Overview

Abstract (English)

This study examines the impact of social capital and ethnocultural characteristics on the evolution of employment income of a cohort of immigrants who arrived in Canada in 2001, based on two linked datasets: the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC) and the Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB). The study examines the employment income of this cohort in their first 15 years in Canada (i.e., from 2002 to 2016). * Among immigrants aged 25 to 54 who came to Canada in 2001, nearly half had relatives living in the country prior to their admission (44%), and almost two-thirds (63%) reported that they had friends living in the country prior to their admission. * About 58% of immigrants from this cohort reported that nearly all friends made in the first six months after their admission were from their ethnic group, and 20% reported that most of their post-immigration friends were from outside their ethnic group. About 11% said that their post-immigration friends were equally divided between those who were from their own ethnic group and those who were not. The remainder (12%) did not make friends during their first six months in Canada. * Having friends was positively correlated with employment income. In 2002, immigrant women who had friends in Canada prior to their admission earned as much as those who did not have friends, but, by 2016, those who had friends in Canada prior to their admission earned about $7,000 more than those who did not have friends. * Among immigrants, some groups designated as visible minorities (as defined under the Employment Equity Act) and some categories of religious affiliation consistently had lower employment incomes during the period (from 2002 to 2016). This suggests that the income disadvantage associated with some ethnocultural characteristics persists over time.

Abstract (French)

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