Profiling Immigrant Poverty in Canada: A 2006 Census Statistical Portrait
Abstract
This study uses 2006 Canadian census data to examine the incidence of poverty in immigrant communities in Canada, both at the national and Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) scales. Using before-tax Low Income Cut-Offs (LICO) as a measure, this analysis dissects the impact of time of arrival, age, marital status, racialization, and geographic setting in describing the Canadian immigrant experience of poverty. More recent immigrants appear to face a comparatively difficult entry into the Canadian labour market, though other factors such as age and marital status complicate this conclusion. Racialization also plays a role in determining the likelihood of poverty among Canadian immigrants, though not across all categories and contexts. Geography is also a key consideration here, where poverty is usually an urban phenomenon, particularly in the major gateway cities. While the overall conclusion is immigrants are more likely to be in poverty than the Canadian-born, this study demonstrates that this is a complex phenomenon with a number of variables that need to be considered. Cette étude est fondée sur les données du recensement canadien de 2006. Elle vise à mesurer la pauvreté dans les communautés immigrantes au Canada, à la fois au niveau national et à l'échelle de la région métropolitaine de recensement (RMR). En s’appuyant sur le seuil de faible revenu (SFR) avant impôts, elle analyse l'effet de la date d'arrivée, de l'âge, de la situation de famille, de la racialisation et du milieu géographique sur la pauvreté au sein des communautés immigrantes au Canada. Les immigrants qui sont arrivés dernièrement semblent s’intégrer plus difficilement au sein du marché du travail canadien, même si d'autres facteurs, tels que l'âge et la situation familiale, viennent nuancer cette conclusion. La racialisation joue également un rôle quand on cherche à déterminer la probabilité qu’un immigrant au Canada devienne pauvre, même si ce phénomène ne touche pas toutes les catégories ni toutes les situations. La géographie constitue également un facteur essentiel : la pauvreté est en général un phénomène urbain, en particulier dans les principales villes carrefours. Même si la conclusion générale semble indiquer que les immigrants sont plus enclins à devenir pauvres que les citoyens nés au Canada, cette étude démontre qu'il s'agit d'un phénomène complexe s'accompagnant de nombreuses variables qui doivent être prises en compte.
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