http://www.statcan.ca/english/dai-quo/  contains links to the entire
report...

The Daily
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Study: Immigrants settling for less?
1991 to 2001

University-educated immigrants were twice as likely as their Canadian-born
counterparts during the 1990s to hold jobs that fell well short of their
level of education, according to a new study.

At least one in four recent immigrants with a university degree who were
employed between 1991 and 2001 had a job requiring no more than a high
school education. This was twice the proportion of only 12% among
native-born Canadians.

This gap might be explained by several factors. These include lack of
professional and social networks, difficulty expressing oneself in one of
the official languages, employers not recognizing foreign credentials and
experience, discrimination and institutional barriers.

For example, institutional requirements regulating access to some
occupations such as health may affect chances of finding a job that matches
education level.

From 1991 to 2001, the mismatch rate for recent male immigrants with a
degree in the health field jumped from 16% to 26%. Among women it rose from
28% to 36%. This occurred despite current pressure on the health
professions and the anticipation of more pressure because of an aging
population.

Recent immigrants most likely to have low-education jobs in 2001 came from
South or Southeast Asia, had a mother tongue other than English or French,
were members of a visible minority and were women.

About 37% of men from South Asia and 48% of men from Southeast Asia held at
least a university degree in 2001 but worked in an occupation requiring at
most a high school education. The corresponding proportions for women were
55% and 61%.

Higher education appears to protect a sizeable proportion of job-seekers
against falling into low-education jobs. Recent immigrants with a master's
or doctorate were much less likely to hold jobs requiring no more than a
high school education. Those from North America, Northern or Western Europe
and Oceania were also less likely to hold a low-education job.

Recent immigrant men employed full time in jobs requiring no more than high
school education earned 42% less per week in 2000 compared with their
counterparts in jobs requiring a university degree. For women, the gap was
39%.

What's more, recent immigrants who were university graduates and who held
full-time, low-education jobs earned even less than native-born Canadians
in the same situation. In 2000, recent immigrants employed full time in
low-education jobs had weekly earnings at least 20% lower than their
Canadian-born counterparts. The gap even reached 30% among those aged 35 to
54.

The difficulty in obtaining university-level jobs is not necessarily a
short-term phenomenon. Even after more than 10 years in Canada, at least
21% of employed, university-educated immigrants who arrived between 1985
and 1989 had a low-education job in 2001. This is important because
advanced skills could erode over the long run.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 3901.

The article "Immigrants: Settling for less?" is available in the June 2004
online edition of Perspectives on labour and income, Vol. 5, no. 6
(75-001-XIE, $6/$52).

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data
quality of this release, contact Diane Galarneau (613-951-4626;
[log in to unmask]), Labour and Household Surveys Analysis
Division, or René Morissette (613-951-3608; [log in to unmask]),
Business and Labour Market Analysis Division.

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