Canadian immigrant earnings have been in decline for more than two decades. In 1980, employed newcomers earned 85 cents for each dollar received by Canadian-born workers. By 2005, that ratio had dropped to 63 cents for immigrant men and 56 cents for immigrant women. In general, the region of birth has the strongest impact on earnings inequality, while the impacts of a foreign education and the ability to speak English or French vary across different groups. The challenges facing immigrants tend to be most intense when they first arrive. Once in the labour market, they experience a rapid rise in earnings. In other words, while pre-migration work experience is discounted, Canadian work experience is rewarded.
Income instability is also an issue for newcomers. Instability is highest among those immigrants just entering the labour market, but improves during the next two or three years as immigrants get settled in their new country. Usually, the earnings of most second-generation Canadians do not bear a strong relationship to the socio-economic status of their parents. In other words, children of immigrants with below-average earnings can often be expected to make significant gains in income in adulthood. Typically, all immigrants - regardless of their source country and citizenship status - make positive contributions to the Canadian economy over their lifetimes.
For many immigrants, income is important not just to themselves and their families in Canada, but to their families and friends in their countries of origin. Roughly four in ten immigrants who arrived in Canada during 2000/2001 sent money to family and/or friends at least once during their first four years in the country. The likelihood of immigrants remitting depends on immigrants' income, family obligations in Canada and abroad, the culture of their country of origin, and demographics.
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