ARCHIVED – The Labour Market Progression of the LSIC Immigrants

A Perspective from the Second Wave of the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC) Two Years after Landing

More skilled worker principal applicants worked in intended occupations than one and a half years ago

Wave 2 results show 94% (52,800 out of 56,000) skilled worker principal applicants had participated in the labour market; 72% found employment at two years after arrival. This compares favourably to Wave 1 results which showed that 60% of skilled worker principal applicants had secured employment after 6 months in Canada.

Of the skilled worker principal applicants who were working at the time of the Wave 2 interview[Note 13], 36% were working in their intended occupations. As a comparison, 33% of skilled worker principal applicants were working in an intended occupation 6 months after arrival. The results from the second wave therefore show some modest gains for skilled worker principal applicants finding jobs in intended occupations.

Table 17: Labour force status of Skilled Worker Principal Applicants, by selected intended occupations — Wave 2
  Professional Occupations in Natural and Applied Sciences Professional Occupations in Business and Finance Technical Occupational Related to Natural and Applied Sciences Teachers and Professors Clerical Occupations All intended Occupations1
Number of Skilled Workers (PA)1 21,427 3,403 2,396 2,355 1,879 44,643
Currently unemployed or not in the labour force 32% 30% 24% 21% 27% 28%
Currently employed 68% 70% 76% 79% 73% 72%
Number of currently employed Skilled Workers (PA)1 14,622 2,370 1,819 1,852 1,366 32,363
Employed in a different than intended occupation 61% 63% 77% 43% 75% 64%
Employed in intended occupation 39% 37% 23% 57% 25% 36%

1 Excludes Skilled Workers (PA) for whom the intended occupation was not recorded or could not be coded.

Source: Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada – Wave 2 (2003)

The top 5 intended occupational groupings of immigrants, with the exception of clerical occupations, are all characterized as high-skill occupations, requiring at least college or university education. The relatively low proportions of those employed in their intended occupations indicate that skilled worker principal applicants may have challenges finding work in their intended field.

Among the 118,100 immigrants who had a job since the last interview, skilled worker principal applicants were much more likely to find a job related to their education (65%) than their counterparts in other immigration categories. As seen from the chart below, refugees were least likely to find a job related to their education. However, large numbers (27% or 2,700) of refugees were enrolled in educational courses. Wave 3 will shed more light on training and labour market outcomes.

Figure 9: Had a job related to education, by immigration category --- Wave 2

Figure 9: Had a job related to education, by immigration category --- Wave 2
  Family Class Skilled Workers (PA) Skilled Workers (S&D Refugees Others All Immigrants
Number of immigrants who had employment since landing 27915 48856 28621 5661 7084 118137
Had a job related to education 6646 31634 11292 906 2369 52848
Related to education percentage 23.81% 64.75% 39.45% 16.00% 33.45% 44.73%
Not related to education 21269 17222 17328 4755 4714 65289
Not related to education percentage 76.19% 35.25% 60.54% 84.00% 66.55% 55.27%

Source: Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada – Wave 2 (2003)

Notes

13 Excluding skilled worker principal applicants who did not state their intended occupations or whose intended occupation could not be coded.

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