Exploring the Labor Market Transitions of New Immigrants to Canada

Gustave Goldmann, Statistics Canada
Jean Renaud, Université de Montréal

In previous research the authors examined the impact of critical national and international events on the success, or lack thereof, that immigrants had in establishing themselves in the local labour market. The findings indicate that the primary significant factor that determined the speed with which an immigrant obtained paid employment was age. The current paper takes the analysis two steps further. First, the transitions into and out of the labour market are unpacked to allow more detailed analysis of the factors that contribute to the transition. Second, data from the second wave of observation in the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants are used to assess the impact of changes in the social and human capital characteristics of the immigrants on their labour market transitions. The authors use event history analysis with time varying covariates to model the dynamics of labour market transitions.