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

IV. Real annual income

In this section the annual income for the three elderly populations is examined [note 11]. Figure 2 displays the average annual income for each elderly group in tax year 2000. There is evidence of a negative relationship between age at landing and annual income. There also appears to be a jump in income at the 10- to 11-year mark for short-term and immediate elders.

Figure 2: Average Real Annual Income for Elderly Immigrants in Tax Year 2000, by Elderly Subgroup

Figure 2: Average Real Annual Income for Elderly  Immigrants in Tax Year 2000, by Elderly Subgroup

Figure 3 presents, for tax year 2000, the annual income reported by elderly immigrants in different categories at 5, 11, and 20 years after landing. It is clear that differences in annual income exist for elders in various immigrant categories. Note that Figure 3 groups all elderly immigrants within an immigrant category together. It does not disaggregate these populations by age at landing. However, the text which follows provides further detail on the experiences of specific elderly groups within each immigrant category.

Elderly immigrants who landed as Skilled Principal Applicants reported higher annual incomes, than those who landed under any other immigration category [note 12]. Long-term elderly immigrants in this category had an annual income of $25 000 at first observation and this income increased to $35 000 by the 20-year mark. Skilled Principal Applicants in the short-term elderly group, on average, reported an annual income of approximately $20 000 over the period. Although the number of immediate elders who landed as Skilled Principal Applicants is relatively small, it is worth noting that the annual income for this group was also higher than the average for all immediate elders presented in Figure 2. The sharp increase in income at the 10- to 11-year mark, apparent in Figure 2, was not present for elderly immigrants in the skilled principal applicant category.

Figure 3: Average Real Annual Income for Elderly Immigrants in Tax Year 2000, by Immigrant Category

Figure 3: Average Real Annual Income for Elderly Immigrants in Tax Year 2000, by Immigrant Category

Skilled Spouses and Dependents in all three elderly groups also reported annual incomes above the averages seen in Figure 2. Long-term elders in this category, on average, had an annual income of $17 500 and short-term elders averaged income of nearly $15 000 over the period. There were very few immediate elders who landed as Skilled Spouses and Dependents. The average annual income over the period for these elderly immigrants was approximately $10 000. Although there is no sharp increase in income at the 10- to 11-year mark, short-term and immediate elders in this category reported slightly higher levels of income from the tenth year on.

Elderly immigrants who landed as Other Economic immigrants [note 13] also had higher annual income than the averages seen in Figure 2. Although long-term elders in this category had an annual income of roughly $10 000 in the first year of observation, this increased to $25 000 by the 20-year mark. Other Economic immigrants in the short-term and immediate elderly groups reported an annual income of, on average, $15 000.

In contrast to the results observed for economic immigrants, Parents and Grandparents who land in the Family Class had incomes below the averages presented in Figure 2. Long-term elders in this category had an income of nearly $7 000 in the first year of observation which increased to $11 000 by the twentieth year. Parents and Grandparents in the short-term and immediate elderly groups exhibited patterns very similar to each other and to those seen in Figure 2. Short-term and immediate elders had incomes equal to $5 000 and $7 000, respectively, until the 10-year mark. During the tenth and eleventh year the income for these two groups increased sharply to $11 000 and remained there through the twentieth year.

Not all of the elderly immigrants who land in the Family Class reported incomes below the average incomes illustrated in Figure 2. Those who land as Other Family [note 14] immigrants had incomes comparable to or in excess of the overall average for all elderly groups. Long-term elders in this category had an annual income of nearly $15 000 in the first year of observation and this increased to $22 000 by the final year. The annual income of short-term and immediate elders, on average, was $16 500 throughout the period. Unlike the income pattern of Parents and Grandparents, Other Family immigrants did not experience a marked increase in income in at the 10- to 11-year mark.

The long-term elderly who landed as Refugees had income of $15 000 in the first year of observation and this increased to $20 000 by the 20-year mark. Short-term elderly in this category had income of $5 000 in the first year after landing. This income increased gradually to $10 000 by the tenth year after landing. By the 11-year mark income increased to roughly $12 500 and it remains there through the twentieth year. The income pattern is similar to this for Refugees in the immediate elderly group except with lower income at the onset. Refugees in this group begin the period with no income and by the 11-year mark income has reached $10 000. After the 11-year mark income increased slightly to $11 500 and remained there for the rest of the period.

Short-term and immediate elders who landed as Retired immigrants began the observation period with an annual income of $10 000 and reached $25 000 by the end of the period. There are too few long-term elders who landed as Retired immigrants to present any meaningful results here.

The income situations of all elderly immigrants illustrated in Figure 2 do differ from those observed for individual immigrant categories. Elderly immigrants who landed in the Economic Class reported annual incomes above the averages seen in Figure 2. Those who landed as Retired immigrants, on average, had annual incomes comparable to Skilled Principal Applicants. Other Family immigrants had incomes comparable to those of and Other Economic immigrants. Parents and Grandparents had the lowest income of all immigrant categories, with one minor exception. The exception being that short-term and immediate elders who landed as Refugees reported lower incomes than Parents and Grandparents until the 10-year mark. At that point the incomes of both groups increased sharply and stabilized at roughly the same level. Long-term elders who landed as Refugees had incomes similar to those of Skilled Spouses and Dependents and Other Economic immigrants.

The relatively low incomes reported by Parents and Grandparents and Refugees served to depress the overall averages and masked the higher incomes reported by other immigrant categories. The sharp rise in income reported by short-term and immediate elders at the 10- to 11-year mark also appeared to be driven by the income experiences of Parents and Grandparents and Refugees. This is not surprising given that these two categories combined to account for 68 and 80 percent of the short-term and immediate elderly populations, respectively. A more detailed investigation of the specific income types available to elderly immigrants may help shed light on the trends in annual income observed here.


11  Annual income is defined as the summation of income reported in a given tax year from the ten income sources outlined in section III. Specifically, it includes annual employment earnings, self-employment earnings, investment income, employment insurance benefits, provincial supplements, C/QPP benefits, private pension income, RRSP income, OAS benefits, and GIS/Allowance benefits.

12  Two exceptions to this are immediate elders who have been classified as “Other Family” and immediate elders who landed as Retired immigrants. However, a comparison between these populations is difficult to make given the small population of Skilled Principal Applicants who landed at age 60 or older.

13  For the purpose of this paper, Other Economic immigrants include those immigrants who landed in Canada under the Economic Class in a category other than Skilled Principal Applicants or Skilled Spouses and Dependents.

14  For the purpose of this paper, Other Family immigrants include those immigrants who landed in Canada under the Family Class in a category other than parents or grandparents.

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