As reported by CMC “Parta”, in 2000 male immigrants earned 25% less than Canadians and 15% less than those who had arrived in the country 20 years earlier. And this gap tends to widen. In 1980, male immigrants who had been in the country for more than 10 years earned the same as the native male population. In 2000 they earned 80 cents for every dollar earned. The situation for specialists with higher education was even worse. In 2000 they earned 71 cents, and in the 1990s — 86 cents.
Here is how Jeffrey Reitz, a professor at the University of Toronto, comments on this phenomenon: “Immigrants are experiencing more and more difficulties in finding work, and the jobs are not as good as they were 20-25 years ago. And this is happening despite the fact that we have begun to select immigrants more carefully, paying great attention to their education, language skills and other attributes that can improve their attractiveness in the labor market.”
Professor Reitz suggests that such phenomena in the labor market are the result of the transition to a knowledge-based economy. When an open immigration policy was declared, immigrants were readily hired because they did not refuse to do manual labor, and employers paid serious attention to their previous professional experience. Now, in order to find a job, both Canadians and newcomers need a solid track record. And in these new labor market conditions, immigrants’ work experience and education are devalued because Canadian employers do not trust their previous knowledge and qualifications. At the same time, more and more Canadians themselves are receiving higher education, which creates strong competition and leaves employers no opportunity to hire immigrants.
Thus, skilled immigrants are forced to take any job in order to support their families. Currently, six out of ten immigrants with higher education work outside their specialty. As a rule, these are jobs as security guards, taxi drivers, or janitors.