ARCHIVED – Elderly immigrants in Canada: Income sources and self-sufficiency

II. Previous research

The findings presented here were taken from the first part of a study currently underway in the Strategic Research and Statistics Division at Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) [note 2]. In the previous analysis average annual income was disaggregated into four components: private and public market income, and contributory and non-contributory retirement income. Private market income includes employment earnings, self-employment earnings, and investment income. Public market income includes income from employment insurance and social assistance. Contributory retirement income includes income from C/QPP, Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs), and private pension plans. Non-contributory retirement income includes income from Old Age Security (OAS) and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) and Allowance. Some interesting findings resulted from this previous analysis.

First, there was evidence of a relationship between age at landing and reliance on certain sources of income for elderly immigrants. Long-term elders relied on market income most heavily and for a longer period of time. Consequently, fewer long-term elders received income exclusively from retirement sources. Short-term elders were less reliant on market income; however, they were still more reliant than immediate elders. Second, there was evidence of a relationship between immigration category and reliance on particular sources of income. For example, Skilled Principal Applicants exhibited more reliance on market income, while Parents and Grandparents showed more reliance on retirement income. Third, similar to the results observed for income sources, there appeared to be a relationship between age at landing and the composition of income. Long-term elders received a larger share of their income from private market sources than either of the other two elderly groups. This is especially true for Skilled Principal Applicants within this group. Although, short-term elders had a lower share of income form private market sources, this share remained higher than that for the immediate elderly population. Finally, a relationship between income composition and immigration category may also exist. The lesser degree of reliance on market income observed for the short-term and immediate elder groups may be partially explained by the larger component of Parents and Grandparents in these groups. Parents and Grandparents in both groups received substantially larger shares of their average incomes from non-contributory retirement sources.

Disaggregating annual income into the four components discussed above was a necessary starting point. However, the results of the previous analysis raised additional questions regarding the income experiences of elderly immigrants. In this paper retirement income and market income will be disaggregated into ten specific income types. Investigating the incidence of these specific income types will help identify the income sources that are most commonly relied on by the elderly in each immigrant category. It will also shed light on the transition from market income to retirement income and the differences that occur for various immigrant categories during this transition.

2  Dempsey, C. (2004).

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