Recent Immigrants and the Manufacturing Crisis
Statistics Canada today released a study on immigrants in the job market, based on the recent inclusion of questions identifying immigration status in the Labour Force Survey.
It’s no surprise to learn that unemployment levels are significantly higher among recent immigrants.
In 2006, the unemployment rate among very recent immigrants (in Canada 5 years or less) was 11.5%, and it was 7.3% among immigrants (arrived in Canada between 5 and 10 years ago.) Each of these groups makes up about 3% of the overall workforce.
What I did find surprising is the marked concentration of recent immigrants in the hard-hit manufacturing sector. In 2006, 13.0% of Canadian-born workers were employed in manufacturing, but no less than 20.1% of very recent immigrants (arrived in the last 5 years) worked in manufacturing, as did 19.6% of those who arrived between 5 and 10 years ago.
In short, a significant pathway to inclusion in the job market is being undercut by the still deepening manufacturing jobs crisis.
«In short, a significant pathway to inclusion in the job market is being undercut by the still deepening manufacturing jobs crisis.»
Or perhaps the opposite: immigrants get into manufacturing because manufacturer are in difficulty and would rather hire people who have rather weaker bargaining power than native citizens, and tend to work harder with fewer complaints for lower wages.
After all in other countries with declining sectors immigration was the method used to slow down their declines, consider textile and car manufacturing in England.