University of Victoria

Immigrant Integration and Immigration Policy @ the Edge: Stratification of Immigrants and their Children

Recently, federal government policies regarding international migration changed in three fundamental areas: a) in provincial allocations of settlement funding with shifts away from Ontario towards Prairie provinces and British Columbia; b) in the immigration policy arena, with enhanced criminal justice measures targeting immigration consultants, fraudulent marriage, and unauthorized migrants including trafficked women and refugees claimants; and c) in the recruitment of workers (temporary and permanent residents) via the ongoing expansion of the Provincial Nominee class and the decentralization of selection, with provinces and employers having greater roles in the selection process. These developments underscore the importance of sociological research on contemporary topics such as immigrant integration, labour recruitment, economic (in)equalities, trafficking, migration for marriage, refugee populations and past, present and emerging migration policies. This session solicits papers on these topics of Canadian migrant integration and/or immigration policy, as well as papers which assess current on-going issues and/or future implications of policy changes.

Session Chair & Discussant: Lisa Kaida, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Session Organizer: Monica Boyd, University of Toronto, monica.boyd@utoronto.ca

Overcoming labour market signaling, or persistent disadvantage? An intra-and intergenerational analysis of the experience-earnings profiles of Canadian visible minority men

Sean Waite, McGill University, sean.waite@mail.mcgill.ca

This study explores the experience-earnings profiles of Canadian visible minorities both within and between the first, 1.5, second and third generations and beyond. Utilizing Michael Spence’s job market signaling as a theoretical framework, I: a) quantify the visible minority earnings gap; b) compare the visible minority earnings gap across generations; and c) determine if the initial earnings disadvantage of visible minorities attenuates with duration in the labour market, suggesting firm “signaling” on the basis of visible minority status. This study also improves upon previous modeling techniques by employing the less commonly used quartic function for returns to experience. Using the 2006 census file this study finds that Chinese, Black, and South East Asian males earn consistently less than their non-visible minority counterparts across all generations. Albeit a persistent disadvantage for these groups, results continue to reveal significant intergenerational mobility. In terms of intra-generational mobility, this study finds some evidence of a narrowing of the initial visible minority earnings disadvantage for the first generation; however, in the 1.5 and subsequent generations there is more evidence to suggest a widening or persistence of the initial earning disadvantage. In general, intra-generational findings paint a rather grim picture of returns to experience for visible minority men.

Wednesday June 5, 2013 03:15 PM - 04:45 PM Building: Elliott Building, Room: E-168

Explaining the Gap among Children from Low-Education Families: Children of Immigrants & the Third-Plus Generation

Alice Hoe, University of Toronto, alice.hoe@utoronto.ca

Using the 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey, this study examines the educational achievement gap between children of immigrants and the third-plus generation. While controlling for demographic and family background variables eliminates the gap between children of immigrants and the third-plus generation from high-education families (at least one parent has some university or college education), children of immigrants from low-education families (parents with high school degrees or less) remain significantly ahead of their third-plus generation counterparts. Adjusting for levels of ethnic retention (first-language and sense of importance in carrying on the customs and traditions of their ethnic ancestries), participation in organizations, and experiences of discrimination reduces the gap between children of immigrants and the third-plus generation from low-education families, although children of immigrants remain significantly ahead. The results indicate that the 1.5 and second generation’s high educational attainments are strongly mediated by both ethnic retention and participation in organizations (nearly 50% each), while participation in organizations is the most important factor for the 2.5 generation (nearly 75%). Experiences of discrimination accounted for the weakest proportion of the total change in the adjusted models for all groups.

Wednesday June 5, 2013 03:15 PM - 04:45 PM Building: Elliott Building, Room: E-168

‘I Fit the Description’: Experiences of Social and Spatial Exclusion among Ghanaian Immigrant Youth in the Jane and Finch Neighbourhood in Toronto

Mariama Zaami, University of Calgary, mzaami@ucalgary.ca , Amal Madibbo, University of Calgary, amadibbo@ucalgary.ca

Public interest in the influence of neighbourhoods on immigrant integration in Canadian societies has been growing in recent years. Yet, little research has been done to explain the effects of neighbourhoods on immigrant experiences of exclusion. Drawing on field research undertaken in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood in Toronto, this paper discusses the experiences of social and spatial exclusion among Ghanaian immigrant youth. The paper fills an important gap by considering the everyday experiences of Ghanaian immigrant youth between the ages of 18 to 30 years in the study area. It incorporates meaningful insights from their own perspective on the drivers of exclusion in diverse situations and locations in Toronto. This paper contributes to our understanding of the dynamics of neighbourhood stigmatization and its impact on residents’ integration into the larger society.

Wednesday June 5, 2013 03:15 PM - 04:45 PM Building: Elliott Building, Room: E-168