Immigrants and the Labour Force

First, Canada’s primary source for immigrants has shifted dramatically from the United Kingdom and Europe to countries outside Europe. Second there has been a remarkable transformation in the nature of work: Canada’s economy has changed from relying on resource extraction to an emphasis on manufacturing, and presently is emerging as post-industrial and knowledge-based. Pendakur combines an analysis of parliamentary debates on immigration issues with an evaluation of the regulatory and policy changes that resulted from these discussions and an analysis of how the work of immigrants changed over a five-decade. He then provides both a political and quantitative analysis by looking at issues that affect not only immigrants but minorities born in Canada in order to assess the degree to which labour market discrimination exists and whether employment equity programs are needed.

In Immigrants and the Labour Force Ravi Pendakur considers whether today’s immigrants are more upwardly mobile than those who came to Canada earlier, whether they face discrimination in the labour force, and whether refusal to recognize credentials earned before migrating hurts life chances in the new country. He looks at the roles post-war immigrants have played in Canada’s urban labour force and the ways these roles have changed in response to changes in intake policy and economic conditions, exploring these issues in the context of two changes that have dominated immigration and labour force patterns for the last fifty years.

“Methodologically sound and theoretically refreshing, Pendakur’s book makes a compelling case about the “vertical mosaic” of Canada. It is essential reading for anyone interested in ethnic stratification and Canadian society.” Peter S. Li, Department of Sociology, University of Saskatchewan “Outstanding … this book provides for the first time in Canadian literature an historical picture of labour market outcomes and barriers to equality for Canada’s post-war immigrant population … this is a serious advance in the economic immigrant literature.” Don De Voretz, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University “This book is important for immigrant policy makers who wish to keep the historical perspective in mind while analysing the recent performances of immigrants in order to make any policy changes.” Ather Akbari, Department of Economics, Saint Mary’s University