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

Part E: Income

Sources and level of income

Sources of income vary by time in Canada

Two-thirds of Canadian-born women and three-quarters of Canadian-born men had earnings from employment in the year 2000. A smaller share of very recent immigrants than of the Canadian-born had income from employment, while among immigrants who landed during the 1986-1995 period a higher proportion than the Canadian-born had income from employment. The relatively low share of very recent immigrants with employment income reflects lower participation in the workforce. For immigrants who landed before 1986, the proportion with income from employment is 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. 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 lower in 2000 than in 1995, except for among Canadian-born women and immigrants who landed during the 1986-1995 period. The largest decrease, a decline of about nine percentage points, was observed among very recent immigrants.

Recent immigrants are more likely than the Canadian-born and earlier immigrants to have no income. Immigrants from the earliest cohort, those who immigrated before 1986, are less likely than the Canadian-born to have no income. In comparison to 1995, the incidence of zero income was the same in 2000.

The share of recent immigrants with other private income—for example, income from investments or pension plans—is smaller than the share of the Canadian-born and earlier immigrants with other private income.

The incidence of government transfer payment income is roughly the same for recent immigrants as for the Canadian-born. In 2000, the share of men who received transfer payments fell by about thirteen percentage points in comparison to 1995, while that of women increased by about seven percentage points. This shift is due in part to the fact that child benefit payments in 2000 were generally made to the mother, resulting in a lower proportion of women that had no income.

Average income of very recent immigrants lower than in 1995

The average income of recent immigrants in the year 2000 was lower than that of the Canadian-born. For very recent immigrants, average income was about three-fifths of that of the Canadian-born. Those who immigrated during the 1986-1995 period had an average income of about nine-tenths of the level of the Canadian-born. Those who immigrated before 1986 had a higher average income 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.

Compared to 1995, the average income of very recent immigrants was lower by 11% in 2000. It is notable that income of very recent immigrants was lower in 2000 than in 1995, while income of other groups increased. Victoria is unique in this respect, as in many other cities very recent immigrants had significantly higher income in 2000 than five years earlier. For the Canadian-born and earlier immigrants, the increase in income was in the order of 10%, and for immigrants who landed five to fifteen years before the census it was 20%.

The average income of women is about 70% of that of men. Earnings from employment account for the bulk of income of all groups and make up a larger proportion of income of recent immigrants than of persons born in Canada, except for among very recent immigrant women. Compared to 1995, the employment share of income increased significantly for men and women who landed during the 1986-1995 period.

Earnings of recent immigrants who worked mostly full-time lower

The wages and salaries earned by recent immigrants who worked mostly full-time in 2000 are below the Victoria average. By contrast, earlier immigrants earned 15% more 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 70% of the average, was similar to that in 1995. Those who had been in the country from 5 to 15 years, however, had a higher relative earnings level than their counterparts of five years earlier.

Transfer payments from government somewhat lower

In the year 2000, the large majority of households received transfer payments from government. Recent immigrant households were as likely to receive transfer payments from government as other households. On average, however, the payments received were lower, 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 were less likely to receive transfer payments and received lower amounts on average than their Canadian-born and earlier immigrant counterparts. For households of persons aged 25 to 44 and 45 to 64, an opposite pattern applies.

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.

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, GST tax credits and provincial tax credits. The somewhat greater incidence and 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.

Almost all households with persons of 65 years of age and over received transfer payments from government: Old Age Security, the Guaranteed Income Supplement, or Canada or Quebec Pension Plan benefits. Recent immigrant households of seniors on average received a smaller amount, and households consisting only of very recent immigrants received even less. Very recent immigrants are not entitled to Old Age Security and have not built up large credits under the Canada or Quebec Pension Plan.

The distribution of income

Large differences between all groups

Of very recent immigrants, nearly six in ten women and four in ten men reported no income or income of less than $10,000 in 2000. The share reporting no income is lower for persons who immigrated during the 1986-1995 period. The share of persons without income is even lower for earlier immigrants, who also report income below $10,000 in much smaller proportions than recent immigrants.

At the high end of the income scale, very recent immigrants are underrepresented. Their share in the upper income cohort of $50,000 and over is less than one-half of that of the Canadian-born. By contrast, the share of earlier immigrants with incomes of $50,000 and over is slightly higher than that 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.

Distribution of household income becomes very similar with longer stay

In 2000, recent immigrant households had an average income of $57,900, a larger income than that of the Canadian-born but somewhat less than the income of earlier immigrant households. The income of households consisting only of very recent immigrants was 63% 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.

The share of households with incomes of less than $20,000 is somewhat smaller for recent immigrants than for the Canadian-born. However, more than one-third of households consisting only of recent immigrants is in this lowest income range, and these households are larger, on average, than households of the Canadian-born.

Low income twice as common among very recent immigrants

Recent immigrants are more likely than earlier immigrants and the Canadian-born to live in families with incomes below the overall median or, if they do not live in families, to have income below the median for unattached individuals. They are also more likely to live in families with incomes 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 the length of stay in Canada of the cohort.

The share of recent and very recent immigrants with income below the median or with low income has increased somewhat since 1995, while these shares remained unchanged for the Canadian-born and earlier immigrants.

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, Victoria 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.

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.

The proportion of people with income below the median varies with age. For the Canadian-born and earlier immigrants, the highest proportions are found among seniors. But this is not so for very recent immigrants.

In nearly all age and gender groups, the proportion of persons with income below the overall median is higher among recent immigrants than among 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. For a definition of median income and details about the calculations, see the Glossary.

One in three very recent immigrants has low income, but fewer than one in five immigrants who landed during the 1986-1995 period have low income. The incidence of low income varies by age and to a lesser extent by gender.

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