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The Impact of Immigration on the Labour Market Outcomes of Native-Born Canadians

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  • Tu, Jiong

    () (Human Resources and Skills Development Canada - Labour Program)

Abstract

Although immigration has become a major growth factor for Canadian labour force, there is little economic research on the effect of immigration on native-born Canadians' labour market performance. This paper examines the relationship between changes in the share of immigrants by sub-labour markets (categorized by skill types and geographic areas) and changes in native wage growth by a two-stage regression analysis, using 1991, 1996 and 2001 Canadian Census data files. After accounting for biases due to native mobility, endogenous location of immigrants and labour demand shifts, the estimated effects of immigration are consistently insignificant or significantly positive. The results are robust to various specifications of sub-labour markets at city, provincial and national levels, suggesting that there is no evidence for a negative impact on native wage growth rate from the large immigrant influx during the 1990s.

Suggested Citation

  • Tu, Jiong, 2010. "The Impact of Immigration on the Labour Market Outcomes of Native-Born Canadians," IZA Discussion Papers 5129, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5129
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    Cited by:

    1. Casey Warman & Christopher Worswick, 2015. "Technological change, occupational tasks and declining immigrant outcomes: Implications for earnings and income inequality in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 48(2), pages 736-772, May.
    2. Hou, Feng & Picot , Garnett, 2015. "Immigration, Low Income and Income Inequality in Canada: What’s New in the 2000s?," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2015-2, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 25 Jan 2015.
    3. Warman, Casey & Worswick, Christopher, 2014. "Technological Change and Declining Immigrant Outcomes, Implications for Income Inequality in Canada," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2014-51, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 25 Nov 2014.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    immigrant; wages; labour market; Canada;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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