Of the more than 200,000 annual newcomers to Canada, 42% settle in the Toronto CMA [Exhibit 1: Where Newcomers Settle] . Because of Toronto’s popularity among newcomers, 55% of Toronto’s population aged 15 and up are 1st generation immigrants, and this proportion is steadily increasing. Nearly a quarter of Toronto’s population are 2nd generation immigrants, and only one fifth are 3rd or higher generation status [Exhibit 2: Generation Status].

Place of Birth

Toronto’s immigrant population is highly diverse, with India, China, Italy, Philippines, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Portugal making up the top ten countries of origins of all immigrants. The top ten languages spoken among immigrants besides English are Chinese, Punjabi, Italian, Tamil, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu, Portuguese, Russian, and Afro-Asiatic languages. In 2006, Asia represented eight of the top ten countries of birth among recent immigrants, with India replacing China as the top source of new immigrants to Toronto [Exhibit 3: Country of Birth].

Recent Immigrants

Of all immigrants currently living in Toronto, 19% are newcomers having arrived in the last 5 years (between 2001 and 2006) and altogether 50% (roughly 1,152,045 people) of Toronto’s immigrants arrived within the last 15 years [Exhibit 4: Period of Immigration].

Visible Minority Population

Toronto’s visible minority population climbed 11% in 10 years from 32% in 1996 to 43% in 2006. South Asians are now the largest group in Toronto at 13.5% of all visible minority groups, followed by Chinese (9.6%) and Blacks (6.9%) [Exhibit 5:Visible Minority Growth Trends].

Highest Level of Education

Educational attainment in Toronto is steadily increasing, with the number of students dropping out before completing high school falling more than 10% in 10 years from 30.6% in 1996 to 19.7% in 2006. Moreover, the completion of college and university certificates, diplomas, and degrees are on the rise, from 21.6% in 1996 to 26.7% in 2006 [Exhibit 6: Educational Attainment Toronto].

Comparison between immigrants/non-immigrants:

Compared with the Canadian-born population, established immigrants (those who have lived in Canada for more than 5 years) are slightly less educated, whereas recent immigrants (those who have lived in Canada for less than 5 years) have significantly higher levels of educational attainment. This shows that recent immigrants in Toronto are a highly educated population [Exhibit 7:Educational Attainment by Immigrant Status].

Income

In 2006, the average income for a person living in Toronto was $40,704. But not all earnings are the same between population groups. For example, there is a large disparity between the incomes of people separated by immigrant status. Toronto’s Canadian-born population has the highest income at an average of $49,395, followed closely by immigrants who have lived in Toronto for more than 10 years. Recent immigrants who immigrated within the last 5 years, however, earn less than half the income of Canadian-born Torontonians, at only $24,221 [Exhibit 8: Income by Immigrant Status].

Racial background also plays a role in income. Members of visible minority groups earn less than Toronto residents who are not visible minorities, with the exception of Japanese. The average income for non-visible minority groups is $48,776, whereas the average Chinese person’s income is much lower at $30,013 and the average South Asian person’s income is $27,909 (Chinese and South Asians are the two largest visible minority groups in Toronto) [Exhibit 9: Income by Visible Minority Group].

Summary

Canada has an aggressive immigration policy, resulting in a high volume of immigrants to the country. Two thirds of these immigrants choose to settle in one of three metropolitan areas: Toronto (42%), Montreal (15%), and Vancouver (14%). In Toronto, immigration has been on the rise, now with 1 in every 5 Toronto immigrants being a newcomer. As of 2006, the top five countries of birth among newcomers to Toronto were Asian: India, China, Pakistan, Philippines, and Sri Lanka.

Compared with the Toronto’s Canadian-born population, immigrants are highly educated but earn lower incomes. Recent immigrants, who hold the highest levels of education, earn less than half of the Canadian-born population. Visible minorities also earn lower incomes than non-visible minorities, indicating dual-marginalization among visible minority immigrants.

Policy Implications

Given what we know about poverty and precarious work leading to poor health, policies need to address the labour issues of Canadian immigrants and visible minorities. With an immigrant population that is large – and growing –policies that support good health are important. The needs of diverse populations should be taken into account and service planning should ensure that ethnic, gender, language, and other barriers are avoided. For example, health care planners and providers should ensure that translation services are available to encourage immigrants to utilize services and to ensure that the risks of errors, such as patient-doctor misunderstanding or medication errors, are mitigated.

Recent immigrants have a disproportionately higher share of housing needs. They are more likely to live in overcrowded and poorly-maintained accommodation and to pay more than 30 percent of their household income for housing, placing them in the unaffordable category.[1] Housing policy must take into account the unique needs of recent immigrants to ensure an adequate supply of safe and affordable housing.

Racialized Canadians earn only 81.4 cents for every dollar that non-racialized Canadians earn.[2] Labour market policies must address the racialization of poverty to ensure that visible minority groups have the same opportunities as non-racialized Canadians.

[1] Wellesley Institute, Precarious Housing in Canada, (Toronto: The Wellesley Institute, 2010).

[2] Block, Sheila & Galabuzi, Grace-Edward, Canada’s Colour-Coded Labour Market: The Gap for Racialized Workers, (Toronto: Wellesley Institute & CCPA, March 2011).