Immigrants and Employment (August 2017)
Very recent immigrants with university degree had a 10% unemployment rate
Canada’s Employment Overview
In August 2017, employment rose by 22,200 in Canada.
In August, there were 1,226,600 unemployed in Canada; 6.3% unemployment rate.
Full-time positions decreased by 88,100 and part-time positions increased by 110,400.
The goods-producing sector shed 13,700 jobs and the services-producing sector added 35,900 positions.
In the goods-producing sector, manufacturing lost the most jobs (11,100)
In the services-producing sector, finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing added the most jobs (14,600).
Immigrants Unemployment1 in Canada
By province, Newfoundland maintained the highest unemployment rates of 12.2% for the total population, 14.3% for immigrants and 12.3% for the Canadian-born.
Very recent immigrants in Quebec had the highest unemployment rate (15.5%), followed by Nova Scotia (15.1%).
Canada: Unemployment Rates – August 2017 | ||||||
LANDED IMMIGRANTS | ||||||
Geography | Total Pop. | Total Immigrants | 5 or less years earlier | 5 to 10 years | More than 10 years | Canadian Born |
Canada | 5.5 | 6.5 | 10.2 | 6.6 | 5.6 | 5.1 |
Newfoundland | 12.2 | 14.3 | x | x | x | 12.3 |
Prince Edward Island | 7.5 | 4.9 | 10 | x | .. | 7.8 |
Nova Scotia | 6.8 | 7.8 | 15.1 | x | 5 | 6.8 |
New Brunswick | 5.8 | 3.3 | x | x | x | 6 |
Quebec | 5.1 | 7.6 | 15.5 | 5.3 | 6 | 4.5 |
Ontario | 5.5 | 6.4 | 9.8 | 7.5 | 5.5 | 4.8 |
Manitoba | 4.3 | 5.3 | 8.6 | 4.6 | 3.8 | 4 |
Saskatchewan | 5.6 | 7.5 | 9.5 | 7.1 | 5.1 | 5.2 |
Alberta | 6.9 | 7.3 | 7.8 | 7.4 | 7.1 | 6.8 |
British Columbia | 4.5 | 5.2 | 7.7 | 5.3 | 4.7 | 4.1 |
Source: Statistics Canada 2017 |
Immigrants Education1
Among workers with no degree, immigrants arrived in Canada in the past five years had the highest unemployment rate of 21.1%.
Regardless of their arrival period, the unemployment rates of immigrants with university degree were higher than those of the Canadian-born.
Canada: Unemployment by Level of Education and immigration status – August 2017 | |||||
No degree | High school* | High School** | Postsecondary Certificate | University degree | |
Immigrants past 5 years | 21.1 | 8.3 | 9.8 | 10.5 | 10 |
Immigrants 5-10 years | 13.3 | 8.1 | 12.9 | 4.8 | 6 |
Immigrants 10+ | 7.1 | 6.3 | 8.1 | 5.1 | 5.2 |
Born in Canada | 9.7 | 5.8 | 6.7 | 4.9 | 3.8 |
*Graduate | |||||
**And some postsecondary | |||||
Source: Statistics Canada 2017 |
1 Core-aged workers (those aged 25 to 54)
JOBLESS IN CANADA AUGUST 2017