival? After three years? After five years?
• How many newcomers to Toronto become entrepreneurs compared to the Canadian-born population?
• What about self-employment vs. employment?
• Does the source of job search information shape immigrant employment outcome (employment status, wage)?

Migration Flows:

• How many migrants came in and left from a particular city over time?

All immigrants who arrived between 1980 and 2016 or only those who arrived in the past five years?

Do we include temporary as well as permanent migrants?

• Does secondary migration indicate economic success for migrants or is it an indication of settlement failure?
• How many newcomers come to Toronto through primary migration, and how many arrive through secondary migration?

Gender:  

• How do educational attainment and gender affect labour market outcomes of immigrants?
• Is there income disparity between university-educated immigrant men and women as well as between immigrant men and women with less than high school education?
• How do admission categories and level of education affect employment outcomes for immigrant men and women?
• How does visible minority status (racism) and ethnic origin affect integration/ participation, compare time period of arrival – who participates more?

Migration Status

• How many undocumented Torontonians are there?
• How many refugee claimants are there in Toronto?
• How does length of time with a precarious status, (before permanent residence) impact integration and economic outcomes?
• How does prior immigrant status (international student, international workers) impact integration and economic outcomes?
• How does the temporary immigration class affect settlement?

International Students

• What are the labour market outcomes for international students who attain a university education in Canada and later become permanent residents of Toronto versus internationally-educated immigrants to Toronto?
• What are the five year trends in international student enrolment and tuition as compared to domestic students in universities and colleges in Toronto?
• What is the rate of transition for international students to permanent residency in Toronto, and what kind of success do they have in finding employment, forming new businesses, and creating Canadian intellectual property and patents?

Language

• Does self-reported English and French speaking ability affect labour market outcomes for immigrants?
• Does density of speakers of foreign language influence integration (Tamil, Cantonese)?

Health

• What are the health determinants of immigrants?
• What are the measures of disability for newcomers/categories of migrants/gender?

Neighborhood and Networks

• How do settlement patterns vs. opportunities available within neighborhoods (libraries, recreational centers and transit) affect migrant settlement?
• How does the geographic neighborhood environment/diversity pattern affect immigrants?
• What is the influence of ethno-cultural networks in the success of qualitative integration?