Statistics Canada published new data from the Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB) on February 3, 2022, showing that immigrants who came to Canada as children and studied in the Canadian education system earned significantly higher wages in adulthood than their Canadian-born counterparts.
Based on income tax data in 2019, the report analyzed the characteristics of these immigrants and their socioeconomic outcomes and median wages. In general, children admitted with economic immigrants earn more than the overall Canadian population of their age.
At age 20, immigrants who entered Canada as children earned less ($10,900) than the overall Canadian population ($12,900). This is related to the immigrant population's higher participation rate in postsecondary education (70,3%), compared to the Canadian population (58,9%). The median wage of immigrants at age 25 was $31,500 which was higher than that of the overall Canadian population ($30,290).
Moreover, among 30-year-olds, immigrants admitted as children of economic immigrant families fared better than all others of the same age in the labour market. However, their median wages ($55,500) were 29.3% higher than those of the overall Canadian population ($42,940) of the same age. The median wages were $43,200 for children admitted with refugee families and $41,000 for those admitted with sponsored families.
The overall results from the 2020 IMDB indicate that immigrants' admission categories have an impact on their children's participation in postsecondary education. These categories represent their parents' socioeconomic status.