Resiliency of employers and migrants: Evaluating change in industrial sector employment

Phase 1 – Setting the Context: Change over Time. To evaluate whether a shift has occurred over time in the industrial sectors that employ recent immigrants, 2016 and 2006 census data were used. The analysis began by calculating the percentage of total employment for recent immigrants by industrial sector in 2016 and 2006. The analysis of 2016 data was restricted to individuals who have been permanent residents since 2006, while that using 2006 data includes individuals who attained permanent residence between 1996 and 2005. Once the percentage values are calculated, industrial sectors were identified in which there had been a change in the proportion of recent immigrants hired. Separate analyses were also conducted for women and men in each city.

Phase 2 – Evaluating Concentration. To evaluate the degree of recent immigrant concentration in a particular industrial sector, a set of concentration indices were created. The indices were calculated based on the percent of recent immigrants in each industrial sector in 2016 compared with the percent of recent immigrants working in the same industrial sector in 2006. In essence, the analysis allowed identification of whether immigrants are more or less concentrated than earlier arrivals in particular industrial sectors, and it highlighted the industrial sectors in which new immigrants are more or less likely to find employment. For example, recent immigrants in 2016 may have been more concentrated in a particular sector (e.g., retailing) compared to earlier immigrants who may have been more strongly concentrated in another sector (e.g., manufacturing). Concentration indices were a summary measure and indicate the ways in which newcomer employment by sector has changed over time.

Phase 3 – Working Conditions. An examination of employment by industrial sector over time highlighted important changes in both the industrial structure of particular cities and the sectors in which newcomers find employment. Phase 2 analysis did not, however, provide information about employment conditions and whether these have changed over time for recent immigrants. The census provided limited information about the conditions of work as it is not primarily an employment survey; nevertheless, there were several indicators that merit consideration. First, it was possible to determine the number of individuals employed on a part-time versus full-time basis by industrial sector for recent immigrants and the Canadian-born population. Although most of the analysis in the project focused exclusively on full-time and full-year employees, the third component considered whether recent immigrants were more or less likely to be in full-time employment by industrial sector compared to the Canadian-born workforce.

Another key indicator of working conditions was the type of occupation held by workers in a particular industry. For example, there was a considerable difference between working as a hospital administrator versus a hospital nursing assistant — even though both occupations would be classified under the same industrial sector. In this project, industrial sectors of employment were highly disaggregated; consequently, occupational categories necessarily had to be highly aggregated in order to maintain a sufficient number of individuals for analysis.