The traits of Canada’s most successful immigrants—Study

By CIC News |

Recently, Statistics Canada released their report “Immigration selection factors and the earnings of principal applicants”. The report was an update of the 2015 investigation that helped guide development of Express Entry’s Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS); the main way that skilled foreign workers are assessed by Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Analyzing the 2005-2015 immigration cohort (and their earnings from 2006-2017), the study looked at what characteristics of applicants (at the time of landing) were the most predictive of the earnings in Canada, for the short (one to two years), medium (five to six years), and long-term (10 to 11 years).

The primary traits measured at landing were:

• Years of pre-landing Canadian work experience (compared to those with no experience);
• Ability in official languages (English or French (Native speakers VS. Less proficiency);
• Age—Younger (25-29 years) VS. Older (50-54 years); and
• Education (Bachelor’s VS. Secondary school education);

What impacts short-term earnings for immigrants in Canada?

According to the study, the main factors that impacted the short-term earnings of immigrants included:

Pre-landing Canadian work experience, which was the strongest predictor of earnings in the first one to two years of immigration—every year of Canadian work experience equated to an 84% increase in earnings;
Language ability—those who had a mother tongue other than French or English, (but who spoke English) earned 29% less than those who had either French or English as a mother tongue; and
Education, showing those who had received a Bachelor’s degree (15 years of schooling) earned 12-24% more in the short-term.

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