🚀 go-pugleaf

ar231@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Karen Gordon) writes:
> This was an article based on STATISTICS CANADA figures.  No one has to
> 'like' these numbers, but they're damned hard to dispute with personal
> statements and personal biases.....

Err, what's your point?

> However, their success in finding work varies widely depending on where 
> they're from and their level of education.

The same is true of people born in Canada!  This is not surprising, nor do I 
find the statement to be anything other than belabouring what should be 
obvious.

> The employment rate for immigrants from NORTHERN EUROPE, at 75%, was well 
> above that of Canadian-born adults at 62%, the report notes.
> 
> Employment rates for adults from WESTERN EUROPE at 67%, from BRITAIN, which 
> is
> calculated separately, at 65%, and from the U.S.A. at 63%, were also higher
> than the rate for Canadian-born adults.

Hmm, could it be that they're about as well educated and maybe better 
motivated to work as Canadians are, and that they may have learned enough 
English to do so?  Is there even an attempt to determine how long those 
immigrants have been in Canada, and been given a chance to learn the language, 
develop contacts, and find a job? 

> However, on average the employment rate of working-age immigrants was only 
> 56%, less than the 62% rate of Canadian-born adults.

But not *much* less.  Yeah, that's little consolation for the unemployed, but 
we're trying to read something meaningful into figures that are not very 
statistically significant as presented.

> And their unemployment rate - the proportion seeking work - was much higher 
> at 17.7% than that for Canadian-born adults at 10.1%.

Again, by itself, this means little.  Is there any attempt to determine the 
rate of functional illiteracy in english or french among the two groups?

> "Because recent immigrants are less likely than people born in Canada to be 
> employed, they contribute less to employment growth than to population in-
> crease," the report states.

This begins to suggest what I suspect: that there's a relationship between the 
time an immigrant has been in the country and the chances of that person 
having a steady job.  That, in turn, might suggest that these immigrants are 
picking anything from language skills to a circle of contacts.

Again, this report does not surprise me in the least, nor do I believe that 
any of the data presented in it is particularly meaningful in terms of any 
discussion about immigration, employment, minorities, or whatever.

-- 
         Geoffrey Welsh, Senior Developer, InSystems Technologies Inc.
        geoff@zswamp.uucp, [xenitec.on.ca|m2xenix.psg.com]!zswamp!geoff
       We can only hope that people will outgrow the need for government
      before the government finishes outgrowing the need for the people.