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

Part E: Income

Sources and level of income

Sources of income vary by time in Canada

Income from employment is the most common source of income for the Canadian-born. Nearly seven in ten Canadian-born women and eight in ten Canadian-born men had earnings from employment in the year 2000. A larger share of the Canadian-born than of very recent immigrants had income from employment. Among men and women who immigrated during the 1986-1995 period, the share with earnings from employment is the same or higher than among the Canadian-born. For immigrants who landed before 1986, the proportion with earnings is lower. The relatively low share of very recent immigrants with employment income reflects lower participation in the workforce.

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 higher in 2000 than in 1995 by about four percentage points for the Canadian-born and immigrants who landed during the 1986-1995 period. Among very recent immigrants, the share of women with employment income increased by the same amount, but that of men remained the same.

Very 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.

Recent immigrants are much less likely to have other private income—for example, income from investments or pension plans—in comparison to the Canadian-born and earlier immigrants.

The incidence of transfer payment income is higher among recent immigrants than among the Canadian-born. The higher proportion of earlier immigrants receiving transfer payments from government reflects the high share of seniors in this group, who generally receive Old Age Security and Canada or Quebec Pension Plan benefits. The proportion of men who received transfer payments fell by about 15 percentage points since 1995, while the proportion of women receiving transfer payments increased. This shift is likely in part due to a change in policy that gave child benefit payments directly to the mother of the child.

Average income higher for immigrants who have been in Canada longer

Considering only persons who reported income in the year 2000, the average income of immigrants as a whole was lower than that of the Canadian-born. Those who immigrated before 1986 had almost the same average income level as the Canadian-born. For very recent immigrants, average income was three-fifths of that of the Canadian-born. Those who immigrated during the 1986-1995 period had an average income of three-quarters of the level of the Canadian-born. Compared to 1995, average income of all groups was higher by 10% to 20%.

The average income of women is about three-fifths of that of men in all groups.

Earnings from employment account for the bulk of income of all groups and make up the same proportion of income of very recent immigrants as of persons born in Canada, and a higher proportion for those who immigrated during the 1986-1995 period.

The share of other private income is lower for recent immigrants than for the Canadian-born, while transfer payments from government make up a slightly larger share of their income than the income of the Canadian-born.

When the shares of the three types of income are compared with those in 1995, one observes a large increase in the share of employment income of recently immigrated men, of five to nine percentage points, and a similar decline in the share of transfer payments. This is a larger shift than for the Canadian-born, whose employment income share increased by three percentage points. Both women and men experienced that change. Recently immigrated women, however, derived about the same share of income from employment in 2000 as in 1995.

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.

Earnings of recent immigrants working mostly full-time lower than average

The wages and salaries earned by recent immigrants who worked mostly full-time in 2000 are below the Hamilton average. By contrast, earlier immigrants had a higher average wages and salaries 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 levels of wages and salaries of recent and very recent immigrants were virtually the same as in the 1996 Census.

Transfer payments a larger share of household income of non- seniors

In the year 2000, the large majority of households received transfer payments from government. Recent immigrant households were more likely to receive a transfer from governments than other households. On average, the payments received by recent immigrant households were somewhat lower in dollar terms but higher relative to income as for other households.

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 receive lower amounts than their Canadian-born and earlier immigrant counterparts. As for households of persons aged 25 to 44 and 45 to 64, recent immigrant households were both more likely to receive transfer payments from government and to receive larger amounts than earlier immigrants and the Canadian-born.

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 higher amounts of transfer payments for recent immigrant households of persons 25 to 64 years old in relation to earlier immigrants and the Canadian-born 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. That transfer payments from government make up a larger part of income than for their Canadian-born and earlier immigrant counterparts also reflects their lower incomes.

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 about the same amount as earlier immigrants and the Canadian-born, but households consisting only of immigrants who landed very recently received less. These immigrants are not entitled to Old Age Security and have not built up large credits under the Canada or Quebec Pension Plan.

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 distribution of income

Personal income approaches parity and similar distribution with longer stay

Of very recent immigrants, more than one-half of women and one-third of 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, recent immigrants are underrepresented. The share of recently immigrated men with incomes of $50,000 and over is one-half of that of the Canadian-born, while the share of recently immigrated women is about one-third of that of the Canadian-born. The proportion of persons with incomes of $50,000 and over is nearly the same among earlier immigrants as among the Canadian-born.

Earlier immigrants are highly represented in the middle range of income of $10,000 to $30,000.

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 similar

In 2000, recent immigrant households had an average income of $56,400, or 88% of the income of Canadian-born households. Unlike the situation in Canada as a whole, recent immigrant households in Hamilton have average incomes that are lower than those of Canadian-born households. The income of households consisting only of very recent immigrants is just 59% 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.

One in three households consisting of only very recent immigrants has income of less than $20,000, in spite of large size. As for households that combine very recent immigrants with other persons, their relatively high average income may be a result of their large size and the fact that the other members of the household have lived in Canada for more than five years and are more likely to be earners.

More than one-third of very recent immigrants have low income

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

The share of very recent immigrants whose family or individual income is below one-half of the median income is between two and three times as large as that of the Canadian-born. The proportion of very recent immigrants with income below the median is also much higher, with three out of four in this situation. Although earlier immigrant households have higher average income than Canadian-born households, a larger proportion of earlier immigrants have income below the median.

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, Hamilton 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.

The proportion of individuals with income below the median varies with age and to a lesser extent gender. For the Canadian-born and earlier immigrants, the highest incidence of incomes that are below the median is found among seniors. But this is not so for very recent immigrants, where incomes below the median are as common or more common for younger age groups. Those who immigrated during the 1986-1995 period occupy a middle ground.

In all age and gender groups except women of 65 years old and over, the proportion of persons with income below the overall median is much higher among very recent immigrants than among the Canadian-born.

Nearly four out of ten immigrants who landed between 1996 and 1999 have low incomes or live in low-income families, with income below one-half of the median. This share is between two and three times as large as that of the Canadian-born. Older very recent immigrants are the closest to the Canadian-born with regard to the likelihood of low income. Older recent immigrant women are much less likely than men to have low income or live in low-income families.

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.

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.

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