Immigrant occupational attainment: Assimilation and mobility over time

This article compares immigrant and native-born male occupational distribut ions in Canada in the 1980s. Three questions are addressed: (1) How do immi grant and native-born occupational distributions differ? (2) Are immigrants more occupationally mobile? and (3) How do immigrant occupations and mobil ity relate to characteristics used in immigrant selection! Results indicate that immigrants are more skilled, but this declines across successive coho rts. Immigrants are more occupationally mobile even long after arrival, ind icating immigration may contribute to a more flexible labor force. Immigran ts who are not assessed on their skills or are not fluent at arrival are le ss occupationally mobile.