Median Entry Wage Peaked In 2018 For Immigrants In Canada

Statistics Canada recently published a report on February 1 studying the median entry wage for new immigrants. 

Before the pandemic, the median entry wage for immigrants was rising. In 2018, the figure was the highest that it has ever been with immigrants who arrived in Canada a year before reporting a median entry wage of a whopping $30,100. This fuelled a consistent rise in the median entry wages. Before this, the median entry wage recorded in 2017 was $26,500.

The median entry wage remained higher for Canadians as compared to immigrants in 2018. However, the gap has reduced. The immigrants with both a work and study permit received the highest median entry wages at $44,000.

On the other hand, the immigrants with only a work permit recorded a median entry wage of $39,100. It is important to note that immigrants in these categories performed better than Canadians. 

What determines median wages?

Immigrant outcomes varied on the basis of many characteristics. Socioeconomic factors like language proficiency and work experience emerged as determinants of higher median wages. Moreover, higher entry wages can also be attributed to immigrants gaining pre-admission experience in the country.

The report says that pre-admission experience can help immigrants learn the ropes of the job market and the language skills of the province. 

The report also pointed out that the immigrant outcomes were heavily dependent on their country of origin. People from the United Kingdom, the United States and Brazil recorded the highest median wages ten years after coming into the country.