Landing a job: the role of foreign qualifications Canadian Population Society Meetings: Winnipeg, Manitoba June 4, 2004 Tina Chui, Kelly Tran and Jessie-Lynn MacDonald: Statistics Canada

Economic principle applicants tend to have more success in early labour market entry

Research Questions How are human capital factors related to labour market entrance? How do foreign qualifications and experience translate into entering the workforce and obtaining employment at approximately six months? To what extent are those who were employed able to find employment in the same occupational groups as their pre-migration employment?  What factors were related to finding similar employment?

Population of interest in LSIC Immigrants age 15+ years N = 164,200 In the labour force N = 114,350 Not in the labour Force N = 49,075 Same pre-migration occupation N = 23,940 Different pre-migration occupation N = 38,825 Unemployed N = 42,210 Employed N = 72,140

The model Dependent variables  Labour force participation In the labour force Not in the labour force  Employment status Employed Unemployed  Number of weeks to land first job Continuous variable – weeks  Pre-migration occupation and post- migration occupation Same different Independent variables  Highest level of education before arriving  Region where education was attained  Foreign work experience accepted or not in Canada Other explanatory variables  Demographic characteristics: age, sex, census metropolitan area (CMA)  Admission class  Knowledge of an official language  Visible minority status  Work intentions after migration  Occupational grouping before landing Υ = Χβ + ε General linear regression modelGeneral logistic regression model Pr(Y = 1|x) = exp( xB ) 1 + exp (xB )

Having less than university education increased the odds of being employed but not of participating in the labour force

Having foreign work experience accepted increased the odds of participating and being employed

Education in India, France, Other Asia and Central & South America increased the odds of employment

Region where education was attained and acceptance of foreign experience were related to the timing of labour market entry Educational attainment upon landing made no difference in timing of getting first job. Transferable foreign work experience resulted in finding employment sooner. Relationship between region/country where highest education was obtained: some terms were significant while some were not. But in general, education from the United States was related to finding first job sooner.

Those educated in Central and South America, China, India and the rest of Asia less likely to find similar pre-migration occupations Overall 38% were employed in the same occupational group after arriving in Canada

The proportions of employment in natural & applied sciences and management occupations among the immigrants educated in Asia reduced substantially after coming to Canada

The proportions of employment in sales & service and processing & manufacturing occupations among the immigrants educated in Asia increased substantially after coming to Canada

Visible minorities were less likely to be employed in the same occupation as before migration across all occupational groups

Summary Most planned to enter the labour force and most already did at about six months. Foreign qualifications and experience were related to early labour market entrance. University degree holders took longer to get employment. Training in France, India, Central and South America helped to get employment. But it did not mean employed in the same occupational groups as pre-migration. Visible minority status mattered. Most could not find employment in the same occupational groups as before immigrating to Canada.