Recent Immigrants in Metropolitan Areas: Montreal—A Comparative Profile Based on the 2001 Census

Part E: Income

Sources and level of income

Sources of income vary by time in Canada

Sixty four percent of Canadian-born women and 75% of Canadian-born men had earnings from employment in the year 2000. A larger share of the Canadian-born than of immigrants had income from employment. For immigrants who landed before 1986 the proportion with earnings is low because they tend to be older and many are in retirement. The relatively low share of recent immigrants with employment income reflects lower participation in the workforce.

Note: Incomes are for the year 2000. In all tables in Part E, immigrants and very recent immigrants include only those who landed before the year 2000 and could have had income the entire year. A person may have income from one, two or all three sources. The three sources are defined in the Glossary.

The share of persons with employment income was higher than in 1995, except for earlier immigrants. It increased by four percentage points on average for the Canadian-born, and by about 10 percentage points for recent immigrants.

Very recent immigrants are much more likely than the Canadian-born and earlier immigrants to have no income. However, the proportion of immigrant men and women who do not have income decreases significantly with length of stay in Canada, and ultimately falls below that of the Canadian-born. As well, the incidence of zero income among very recent immigrants declined markedly from 1995 to 2000, by eight percentage points for women, and by about three percentage points for men.

Recent immigrants are much less likely to have other private income—income from investments, pension plans, etc.—in comparison to the Canadian-born and earlier immigrants. This probably reflects the relatively young age of very recent immigrants, and lower savings related to the cost of and income loss associated with moving to a different country. These shares are much the same as in 1995.

The incidence of transfer payment income is higher among immigrants than among the Canadian-born, and more so for men than for women. The high proportion of earlier immigrants receiving transfer payments from government reflects the high share of seniors in this group, who generally receive Old Age Security and Canada or Quebec Pension Plan benefits. For very recent immigrants, lack of steady employment may be a contributing factor.

The incidence of transfer payment income has shifted markedly since 1995. It declined sharply for men, by 14 percentage points, and increased for women by 10 percentage points. This is a result of administrative changes.

Average income higher for immigrants who have been in Canada longer

The average income of immigrants who reported income in the year 2000 varied by period of immigration, but was smaller than that of the Canadian-born. Those who immigrated before 1986 had income close to that of the Canadian-born. For very recent immigrants, average income was three-fifths of that of the Canadian-born. And those who immigrated during the 1986-1995 period reached an average income of about two-thirds of the level of the Canadian-born.

Compared to 1995, the average income of very recent immigrants increased more than that of other groups. For these immigrants, the gain was more than 40% for men and about 30% for women. For other groups, the change was in the order of 20%.

The average income of women is about two-thirds of that of men. Among the reasons for the difference in income between men and women are lower labour force participation and higher incidence of part-time work and of jobs requiring a lower level of skill among women than among men, as shown in Part D.

Earnings from employment account for the bulk of income of all groups, and make up a somewhat smaller proportion of income of recent immigrants than of persons born in Canada for women, and a higher proportion for men. The share of other private income is much lower for recent immigrants than for the Canadian-born, while government transfer payments make up a larger share of their income. The share of transfer payments is higher mostly because the total income of recent immigrants is relatively low.

Note: Incomes are for the year 2000. In all tables in Part E, immigrants and very recent immigrants include only those who landed before the year 2000 and could have had income the entire year.

Compared to 1995, the share of employment income and other income changed very little for the Canadian-born and earlier immigrants. But recent immigrants, and especially very recent immigrants, derived a much larger share of income from employment. The increase ranged from four percentage points for women who immigrated between six and fifteen years before the census to 11% for very recent immigrant men. The share of government transfer payments declined accordingly.

Earnings of recent immigrants working mostly full-time lower than average

The wages and salaries earned by recent immigrants who worked mostly full-time in 2000 are well below the Montreal average. As was shown in the previous section, recent immigrants generally have jobs that require lower skills than the jobs of the Canadian-born, and would therefore generally receive lower rates of pay. As well, annual earnings depend on whether a person was employed throughout the year or not. It is likely that recent immigrants more often do not have steady, year-round jobs than the Canadian-born. Earlier immigrants had average wages and salaries slightly higher than the Canadian-born.

Note: Incomes are for the year 2000. In all tables in Part E, immigrants and very recent immigrants include only those who landed before the year 2000 and could have had income the entire year.

The relative level of wages and salaries of very recent immigrants, at 66% of the Canadian average, was higher than in 1995 by 12 percentage points, while other groups experienced a very little change. The average wages of very recent immigrants were rather close to the wages of those who landed during the 1986-1995 period.

Transfer payments a larger share of household income of non-seniors

In the year 2000, a large majority of households received government transfer payments. Recent immigrant households were more likely to receive transfer payments than other households. On average, the payments received were higher, both in dollar terms and relative to income.

Transfer payments vary considerably with the age of the oldest person in the household, and so do differences between recent immigrant, earlier immigrant and Canadian-born households. Recent immigrant households of the very young receive somewhat higher amounts than their Canadian-born and earlier immigrant counterparts. As for households of persons aged 25 to 44 and 45 to 64, recent immigrant households were more likely to receive transfer payments, and the amounts were significantly larger.

Transfer payments to households without seniors generally reflect benefits of Employment Insurance, Workers Compensation, social assistance, student assistance, or other programs. Included in these transfer payments are tax credits such as the Canada Child Benefit and GST tax credits and provincial tax credits. The greater incidence and higher amounts of transfer payments for recent immigrant households of persons of 25 to 64 years old may have to do with the larger average number of children in families and with differences in labour market participation and unemployment reviewed in Part D. That transfer payments from government make up a larger part of income than for their Canadian-born and earlier immigrant counterparts also reflects their lower incomes.

Almost all households with persons 65 and over received transfer payments from government—Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement, and Canada or Quebec Pension Plan Benefits. Recent immigrant households of seniors on average received about the same amount, but households consisting only of very recent immigrants received much less. These immigrants are not entitled to Old Age Security and have not built up large credits under the Canada or Quebec Pension Plan.

Note: Incomes are for the year 2000. In all tables in Part E, immigrants and very recent immigrants include only those who landed before the year 2000 and could have had income the entire year.

The distribution of income

Personal income approaches parity and similar distribution with longer stay

Of very recent immigrants, more than one-half of women and one-third of men reported no income or income of less than $10,000 in the year 2000. The share reporting no income or income of less than $10,000 is much higher for recent immigrants than for the Canadian-born.

At the high end of the income scale, recent immigrants are underrepresented. The share of recent immigrants with incomes of $50,000 and over is one-third of that of the Canadian-born for women, and less than one-half for men.

Note: Incomes are for the year 2000. In all tables in Part E, immigrants and very recent immigrants include only those who landed before the year 2000 and could have had income the entire year.

Distribution of household income very similar

In 2000, recent immigrant households had average income of $44,800, 82% of the income of Canadian-born households. By contrast, in Canada as a whole recent immigrant households and Canadian-born households have the same average income. In Montreal, the income of households consisting only of very recent immigrants is only 60% of the income of households of the Canadian-born.

Note: Incomes are for the year 2000. In all tables in Part E, immigrants and very recent immigrants include only those who landed before the year 2000 and could have had income the entire year. The total “All households” includes households of non-permanent residents not shown in the table. For definitions of household and related concepts, see the Glossary.

Twenty-seven percent of recent immigrant households have incomes of less than $20,000 compared to two in ten Canadian-born households, even though recent immigrant households tend to be larger and may have more potential income earners. As indicated in Table C-7, households of very recent immigrants with others are more likely than Canadian-born to consist of expanded and multiple families.

More than one in three recent immigrants have low income

Recent immigrants are more likely than earlier immigrants and the Canadian-born to live in families with incomes that fall below the median family income, or if they do not live in families, to have income below the median for unattached individuals. They are also more likely to have or live in families with incomes that fall below one-half of the median income, that is, to have low income. The percentage of immigrants with income in the bottom half or quarter of the income distribution declines in relation to length of stay in Canada.

Figure E-1: Immigrants by period of immigration and Canadian-born—percentage with family or individual income below the median and below one-half of the median, Montreal Census Metropolitan Area, 2000

Note: Incomes are for the year 2000. In all figures in Part E, immigrants and very recent immigrants include only those who landed before the year 2000 and could have had income the entire year. For a definition of median income and details about the calculations, see the Glossary.

The share of very recent immigrants whose family or individual income is below one-half of the median income is more than twice as large as that of the Canadian-born. The proportion of very recent immigrants with income below the median is also much higher, with seven out of ten finding themselves in this situation. Although earlier immigrant households have higher average income than Canadian-born households (Table E-6), a slightly larger proportion of earlier immigrants find themselves below the median income (Figure E-1).

The proportion of individuals with income below the median varies with age, and to a lesser extent gender. For the Canadian-born and earlier immigrants, the highest incidence of incomes that are below the median is found among seniors. But this is not so for very recent immigrants, where incomes below the median are more common among non-seniors. This is also the case for persons who immigrated during the 1986-1995 period, but the differences are not as pronounced for these immigrants.

Note: Incomes are for the year 2000. In all tables in Part E, immigrants and very recent immigrants include only those who landed before the year 2000 and could have had income the entire year. For a definition of median income and details about the calculations, see the Glossary.

In all age and gender groups except women and men 65 years of age and over the proportion of persons with income below the overall median is much higher among recent immigrants than among the Canadian-born. This difference is most pronounced for people of working age, those 25 to 64. The share of recent immigrant seniors is identical to that of Canadian-born.

Note: Incomes are for the year 2000. In all tables in Part E, immigrants and very recent immigrants include only those who landed before the year 2000 and could have had income the entire year. For a definition of median income and details about the calculations, see the Glossary.

More than one in three immigrants who landed between 1996 and 1999 have low incomes or live in low-income families, a proportion that is more than twice as large as that for the Canadian-born.

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