Study: Immigrants In Canada Having Hard Time Finding Work

Vancouver, Canada (AHN) - Statistics Canada released a study revealing that immigrants in the country find it more difficult to find a job than their Canadian-born counterparts, even if the immigrant is educated in North America.

However, immigrants educated in western countries were more likely to land a job than those educated in Asia, Latin America or Africa.

The following were the employment rates of educated immigrants based on the location of their college education: United States: 77.8 percent; Canada: 75.3 percent; Europe: 73.8 percent; Asia: 65.5 percent; Latin America: 59.7 percent; and Africa: 50.9 percent.

The study, which was released on Friday, traces immigrant movement to Canada's job market, specifically immigrants educated either in their native countries or in Canada.

The study found that immigrants between the ages of 25 and 54 had low employment rates in 2007, even if they hold degrees from a Canadian or American college or university. It also showed 90 percent of native Canadians with university degrees got employed as against percent of immigrants educated in Asia. However, as immigrants stay longer in Canada, chances of employment are high.

Based on gender, immigrant women represented almost half of university-educated immigrants who came to Canada between 2002 and 2007. However, the study showed that the employment rate for women was still low compared with men.