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Canadian Immigration Policy and Immigrant Economic Outcomes: Why the Differences in Outcomes between Sweden and Canada?

Author

Listed:
  • Picot, Garnett

    (Institute for Research on Public Policy, and Research and Evaluation Branch, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada)

  • Sweetman, Arthur

    (McMaster University)

Abstract

Immigrants to Canada enjoy labour market outcomes that are more favourable than those for their counterparts in Sweden. In an effort to understand these gaps, Canada’s immigration policy and outcomes are contrasted to the Swedish immigration experience. The nature of immigration and structural differences involving the domestic labour markets are hypothesized to provide plausible explanations for at least some of the gap. Additionally, there are dynamic issues related to, for instance, the timing of immigrant entry with respect to the business cycle, and changes in the rates of immigration flows, that may have some impact on labour market outcomes and explain some short- to medium-term aspects of the gap in outcomes. On the other hand, common trends are also observed; both unemployment and earnings outcomes among entering immigrants have deteriorated significantly in Canada since the 1980s, as they have in many western countries including Sweden.

Suggested Citation

  • Picot, Garnett & Sweetman, Arthur, 2011. "Canadian Immigration Policy and Immigrant Economic Outcomes: Why the Differences in Outcomes between Sweden and Canada?," IZA Policy Papers 25, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izapps:pp25
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Picot, Garnett & Sweetman, Arthur, 2005. "The Deteriorating Economic Welfare of Immigrants and Possible Causes: Update 2005," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2005262e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    2. Hou, Feng & Picot, Garnett, 2009. "Immigrant Characteristics, the IT Bust, and Their Effect on Entry Earnings of Immigrants," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2008315e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
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    12. Aydemir, Abdurrahman, 2003. "Effects of Business Cycles on the Labour Market Assimilation of Immigrants," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2003203e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    13. Hou, Feng & Picot, Garnett, 2009. "The Effect of Immigrant Selection and the IT Bust on the Entry Earnings of Immigrants," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2009-37, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 26 Jun 2009.
    14. Thomas Liebig, 2007. "The Labour Market Integration of Immigrants in Denmark," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 50, OECD Publishing.
    15. Abdurrahman Aydemir, 2003. "Effects of Business Cycles on Labour Market Assimilation of Immigrants," Labor and Demography 0309010, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Ana Ferrer & David A. Green & W. Craig Riddell, 2006. "The Effect of Literacy on Immigrant Earnings," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 41(2).
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    19. Abdurrahman Aydemir, 2003. "Effects of Business Cycles on Labour Market Assimilation of Immigrants," Labor and Demography 0309009, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Hou, Feng & Picot, Garnett, 2009. "Seeking Success in Canada and the United States: the Determinants of Labour Market Outcomes Among the Children of Immigrants," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2009-63, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 28 Nov 2009.
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    Cited by:

    1. Grubel, Herbert & Grady, Patrick, 2012. "Fiscal transfers to immigrants in Canada: responding to critics and a revised estimate," MPRA Paper 37406, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 06 Mar 2012.
    2. Ana M. Ferrer & Garnett Picot & William Craig Riddell, 2014. "New Directions in Immigration Policy: Canada's Evolving Approach to the Selection of Economic Immigrants," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3), pages 846-867, September.
    3. Bernt Bratsberg & Torbjørn Hægeland & Oddbjørn Raaum, 2013. "Immigrant skills and employment. Cross-country evidence from the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey," Discussion Papers 730, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    4. Ulf Rinne, 2013. "The evaluation of immigration policies," Chapters, in: Amelie F. Constant & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Migration, chapter 28, pages 530-552, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Yigit Aydede & Atul Dar, 2017. "Is the lower return to immigrants’ foreign schooling a postarrival problem in Canada?," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-25, December.
    6. Guillaume Marois & Patrick Sabourin & Alain Bélanger, 2020. "Implementing Dynamics of Immigration Integration in Labor Force Participation Projection in EU28," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(2), pages 339-363, April.
    7. Ferrer, Ana M. & Picot, Garnett & Riddell, W. Craig, 2012. "New Directions in Immigration Policy: Canada’s Evolving Approach to Immigration Selection," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2012-34, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 30 Nov 2012.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sweden; Canada; cross-country differences; immigration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy

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