Employment Facts
Immigrant Women                                                        
March 2007 - Download Factsheet (PDF, 120KB)

• 73% of immigrants arriving in Ontario are university educated. [1]
  
  
• 18% of immigrant women have a university degree, in comparison with 14% of Canadian-born women. [2] In addition, young immigrant women are more likely than their non-immigrant peers to be enrolled in school. [2]
  
  
• Three quarters of recent arrivals classified as spouses and dependents of the economic class plan to get further education or training. [3] Seventy-five percent of economic class spouses and dependents are women. [3]

Higher Unemployment Rates

• Six months after their arrival, only 32% of women in the family class are employed, compared with 54% of men. [3] Men who are classified as economic class spouses or dependents are 8% more likely to be employed than women in the same class (of which more than two-thirds are unemployed). [3]
  
  
• In 2001, immigrant women had an unemployment rate of 8.1%, compared 7% with Canadian-born women, and 6.8% for immigrant men. [2]
  
  
• Newer immigrants of both sexes are facing greater difficulties getting work and securing stable, well-paying positions than previous generations of immigrants [4][5] and unemployment rates among ethno-racial groups vary dramatically, from as high as 35% to as low as 2.5%. [4]

Underemployed and Unprotected

• Immigrant women identify access to suitable employment as a key issue in their lives. [6][7]
  
  
• After their arrival in Canada, three out of five women work in an occupation different from their field prior to immigrating. [3]
  
  
• Well more than half of immigrant women who arrived in Canada between 2001 and 1991 work part-time. [2]
  
  
• The vast majority of home-workers and contract shop employees in Canada's garment industry are immigrant women of colour. This sector is unregulated with very low pay, irregular work, and no option for benefits. [8]
  
  
• Domestic workers are almost exclusively immigrant women. Often living in the homes of their employers, they are particularly vulnerable to economic exploitation and human rights abuses. [9]
  
  
• The numbers of non-status workers in Canada is unknown, but the majority are likely women and girls. [10] They are at high risk of abuse because they have limited access to information, and contacting authorities puts them at risk of deportation. [10][11]

Alarmingly Low Incomes

• Recent immigrants make significantly less than other women. In 2000, women who immigrated to Canada in the previous decade had an average income of just $16,700. This is about $6,000 less than the average for all foreign-born women ($22,400), as well as Canadian-born women ($23,100). [2]
  
  
• In 1980, immigrant women were paid 23% less than Canadian-born women of similar ages and education. By 2000, this gap had doubled to 45%. [5]
  
  
• In 2000, 35% of women who immigrated to Canada between 1991 and 2001 were living in a low-income household. Forty-two percent of female immigrants under the age of 15 were living in a low-income household (almost three times as many as their non-immigrant counterparts at 17%). [2]

The Barriers to Employment

• Language barriers and the transferability of foreign credentials are the most common challenges for both immigrant women and men as they seek employment. [3]
  
  
• Immigrant women have difficulty accessing employment and training services due to eligibility criteria. [12][13] Refugee women, in particular, are frequently denied access to services because they are not permanent residents. [7]
  
  
• Lack of childcare is a barrier for immigrant women trying gain Canadian experience through volunteer work [6] or wanting to access employment and training services. [13] Childcare is also a tremendous challenge for the many immigrant women employed in seasonal, irregular and shift work positions. [9][14]
  
  
• Many studies link racial prejudice and unemployment. [4][9][12][15] From 1991 to 2001, 74% of all immigrant women were visible minorities, compared with 52% in the decade between 1971 and 1980,[2] and since this time the income and employment gaps between immigrants and Canadian-born people have increased. [4] Since the 1970s, income for most racialized groups of women has steadily declined in relation to non-racialized women's income. [4]

Very Limited Access to Old Age Pension

• Immigrant women must live in Canada for ten years between the ages of 18 and 65 before they can collect 25% of Old Age Pension (OAP). To collect full OAP, they must reside in Canada for forty years or more between ages 18 and 65. [16] This applies even if they have Landed Immigrant Status or are a Canadian Citizen and is a policy contravenes the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. [16] In 2001, women made up 54% of the immigrant population aged 65 and over. [2]
  

Immigration Terms and Trends

• “economic class” – skilled workers and business immigrants, as well as their “spouses or dependents”; women are a third as likely as men to be admitted as the principal applicant in the economic class; 10% of economic immigrants are women, while 37% of all immigrant women are classified as “spouses or dependents” of economic immigrants [2]
  
  
• “family class” – people in this category are sponsored by close family members in the economic class; 36% of all immigrant women are family class immigrants [2]
  
  
• “refugees” – people who are persecuted in their homeland or displaced and seek refuge in Canada; 10% of all immigrant women are refugees; women refugees are slightly less likely to be admitted for humanitarian reason than men [2]
  
  
• “non-status” – people without legal immigration status living in Canada [11]