Skilled Immigrants in the Americas: Canada and the United States

In a report by the CBC.ca, a discussion of the wage gap between Canadian Immigrants since the 1960s and American Immigrants since the same period shows that there is a significant difference between the two groups of immigrants. The report states that in Canada there seems to be less of a wage gap, as 4 in 10 immigrants to Canada have an undergraduate university degree or greater, while in the US it is 2 in 10. This has to do with the Canadian policy of taking in mostly skilled labour in the immigration process, as opposed to the US policy of taking mostly immigrants connected by family into the United States. While both countries also take in family related immigrants and skilled immigrants alike, the main engine might be where the immigrants come from and the need for certain skills in the American and Canadian society respectively.

Much of the US immigration comes from Mexico and Central America. As well, the US is a beneficiary of the Brain Drain from other countries, where highly educated people from one country flood to another for better opportunities and payment. Canada itself loses a great number of its educated citizens to the US which might explain while 2 in 10 are skilled immigrants to the US, it still is a large number of individuals from all over the world working and promoting the US economy.

Regarding Canada, in last week's post on What Exactly is "Canadian Experience"?, we see that while Canada may take in many more skilled immigrants, there is strong evidence that the arbitrary barriers to employment for these skilled immigrants may dissolve any benefit to bringing in 4 in 10 skilled immigrants. In reality, many end up taking jobs in very low income sectors despite having a university education or higher. The situation in Canada has become so bad for many skilled immigrants that stories of foreign surgeons driving taxis or similar horror stories abound and a consensus among many skilled immigrants that Canada has become more of a trap for skilled immigrants than a benefit. Many skilled immigrants come to Canada to find that they will have an almost impossible task in requalifiying as well as living with lower real income than in their state of origin.

While Canada may bring in more skilled people, it is evident that the US benefits more from the skilled labour it does accept. There are of course many other factors in this comparison that require a full analysis, but in the meantime more attention needs to be brought on the issues of employment and economic rights in the debate on legal immigration in the US and Canada.