The economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the integration outcomes of – both and in Canada. In general, these groups are more negatively affected by the COVID-19 crisis than those born in Canada, and these disparities create additional barriers to the integration process. Tracking the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on immigrants relative to the Canadian-born population with empirical evidence and incorporating this into the CIMII is especially critical. In order to explore this, two analyses have been conducted.
British Columbia
Data below is based on the monthly Labour Force Surveys collected from January 2019 to December 2020.
Below you will find 1) CIMII Ranking/ Adjusted Data and 2) Unadjusted Data.
CIMII RANKINGS
British Columbia ranks #2 out of the 7 regions for immigrant economic integration in 2019 and #4 in 2020. It ranks almost the same when the gap between recent and established immigrants is compared (#2 in 2019 and #3 in 2020).
British Columbia performs very well on some of the economic indicators in 2019, labour force participation and full-time employment rate, while in 2020, it performs relatively poorly on most of the indicators. When the gap between recent and established immigrants is analyzed, British Columbia performed mid-range in almost all indicators except the unemployment rate.
UNADJUSTED DATA
See below for the breakdown of immigrants, recent and established, and the Canadian-born population in this region. Any blank in the chart indicates that the data is unavailable/statistically insignificant. Please note that the data below does not control for socio-demographic characteristics, unlike our rankings above.
Median weekly wages (full time)
Median weekly wages (full time) Without accounting for socio-demographic differences, the wage gap between immigrants and the Canadian-born population has grown since the COVID-19 crisis. In December 2019, the gap was $120, but by December 2020, it increased to $180. The gap between established and recent immigrants was smaller during the same time period ($78 in December 2019), but it had the same trend as the gap between Canadian-born and immigrants; in December 2020, it was $118. During these two years, the Canadian-born earned more in most survey months.
Note: All wages seen here are before Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustment
Median weekly wages (part time)
Without accounting for socio-demographic differences, part-time immigrant workers earned more than the Canadian-born in most survey months leading up to and during the pandemic. The gap was varying, but it was less than $65. The difference between recent and established immigrants was even larger; in March 2019, it was $124. There was a jump in the wages in all of the categories from March to May 2020, after which they went down.
Note: All wages seen here are before Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustment
Labour force participation
Without accounting for socio-demographic differences, the gap between immigrants and the Canadian-born population varied before and during the pandemic, although it stayed relatively small (less than 4%). The gap was a bit bigger between recent and established immigrants (less than 6%). There was a big drop in labour force participation in April 2020 due to COVID-19. While year earlier (April 2019) labour force participation was over 80% for all groups, in April 2020, it was closer to 70%. The smallest difference was for the Canadian-born population (8.5%) and the largest for recent immigrants (13.6%).
Employment rate
Without accounting for socio-demographic differences, immigrants were generally more likely to be employed than Canadian-born in most survey months leading up to and during the COVID-19 crisis. The gap was varying, but it was less than 3 percentage points. There was a significant fall in the employment rate across all groups in the three-month period from February to April 2020; the largest was among recent immigrants (14.7%). Even though the employment rate started improving in April, at the end of 2020, it was still slightly below the rate from February 2020.
Unemployment rate
Without accounting for socio-demographic differences, recent immigrants were more likely to be unemployed than established immigrants over the survey months. A significant shift in the unemployment rate was seen from February to May 2020, when it went up by more than 8% (11 for immigrants and 7 for Canadian-born). After May 2020, the unemployment rate went down for all the groups, except for Canadian-born. It was not until August 2020 when the unemployment rate started going down for this group.
Full-time employment rate
Without accounting for socio-demographic differences, immigrants were more likely to be employed full-time than the Canadian-born population during this two-year period; the gap varied and was at its largest in January 2019 (7 percentage points). There was almost no difference in the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic from April to May 2020. The gap was less than 1 percentage point.