Queering the Canadian Dream: Labour Market Outcomes for Immigrant Sexual Minorities in Canada


Shannon Mok, Western University

As a nation, Canada has a large immigrant population, with nearly one in four individuals being immigrants in 2021. Canada is also known as a leading country for human rights, openly welcoming sexual minorities as refugees or asylum seekers and promoting ethnic diversity through multiculturalism. Yet, immigrants have been found to experience significant challenges when migrating to Canada. These challenges include difficulties in credential recognition, obtaining jobs, wage gaps, and language barriers. Sexual minorities in Canada also experience many difficulties, including barriers to employment, healthcare access, and wage penalties. For sexual minority migrants, specific challenges have been found, such as community barriers, lower employment rates, discrimination, and isolation. This includes feeling isolated from their ethnic communities due to their sexual orientation and feeling isolated from the LGBTQ+ community due to their ethnic background. Community isolation can lead to difficulties in social and economic integration, which can hinder their employment opportunities and lead to lower income. However, limited quantitative research has been conducted on the labour market outcomes of immigrant sexual minorities in Canada. This paper utilizes confidential data from the 2001-2021 Canadian Censuses and the 2011 National Household Survey and examines the labour market outcomes of same-sex coupled individuals by immigrant status, age at arrival, and generation status, compared to their opposite-sex coupled counterparts. Specifically, using an intersectional framework, this paper analyzes the employment status, employment income, and sources of employment income for these groups, and uses logistic regressions, ordinary least squares regressions, and Oaxaca-Blinder decompositions. The analytic sample for the logistic regressions is comprised of coupled individuals between the ages of 18 to 65, while the analytic sample for the ordinary least squares regressions and Oaxaca-Blinder decompositions also includes those who are not unemployed and who have an income of more than $5000. Employment status and income were found to vary by sexual orientation and sex. Similar to previous research, 2nd generation immigrants were found to earn the most compared to other generation immigrants for opposite-sex coupled men and women; however, for same-sex coupled men and women, 1.5 generation immigrants were found to earn the most. The sources of income differences highlight the importance of intersectionality and its non-additive approach to marginalization. Compared to the opposite-sex coupled men of the 3rd+ generation, all groups were found to earn less. However, when making comparisons within immigrant categories and within sexual orientation groups, same-sex coupled men and women were found to earn more than opposite-sex coupled men and the 3rd+ generation in some cases. Compared to opposite-sex coupled men within the same immigrant category, same-sex coupled men who arrived at the age of 18 or older were found to earn more, as were same-sex coupled women who arrived at the age of 40 or older. This indicates that opposite-sex and same-sex coupled individuals may experience different pathways to economic integration in Canada, and that different methods may be needed to assist same-sex coupled individuals’ economic integration.

This paper will be presented at the following session: