Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Skilled Enough? Employment Outcomes for Recent Economic Migrants in Canada Compared to Australia

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Wanted and Welcome?

Part of the book series: Immigrants and Minorities, Politics and Policy ((IMPP))

Abstract

Canada and Australia represent highly comparable settlement sites for degree-qualified migrants. Economic migrants, however, now perform better in Australia post-arrival. Greater proportions of new arrivals in Australia than in Canada secure positions quickly, access professional or managerial status, earn high salaries and use their credentials in work. In the process, unprecedented numbers are avoiding the labour market displacement and over-qualification typically associated with select birthplace, language, age and gender-related groups. This chapter demonstrates the extent to which labour market outcomes are amenable to influence by policy change, given the sustained benefits flowing to Australia following its post-1999 economic migration reform.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    The OECD defines over-qualification as an individual ‘holding a job that requires lesser qualifications than one that would theoretically be available at his education level’ (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 2008). See Chart 6.1 for quantification of the prevalence of this in Canada and Australia, compared to other member nations, circa 2000 (p. 139).

  2. 2.

    Significant additional economic category policy changes have been implemented in Australia from 2011–2012. Most notably the principle of priority processing has been introduced, with the majority of applicants now sponsored by employers. Highest points are awarded to migrants with advanced English ability and postgraduate degrees, qualified in fields on Australia's new Skilled Occupations List. Regional sponsorship is also increasingly important.

  3. 3.

    ‘Generic qualifications’ are defined for the purpose of this study as those not immediately correlating to a professional field of practice (e.g. B Arts or B Science).

  4. 4.

    Filipino temporary workers overwhelmingly enter Canada to date through the low-skilled employer-driven live-in caregiver category. Filipino professionals selected as economic category principal applicants appear to be of minimal interest to Canadian employers for high-skilled work in the early settlement period.

  5. 5.

    This category was later termed ‘Skilled Australia-Linked’, then ‘Australian-Sponsored’.

  6. 6.

    Please note in relation to this that 14% of migrants in Canada state French to be their first or second language at point of migration. However, substantial numbers may encounter employment problems if living outside Quebec.

References

  • Alboim N, Cohl K (2007) Centres of expertise: an expanded role for colleges and institutes in immigrant education. Foreign Credential Recognition—Canadian Issues, Spring

    Google Scholar 

  • Arkoudis S, Hawthorne L, Baik C, Hawthorne G, O’Loughlin K, Bexley E, Dan Leach D (2009) The impact of English language proficiency and workplace readiness on the employment outcomes of tertiary international students. Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Aydemir AB, Mikal S (2005) Explaining the deteriorating entry earnings of Canada’s immigrant cohorts: 1966–2000. Can J Econ 38(2):641–671

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birrell B, Hawthorne L (1997) Immigrants and the professions in Australia, Centre for population and urban studies. Monash University, Melbourne

    Google Scholar 

  • Birrell B, Hawthorne L, Richardson S (2006) Evaluation of the general skilled migration categories. Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Brean J (2007) Immigrants account for our growth. National Post, Wednesday March 14, p A1

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyd M, DeVries J, Simkin K (1994) Language, economic status and immigration. In: Adelman H et al. (eds.) Immigration and refugee policy: Australia and Canada compared. University of Toronto Press, Toronto

    Google Scholar 

  • Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks (2002) Benchmarking the English language demands of the nursing profession across Canada, Ottawa

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiswick BR, Paul WM (2000) The complementarity of language and other human capital: immigrant earnings in Canada. Metropolis working paper services #00-08, Research on immigration and integration in the metropolis, Vancouver

    Google Scholar 

  • Citizenship and Immigration Canada (2002) Immigration and refugee protection act (IRPA) news release. 2002–2018

    Google Scholar 

  • Citizenship and Immigration Canada (2007) Knowledge of official languages among new immigrants: how important is it in the labour market? Citizenship and immigration Canada publications website module 2005 (89-624-XWE)

    Google Scholar 

  • Citizenship and Immigration Canada (2008) Facts and figures: immigration overview permanent and temporary migrants, research and evaluation branch. Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Ottawa

    Google Scholar 

  • Citizenship and Immigration Canada (2007a) Facts and figures: immigration overview permanent and temporary migrants, research and evaluation branch. Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Ottawa

    Google Scholar 

  • Citizenship and Immigration Canada (2009a) Unpublished statistics, provided by request to the author by the research and evaluation branch. Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Ottawa

    Google Scholar 

  • Citizenship and Immigration Canada (2010) Facts and figures 2009—immigration overview: permanent and temporary residents. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/statistics/facts2009/permanent/22.asp, accessed 18 January 2011

  • Citizenship and Immigration Canada (2011) New release—government of Canada announced 2011 immigration plan. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2010/2010-11-01a.asp, accessed 27 July

  • Committee to Advise on Australia’s Immigration Policy (1988) Immigration: a commitment to Australia, report of the committee to advise on Australia’s immigration policy. Australian Government Printing Service, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (1999) Review of the independent and skilled-Australian linked categories. Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2007a) Migration program planning levels. Fact Sheet No. 20, Australian Government http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/20planning.htm

  • Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2007b) English language tuition for adult migrants. Fact Sheet No. 24, Australian Government http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/24amep.htm

  • Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2007c) Changes to general skilled migration (GSM)—frequently asked questions. DIAC website, Australian Government, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2008a) Data related to skilled migration quotas (all sub-categories), sourced 15 March 2008. Australian Linked Categories, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2008) Report on migration program 2007–2008. Australian Government, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2009a) Report on migration program 2008–2009. Australian Government, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2009b) Subclass 457 business (long stay)—state and territory summary report 2008–2009, financial year to 30 June 2009. Australian Government, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (1999) Review of the independent and skilled-Australian linked categories. Australian Government, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (2005) Population flows—immigration aspects. Department of Immigration, Indigenous and Multicultural Affairs, January, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrer A, Green DA, Riddell WC (2004) The effect of literacy on immigrant earnings. Statistics Canada, Catalogue No. 89-552-MIE, No 12, Ottawa

    Google Scholar 

  • Guo S (2007) Tracing the roots of non-recognition of foreign credentials. In: Foreign Credential Recognition—Canadian Issues, Spring

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawthorne L (1994) Labour market barriers for immigrant engineers in Australia. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawthorne Lesleyanne (2005) Picking winners: the recent transformation of Australia’s skill migration policy. Int Migration Rev 39(2):663–696

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawthorne L (2007a) Language, employment and further study, commissioned discussion paper for Australian education international. Department of Education, Science and Training, www.aei.dest.gov.au, Commonwealth of Australia

  • Hawthorne L (2007b) Labour market outcomes for migrant professionals—Canada and Australia compared. Full report (170 pp), CIC Publications Website Module

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawthorne L (2010a) Demography, migration and demand for international students. In: Findlay and Tierney (eds.) The new globalization of education—the next wave, World Scientific Press, Singapore

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawthorne L (2010b) How Valuable is “Two-Step Migration”? Labour Market Outcomes for International Student Migrants to Australia. Special Edition, Asian Pac Migr J 19(1):5–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawthorne L (2011) Competing for skills—migration policies and trends in New Zealand and Australia. Government of New Zealand, Wellington

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawthorne L (2012) Designer Immigrants? International Students and Two-Step Migration. In: Deardorff D, de Witt D, Adams T, Heyl J (eds) The Sage Handbook of International Higher Education, Sage, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawthorne L, Hawthorne G, Crotty B (2007) The registration and training status of overseas trained doctors in Australia. Department of Health and Ageing, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Hiebert D (2006) Skilled immigration in Canada: context, patterns and outcomes. In: Birrell B, Hawthorne L, Richardson S (eds) Evaluation of the general skilled migration categories, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Kustec S, Thompson E, Li X (2007) Foreign credentials: the tools for research, Foreign Credential Recognition—Canadian Issues, Spring

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee SM (1996) Issues in research on women, international migration and labour. Asian Pac Migration J 5(1):5–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Lim LL, Oishi N (1996) International labour migration of Asian women: distinctive characteristics and policy concerns. In: Battistella G, Paganoni A (eds) Asian women in migration. Migration Center, Quezon City

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller C (2005) 240 part harmony’ and a cultural kaleidoscope we can all call home. The Sunday Age, 24 July, 11–13

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Neil T (2007) Vancouver sees population soar. National Post, 14 March 9(117)

    Google Scholar 

  • Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (2006) International migration outlook, SOPEMI 2006. OECD Publishing, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (2007) Migration policies and recognition of foreign qualifications for health professionals, international migration outlook, SOPEMI 2007. OECD Publishing, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (2008) A profile of immigrant populations in the 21st century: data from OECD countries. OECD Publishing, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Orme L (2007) Immigrant workforce integration—the Hamilton experience. In: Foreign Credential Recognition—Canadian Issues, Spring

    Google Scholar 

  • Picot G, Hou F (2003) The rise in low-income rates among immigrants in Canada. Business and Labour Market Analysis Division, 11F0019 No 198, Statistics Canada, Ottawa

    Google Scholar 

  • Picot G, Hou F, Coulombe S (2007) Chronic low-income and low-income dynamics among recent immigrants. Analytical Studies Research Papers, Statistics Canada Research Paper Series, Catalogue No. 11F0019MIE, No 294, Ottawa

    Google Scholar 

  • Reitz JG (2004) Immigrant earnings performance in Canadian cities: 1981 through 2001. Can J Urban Res 13(1):1066–1099

    Google Scholar 

  • Reitz JG (2005) Tapping immigrants’ skills: new directions for Canadian immigration policy in the knowledge economy. IRRP Choices, 11(1)

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson S, Lester L (2004) A comparison of Australian and Canadian immigration policies and labour market outcomes. National Institute of Labour Studies, Flinders University, September

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruddock P (1996) Radio interview with Elaine Harris, 26 April 1996 (Tasmania), published in Croll’s Monitoring Australia, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Schellenberg G, Maheux H (2007) Immigrants’ perspectives on their first four years in Canada, Canadian social trends, citizenship and immigration Canada. Publications Website Module 11-008-XWE, April, Ottawa

    Google Scholar 

  • Sweetman A (2005) Immigration as a labour market strategy—European and North American perspectives: Canada. In: Niessen J, Schibel Y (eds) Immigration as a labour market strategy—European and North American perspectives. Migration Policy Group, US

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson E, Worswick C (2004) Canadian research on immigration and the labour market: an overview. Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, 21 July

    Google Scholar 

  • Weeks C, Leong M (2007) Census shows population boom around cities. National Post, 14 March

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

I would like to gratefully acknowledge that this chapter is based on contrastive Canada–Australia policy research commissioned by the Canadian government (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and Statistics Canada), first reported by agreement in “The Impact of Economic Selection Policy on Labour Market Outcomes for Degree-Qualified Migrants in Canada and Australia,” L. Hawthorne, Institute for Research on Public Policy, VOL. 14, No 5, 2008.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia

    Lesleyanne Hawthorne

Authors
  1. Lesleyanne Hawthorne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lesleyanne Hawthorne .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Toronto, Military Trail, B542 1265, Toronto, M1C 1A4, Ontario, Canada

    Triadafilos Triadafilopoulos

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Hawthorne, L. (2013). Skilled Enough? Employment Outcomes for Recent Economic Migrants in Canada Compared to Australia. In: Triadafilopoulos, T. (eds) Wanted and Welcome?. Immigrants and Minorities, Politics and Policy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0082-0_11

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation