Earning disparities between immigrants and native-born Canadians

The economic contribution of immigrants is often measured by their earnings in that the closer they are to the earnings of native-born Canadians and t he more quickly immigrants can bridge the income gap, the more immigrants a re assumed to be endowed with human capital. Using microdata of the 1996 ce nsus, this paper compares immigrant groups with native-born Canadians of th e same gender and racial origin at four levels of Census Metropolitan Area defined by population size. The findings indicate that immigrants of the sa me gender and racial origin earned either the same or more than their nativ e-born counterparts. However, when variations in human capital, experience, and other individual differences in work-related characteristics and immig rant experience are taken into account, along with differences in urban sca le, immigrant population size and unemployment rate, all immigrant groups e arned less than their native-born counterparts. The magnitude of net earnin g disparities between immigrants and native-born Canadians varies, dependin g on gender, racial origin and less so on CMA level. The study suggests tha t many factors, including unequal opportunities, affect the earnings of imm igrants, and that the assumption of immigrants' inferior human capital cont ent inferred from earning disparities is tenuous at best.