it is all about language PLEASE READ

Canada Immigration Forum (discussion group)


 
       
Subject: it is all about language PLEASE READ
  VANCOUVER — New Canadians who arrive as business class immigrants come with lower educational qualifications, less proficiency in English, and end up earning less than any other immigrant group, a new study suggests.

The report, by the University of B.C.’s Daniel Hiebert, also stresses the importance of English proficiency for newcomers saying immigrants who arrive in Vancouver with skills and experience but little to no English can expect to be trapped in low-paying jobs from which they may never escape.

“There is a big premium paid for those immigrants who arrive here ready to communicate,” said Hiebert, a UBC geographer and author of the newly released report, The Economic Integration of Immigrants in Metropolitan Vancouver.

Conversely, Hiebert added, “there is a pretty severe penalty paid in the labour market for those who don’t speak [English].”

Regarding the business-class findings, immigration policy analyst and lawyer Richard Kurland said the study is flawed because it relies on Revenue Canada data that predates 2005.

It focuses too closely on income tax claims and ignores the way investors stimulate the economy through their consumer habits, he said.

“Wealthy people are more likely to spend more than they earn. Their gross income outstrips their net income.”

Hiebert said this study is the third in a series he’s completed with the data set, and the patterns of his findings are consistent. “I’m more and more confident that the results are real.”

Immigration lawyer Catherine Sas said the results may not be accurate but not for the reasons that Kurland suggests.

She said that many new Canadians are investors, and run businesses from Canada that trade with their home country.

“Wealthy immigrants are here to create jobs, not get jobs.”

Hiebert’s study, which uses data collected from 2005 provincial tax returns, says language proficiency has had the greatest impact on immigrants from East Asia, including China, Hong Kong, and South Korea. Although this group makes up about half the total of all newcomers who arrive in the province as skilled workers, they earn well below the average immigrant income.

Of the skilled workers reporting employment earnings in 2005, the average is $40,800 for men and $31,580 for women, Hiebert found.

The corresponding figures for immigrants from East Asia are $30,260 and $25,830 — a difference the author labelled “extraordinary.”

At the same time, immigrants from East Asia also have the lowest levels of English fluency when they arrive, compared to other source countries, the study notes.

“When I talked about the penalty paid in the labour market, this is the group that is bearing the brunt of that penalty,” Hiebert said.

Tung Chan, CEO of the immigrant-resource organization S.U.C.C.E.S.S., said it’s no surprise newcomers who don’t speak English are struggling in their new home.

“Most people have gone through that if they have gone to another country where they don’t speak the language of the land,” he said.

What he found disturbing was evidence in Hiebert’s report that immigrants are finding it increasingly difficult to catch up to the wages earned by Canadian-born residents.

According to the study, the average income of new immigrants has dropped continuously in the past 18 years, from $30,917 in 1981 to $20,464 in 2004. That’s about 50 per cent below the average wage of a Canadian-born resident, the study found.

Reasons for the steady decline have been attributed to a shift in the overall economy toward jobs that call for advanced communication skills, discriminatory hiring practices in the workplace and a lack of recognition of foreign experience.

But Chan said immigrants are also coming to Canada later in life, often with a spouse and children in need of support. That means, for many people, the opportunity to upgrade foreign skills and education, or even tap into English language classes is financially not possible.

Instead, “immediately you have to settle down and find a job to support the family,” he said.

Kenny Zhang, a senior research analyst with the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, said the country would be better served by assisting immigrants to achieve economic success on par with their skills and experience, especially if we hope to retain skilled workers in an increasingly competitive global economy.

“The Chinese economy is moving so rapidly, they need highly skilled workers as well,” he said.

Zhang suggested Canada should be looking into policies that better prepare new immigrants for employment in their new home, including language preparation in either French or English.

Zhang said it’s critical for all new Canadians to be able to function in the workplace.

“You have to understand your customers and you have to understand your boss,” he said.

Otherwise, he added, these same people “will be limited to a very small proportion of the economy.”

Newcomer Jeff Wang said he is still looking for that elusive “good” job more than a year after moving his family from Shanghai, China to Vancouver.

The 40-year-old, who came to Canada as a skilled worker, said his lack of English proficiency has hurt his job search, despite his 20 years of business success in China. “If I had good English, I think I can do more than the average [person],” he said in an interview.

Without it, he added, “It’s a barrier for me.”

But Wang said, right now, he has no time or inclination to attend English-language classes. Instead, he intends to use his free time networking in an effort to build business contacts in the local community.

“Maybe I am not practical,” he said, but “I think for a job it is the value and good ideas you bring to your employee or partner, even if you can’t speak.”

Hiebert said his study is not all bad news. In particular, he noted that newcomers who enter the country because of their family connections earn incomes that are approximately the same as immigrants as a whole, despite lower levels of education relative to other groups and lower English proficiency.

Hiebert also noted the relative success of refugees living in the region. “The stereotype is that refugees are not well prepared for the Canadian labour market . . . but the data suggests that refugees are doing better than expected,” he said.

dahansen@vancouversun.com

mfhill@vancouversun.com

[25-06-2009,02:27]
[***.20.116.15]
Sharon
(in reply to: it is all about language PLEASE READ)
I think they all have valid points depending on the factors so no one approach can be perfect.

English would help tremendously even if your an investor doing business.

Roy
www.cvimmigration.com

[25-06-2009,06:56]
[**.52.216.86]
Roy
(in reply to: it is all about language PLEASE READ)
The onus is really on prospective immigrants to take responsibility to learn English and / or French first, or while the application is in progress?
[28-06-2009,23:54]
[**.85.10.223]
Jaq
Reply to the it is all about language PLEASE READ posting
Submission Code (SX16602) Copy The Code From The Left found in the brackets
Name
Email
Reply Subject
Reply Message


Canada Immigration | Forever Living Products in Canada