ARCHIVED – The Labour Market Progression of the LSIC Immigrants
A Perspective from the Second Wave of the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC)-Two Years after Landing
Majority of immigrants finding employment encountered difficulties
Finding employment in a new labour market is not easy. Nearly 7 out of 10 immigrants who had looked for jobs since the first wave interview reported that they had encountered at least one difficulty. While all immigration categories had large proportions of immigrants who reported difficulties in finding jobs, skilled worker principal applicants had the highest proportion (73%) followed by refugees (71%) and skilled worker spouses and dependants (70%).
| Immigration Category | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family Class | Skilled Workers (PA) | Skilled Workers (S&D) | Refugees | Others | All Immigrants | |
| Immigrants who tried to find employment | 20,523 | 38,237 | 23,769 | 5,890 | 4,871 | 93,290 |
| Immigrants reporting difficulties finding job | ||||||
| Number | 12,248 | 28,051 | 16,605 | 4,169 | 2,788 | 63,860 |
| Percentage of immigrants who tried to find job | 60% | 73% | 70% | 71% | 57% | 68% |
| Most serious difficulty (selected types) | ||||||
| Not enough job experience in Canada | 25% | 27% | 28% | 26% | 23% | 27% |
| Language problems | 21% | 9% | 18% | 30% | 16% | 15% |
| Not enough jobs available | 17% | 16% | 12% | 10% | 17% | 15% |
| Qualifications outside Canada not accepted | 8% | 10% | 11% | 6% | 11% | 10% |
| Job experience outside Canada not accepted | 2% | 14% | 9% | 3%E | 4%E | 9% |
E Use with caution.
Source: Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada – Wave 2 (2003)
When looking at difficulties in finding a job for all immigrants, lack of Canadian job experience ranked the most commonly reported serious difficulty (27%), which was the same with the Wave 1 result. Language problems were the second most commonly cited difficulty for all immigrants, although language problems were quite different by category of immigration. Refugees had the highest proportion reporting language problems at 30% while only 9% of skilled worker principal applicants reported the same problem.
If we compare the proportions reporting language problems as the most serious difficulty in finding jobs in different points of time, we can see what looks like progress in language abilities for all immigration categories. For instance, results from Wave 1 showed 33% of all family class immigrants who tried to find employment stated language problems as the most serious difficulty. Two years after arrival, only 21% family class immigrants who tried to look for a job reported language as the most serious problem.
| Male | Female | All Immigrants | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Immigrants who tried to find employment | 50,819 | 42,472 | 93,290 |
| Immigrants reporting difficulties finding job | |||
| Number | 35,127 | 28,733 | 63,860 |
| Percentage | 69% | 68% | 68% |
| Most serious difficulty (selected types) | |||
| Not enough job experience in Canada | 27% | 26% | 27% |
| Language problems | 12% | 20% | 15% |
| Not enough jobs available | 16% | 14% | 15% |
| Qualifications outside Canada not accepted | 10% | 10% | 10% |
| Job experience outside Canada not accepted | 11% | 7% | 9% |
Source: Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada – Wave 2 (2003)
It is perhaps not a surprise that male immigrants were less likely (12%) than female immigrants (20%) to report language problems, given that more males immigrated as skilled worker principal applicants (77%). Immigrants in this category are selected in part based on their language abilities.
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