How London's Immigration Data Reveals Canada's Hidden Economic System
New data from London reveals the process guiding immigrants' integration into Canada’s economy. Immigrants move through a process towards economic integration.
The Timeline Everyone Misses
Research from the London & Middlesex Local Immigration Partnership shows that wage gaps between immigrants and non-immigrants are not just about personal ability. Instead, they go through a decades-long process of settling in.
Among recent immigrants (2016-2021), 29% earn less than $20,000, while only 19% of non-immigrants do. For non-permanent residents, almost 45% earn under $20,000. These numbers mark the beginning of a process that helps people move up over time, though many may not realize it.
Source: Statistics Canada. Community Data Program, Table EO3775 – Ontario 3 – 2021 Target Group Profile cross-tabulated with Immigration Status by Period of Immigration and Citizenship.
Another variable in this system is how long it takes to recognise foreign credentials. For example, it takes 9 months for accounting and up to 36 months for dentistry. Because of these delays, many skilled immigrants end up working in service or manual jobs while they wait. A process that organisations like WILL Employment Solutions work to assist with.
The COVID Generation: When the System Breaks Down
Immigrants who arrived between 2016 and 2021 show what happens when outside events disrupt this process. They relied more on government support (29%) and earned less from jobs (71%), mainly because COVID-19 affected their first years in Canada.
Source: Statistics Canada. Community Data Program, Table EO3775 – Ontario 3 – 2021 Target Group Profile cross-tabulated with Immigration Status by Period of Immigration and Citizenship.
Labour market economists note that immigrants arriving during economic disruptions face permanent earning penalties, with typical recessions reducing immigrant lifetime earnings by $36,000. For the COVID cohort, this disruption occurred precisely when they needed to establish Canadian work experience and professional networks.
This group’s experience shows the risks when the system slows down. Their prolonged tenure in low-paying jobs demonstrates that success hinges on a stable system.
The Path Forward
Knowing about this timeline helps immigrants make better plans. Their experiences are part of a bigger system, not just individual stories. Finding the bottlenecks and barriers on this process can help Immigrants get on their feet and decrease the overall loss of wealth due to integration hurdles.
The experience of immigrants who arrived during COVID shows how the system can be disrupted and why policy support is so important early on. Their longer path to stability is not a personal failure, but a sign of how the path to economic integration is systemic.
As Canada changes its immigration system, the basic structure still shapes economic outcomes. For newcomers, the challenge is to naviate this system and push for improvements to the timeline.