Entry Class and the Earnings Attainment of Immigrants to Canada, 1980-1995

Richard A. Wanner
Department of Sociology
University of Calgary

An important set of theoretical and policy questions revolves around the comparative success in the Canadian labour market of immigrants entering the country as independent immigrants under the point system, through family reunification programs, or as refugees. I estimate models predicting log earnings from the entry class composition of each entry cohort by country of birth and its interaction with years since arrival controlling for other characteristics known to be related to earnings attainment using data from Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s Landing Information Data System (LIDS) for 1980 to 1995 merged with the 1996 Census of Canada Public Use Microdata File. While the point system used to screen male immigrants to Canada for skills and labour market suitability does indeed select immigrants who have higher earnings upon arrival than those who are not screened, over time the earnings of the two groups converge. In the case of women, the evidence suggests that even the initial earnings difference is non-significant, implying that, net of differences across country of birth and country of birth differences in returns to human capital, the point system is irrelevant.