The Market Worth of Immigrants' Educational Credentials

The Market WorthThe Market of Worth Immigrants’ of Immigrants’ Educational Credentials 23 Educational Credentials

PETER S. LI Department of Sociology and Prairie Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Integration University of Saskatchewan

Bien que les universitaires et les législateurs s’intéressent aux diplômes des immigrés, la valeur exacte de ces diplômes sur le marché est incertaine. Notre étude utilise les microdonnées du Recensement Canadien de 1996 pour comparer les salaires de quatre groupes: les diplômés natifs du Canada; les immigrés possé- dant des diplômes canadiens; les immigrés possédant des diplômes d’origines diverses; les immigrés possé- dant des diplômes étrangers. Il apparaît que les diplômes des immigrés sont pénalisés par rapport à ceux des Canadiens de naissance et que la possession d’un diplôme étranger est plus défavorable aux minorités visibles, aux immigrés, hommes et femmes, qu’aux Canadiens de race blanche; il apparaît également que le genre et la race des diplômés font aussi l’objet d’une évaluation. L’adoption de politiques pour que soient reconnus les diplômes étrangers remédiera à certaines disparités salariales, mais les inégalités fondées sur le genre et la race risquent fort de subsister. Despite academic and policy interests on immigrants’ credentials, their precise market worth is unclear. This study uses the 1996 Canadian Census microdata to compare the earnings for four groups: native-born Canadian degree-holders; immigrant Canadian degree-holders; immigrant mixed education degree-holders; and immigrant foreign degree-holders. The findings indicate that immigrants’ credentials carry a penalty compared to those of native-born Canadians, and that a foreign degree affects visible-minority immigrants, women and men, more adversely than white Canadians; as well, credential holders’ gender and race are also being evaluated. Policies to recognize foreign credentials will bridge some income disparities, but inequality premised upon gender and race will likely remain.

uch has been written about the problem of dis- grants’ credentials as equivalent to those of native- Mcounting immigrants’ credentials in Canada. born Canadians. Thus, the earnings for some immi- Essentially, the problem has to do with immigrants’ grants in the Canadian labour market are lower than educational experiences acquired outside Canada not native-born Canadians not necessarily as a result of being fully recognized as equal to those of native- their having less human capital, but of lower mar- born Canadians, in terms of human capital quality ket value being attached to immigrants’ educational and accreditation standing. However, differences qualifications that are potentially equivalent or com- between the quality of credentials between immi- parable to those of native-born Canadians. grants and native-born Canadians are often pre- sumed, but employers and regulatory agencies tend Despite the academic and policy interests on im- to be reluctant to grant full recognition to immi- migrants’ educational experiences, little has been

CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY Ð ANALYSE DE POLITIQUES, VOL. XXVII, NO. 1 2001 24 Peter S. Li done to actually estimate the market worth of im- Reitz and Breton (1994, p. 114), whose analysis of migrants’ credentials in relation to those of native- the 1986 Census showed that black and Asian im- born Canadians. The obvious difficulty has to do migrant men and women earned less than white male with the lack of data in Canadian censuses concern- and female immigrants respectively, after differ- ing the type of educational credentials held by im- ences in education and occupation were taken into migrants, in terms of whether they are acquired in account. A more recent study using the 1996 Cen- Canada or abroad. The purpose of this paper is to sus also showed that immigrant men and women had make use of the Public Use Microdata File on Indi- net earnings lower than native-born men after con- viduals of the 1996 Census of Canada to estimate trolling for urban size and other individual and mar- the type of degree-holders among immigrants, and ket characteristics, and that immigrants of visible to assess the market worth of immigrant degree- minority origin tended to be further disadvantaged holders as compared to native-born Canadian than immigrants not of visible minority origin (Li degree-holders. 2000).

Several factors have been identified as creating CLAIMS ABOUT IMMIGANTS’ CREDENTIALS barriers of employment and social mobility for immigrants, especially for those from non-European The literature has suggested that the life chances origins. These factors include the difficulty faced for immigrants and native-born Canadians are not by some immigrants in having their credentials fully the same, especially for non-white immigrants from recognized in Canada (McDade 1988), and employ- Asian and African countries whose earnings tend to ment discrimination against immigrants with iden- be lower than white immigrants from Europe (Abella tifiable linguistic and racial features (Henry and 1984; Li 2000; Reitz and Breton 1994; Satzewich Ginzberg 1985; Henry 1989; Scassa 1994). and Li 1987). Several studies using different data have made this claim. An analysis of longitudinal Trovato and Grindstaff (1986) studied immigrant data collected by the Department of Manpower and women who were 30 years old in the 1981 Census, Immigration on new immigrants arriving in Canada and compared the economic status of those who between 1969 and 1971 found the rankings of im- came to Canada as children, adolescents, and adults migrant groups by occupational status and employ- to that of Canadian-born women of the same age. ment income persisted over a three-year period, with The findings indicate that among the never married immigrants from European countries and the United women, the ones who immigrated to Canada in their States having an advantage and with immigrants adulthood and therefore most likely to have com- from non-white source countries having a disadvan- pleted their education outside Canada, were more tage that can be attributed to immigrants’ origin likely to have completed university, but were less (Satzewich and Li 1987). Furthermore, despite a likely to be in the higher income group and more narrowing of occupational status over time among likely to be in the lower end of the occupational immigrants from different countries of origin, the structure. Trovato and Grindstaff (ibid.) suggested income disparity widened even after adjusting for three factors to explain the findings: the problem of differences in other variables (ibid.). A study based full recognition of foreign credentials, the short resi- on the 1981 Census revealed that after adjusting for dency of less than ten years in Canada, and the prob- differences in age and education, immigrant men and lem of possible discrimination in the job market. women from Europe and the US had higher employment income than immigrants of the same gender The point about foreign credentials was also made group from Asia and Africa (Beaujot, Basavarajappa by Basavarajappa and Verma (1985), who, based on and Verma 1988). Similar findings were reported by their analysis of Asian immigrants in Canada in the

CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY Ð ANALYSE DE POLITIQUES, VOL. XXVII, NO. 1 2001 The Market Worth of Immigrants’ Educational Credentials 25

1981 Census, argued that the insistence by employ- Despite the popular claim that the earnings of ers on having Canadian experience as a condition immigrants are being affected by foreign creden- of employment and the problem of foreign credentials, such earning disadvantage can in fact derive tials not being fully recognized would explain why from several confounding sources. When holders of Asian immigrants were less likely to be in profes- foreign credentials experience differential treat- sional and managerial jobs, despite their relatively ments in the Canadian labour market, it is often not high educational attainment. Rajagopal (1990) pro- clear whether it is credentials, or racial origin, or duced data from the 1986 Census to indicate that other features that are being disadvantaged. For ex- although Indo-Canadians in Ontario were more ample, Scassa (1994) has argued that non-native likely than the general population in Toronto to have speakers of the dominant language encounter dis- completed university, Indo-Canadians in Toronto crimination in employment and in access to services had a lower annual income level than immigrants on the basis of their language characteristics, and and non-immigrants in Toronto. Rajagopal (1990) that their lack of fluency, their accent of speech, and also suggested that one of the barriers had to do with their deviations from the language standard of the Indo-Canadians’ foreign credentials being highly dominant group can be used as bases of unfavour- discounted or not recognized by business and edu- able treatment, and as surrogates of racial discrimi- cational institutions, and evaluators using prejudi- nation. Ethnographic accounts by immigrant women cial opinions and not objective criteria in assessing in Fredericton also indicated that their accent and Indian applicants. colour set them apart from mainstream society, despite their ability to speak English (Miedema and McDade (1988) has identified several barriers to Nason-Clark 1989). Several empirical studies of hiring employment for immigrants related to their creden- practices have also indicated that racial minority job- tials and training not being fully recognized in seekers have less chance of being employed than white Canada. For example, in Ontario, foreign-trained Canadians (Henry and Ginzberg 1985; Billingsley and persons in trades were routinely required to have Muszynski 1985; Henry 1989). In short, racial and more experience than those trained in the province gender characteristics of foreign credential holders before examination, and immigrants’ training in their often become features of foreign credentials being as- home countries was often discounted (McDade sessed in the labour market. 1988, pp. 10-11). In many professional fields, those with foreign credentials often had to meet more In a field study in Toronto, Henry and Ginzberg stringent standards than those trained in Canada (1985) used matched black and white job-seekers before professional certification was given; for ex- to apply for entry positions advertized in a newspa- ample, in engineering, foreign-trained engineers per, and found that white applicants received job were required to complete a longer period of satis- offers three times more than black job-seekers. Fur- factory practice experience, in addition to fulfilling thermore, telephone callers with an Asian or Carib- all examination requirements (ibid., pp. 12-19). A bean accent were often screened out when they 1992 task force to examine the recognition of for- called about a job vacancy. A follow-up study of eign qualifications in Alberta also identified several employers and personnel managers of large busi- obstacles for immigrants, including the absence of nesses and corporations in Toronto revealed that 28 an agency to evaluate immigrants’ qualifications, the percent of the respondents felt that racial minorities arbitrary standards used by licensing bodies, and had less ability than white Canadians to meet perfor- their insistence on having Canadian experience as a mance criteria (Billingsley and Muszynski 1985). criterion for registration of qualifications (Alberta Task Force on the Recognition of Foreign Qualifi- Henry (1989) replicated the 1984 study in 1989 cations 1992). and reported results of discriminatory practices in

CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY Ð ANALYSE DE POLITIQUES, VOL. XXVII, NO. 1 2001 26 Peter S. Li hiring; however, the findings also produced contro- 1983 also revealed many accounts of differential versial interpretations by other researchers. Swan treatment (Canada. House of Commons 1983). (1991) accepted the smaller difference in the likeli- These materials, together with the foregoing stud- hood of black and white job-seekers being hired in ies cited, suggest that racial minority immigrants 1989 as an indication of no racial discrimination. do not have the same life chances as other Canadi- However, Reitz and Breton (1994, p. 84) argued that ans, and that unfavourable evaluation of foreign cre- the demand for workers was greater in 1989 than in dentials and racial discrimination are some of the 1984, and when the effect of labour demand was main obstacles identified as affecting their oppor- removed, more jobs were offered to whites than tunities. blacks; they further argued that the results also showed that “no statistically significant change had Despite the rich literature on immigrants’ creden- occurred since 1984.” tials and qualifications, there has been little attempt to actually estimate their precise market worth. The Incidents and perceptions of racial discrimina- noted exception is a study by deSilva (1992), which tion in many facets of Canadian life were also re- used the 1986 Census data to construct models to ported in academic writings as well as testimonies test earning differences between immigrants who by members of visible minorities. For example, immigrated before six years of age, and therefore Nodwell and Guppy (1992) analyzed self-reported had to obtain all of their education and work expe- experiences of discrimination collected from 294 rience in Canada and immigrants who had fewer Indo-Canadians residing in South Vancouver in 1983 “years of residence in Canada” than “years of total and found that half of the men and women experi- estimated work experience,” and therefore had ac- enced some form of racial hostility which ranged quired education and some work experiences before from verbal abuse and physical harm to workplace immigration. The study found lower returns for im- discrimination. They reported that the frequency of migrants’ foreign experience and education, but racial incidents was unrelated to the victims’ per- comparable returns for immigrants’ Canadian expe- sonal attributes nor their public practices of ethnic- rience and education, when compared to matched ity. Foschi and Buchan (1990) studied perceptions age groups of native-born Canadians (deSilva 1992, of task competence in an experiment setting and pp. 28-35). However, deSilva’s study combines both found that university male subjects accepted more experience and education in his estimation, and influence from a partner portrayed as white than makes no distinction between those with a univer- from one portrayed as East Indian. Basran and Zong sity degree and those without. Boyd (1992) also used (1998) surveyed immigrants of Chinese and East the 1986 Census to compare the earnings among four Indian background who were in professional jobs groups of men: native-born Canadians, immigrants and residing in British Columbia. Their study who immigrated before age 15, and immigrants who showed that many foreign-trained, non-white immi- immigrated at age 25 or older, which were further grants in professional fields experienced downward subdivided into those who were born in the US, the mobility in Canada and that an overwhelming ma- United Kingdom and Europe, and others born out- jority of respondents attributed their occupational side these regions. The study found that post- disadvantage to the problem of foreign credential secondary credentials were devalued for immigrant devaluation as well as discrimination based on col- men born outside the US, the UK and Europe, but our or racial origin. not for those born in these regions, nor for men who immigrated early in life (ibid.). Boyd’s preliminary The testimonies of members of racial minorities study did not include immigrant men who came be- before the House of Commons Special Committee tween the ages of 15 and 24 for analytical reasons, on Participation of Visible Minorities in Canada in but the comparison with native-born Canadians may

CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY Ð ANALYSE DE POLITIQUES, VOL. XXVII, NO. 1 2001 The Market Worth of Immigrants’ Educational Credentials 27 be skewed because of the inclusion of an age cohort ing file has 377,876 records, of which 65,600 had among native-born Canadians that was left out of at least one university degree. The analysis is per- immigrants. Furthermore, deSilva (1992) did not formed primarily on this group of 65,600 degree- consider the likely interaction effects between cre- holders, of whom 26 percent were immigrants. dentials and characteristics of holders, especially pertaining to racial origin and gender, although Boyd Using data on nativity and age at immigration, a (1992) did try to address this problem by focusing typology of four kinds of degree-holders is con- her analysis only on men. structed. Since age at immigration is reported as a range in the census, inferences on the type of de- Interaction effects can complicate analyses of gree immigrants held can only be based on such credentials, since it is often not clear whether it is crude information. First, “native-born Canadian de- immigrants’ racial origin, gender or postsecondary gree-holders” are defined as those born in Canada degree that is being undervalued, due to the diffi- and who held at least one university degree. Sec- culty in separating the credentials that immigrants ond, “immigrant Canadian degree-holders” are those hold from the holders themselves. The following who immigrated to Canada as a child, before age analysis estimates the type of university credentials 13, and reported having at least one degree. Since held by immigrants based on their age at immigra- these immigrants came as children, the university tion and educational degrees, and assesses its mar- degree can be assumed to have been obtained in ket worth relative to that of native-born Canadians, Canada after immigration. Third, immigrants who while taking into account its interaction with gen- immigrated to Canada between the ages of 13 and der and race, as well as controlling for variations in 24 with at least one degree at the time of the census other features. The purpose is to set up typologies are classified as “immigrant mixed education for comparing the net market worth of different types degree-holders,” since depending on the exact age of immigrants’ credentials and native-born creden- at immigration, these immigrants may have obtained tials by holding gender and race constant and by some components of their education or degree from adjusting for other variations. outside Canada. Finally, immigrants who immigrated at the age of 25 or older and held at least one degree are considered “immigrant foreign degree- DATA AND PROCEDURES holders,” since given their age at immigration, their first degree is most likely to have been obtained This analysis is based on the Public Use Microdata outside Canada. There is no doubt that these esti- File on Individuals of the 1996 Census of Canada, mates would have measurement errors, but at least which is a 2.8 percent probability sample of the they provide an empirical basis for estimating mar- population enumerated in the census. The file con- ket outcomes of Canadian degrees, foreign degrees, tains 792,448 records of individuals.1 Among them, and mixed education degrees.3 401,664 individuals were permanent residents of Canada, composed of landed immigrants and native- The analysis is essentially to see whether foreign born Canadians, who were 15 years old and over degrees have lower market worth than Canadian and who had worked in 1995.2 Immigrants made up degrees, and whether immigrants with Canadian 18.8 percent of this group in the labour force. A fur- degrees have earning parity with native-born degree- ther restriction is applied in this study to include holders. Since race and gender often interact with only those not in the Atlantic provinces and the Ter- the type of credentials in a complicated way to pro- ritories, since data on age of immigration for immi- duce uneven effects on earnings, the analysis is per- grants that are needed for this analysis are not formed on 16 groups of degree-holders, which are reported for the regions being excluded. The result- classified on the basis of four types of degrees, two

CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY Ð ANALYSE DE POLITIQUES, VOL. XXVII, NO. 1 2001 28 Peter S. Li gender groups and two racial groups defined by ture of work in terms of whether the weeks worked visible-minority status. Thus, if gender and racial were full-time or part-time,7 the major field of study origin do interact with the type of degree held, then (eight categories), occupation (14 categories),8 in- the magnitude of earning difference between Cana- dustry of work (14 categories),9 knowledge of the dian degree-holders and foreign degree-holders official languages (four categories), the number of would vary accordingly. degrees held (two categories in terms of “bachelor degree” or “advanced degree”), work experience Visible-minority status was measured directly in estimated by subtracting from age the years of the 1996 Census, and respondents were classified schooling and the six years before schooling began, as visible minority if they met the criteria in the fol- work experience squared, and the number of weeks lowing groups: Black, South Asian, Chinese, Ko- worked in 1995 (1 to 52). In addition, a variable rean, Japanese, Southeast Asian, Filipino, Arab/West “years since landing in Canada” is used as a proxy Asian, Latin American, and multiple visible minor- of Canadian experience for immigrants.10 The vari- ity. In the 1996 Census, Black, South Asian, and able is measured as the number of years since an Chinese account for about two-thirds of those clas- immigrant has immigrated to Canada, and native- sified as visible minority. The remaining one-third born Canadians are coded as zero. is made up of other Asian, Arab and West Asian, Latin American, and multiple visible minority. Thus, The analysis compares the earnings among the the variable “visible minority” is a proxy that mea- 16 comparative groups. The analysis first considers sures “race”: visible-minority members are “non- the gross (actual) earning differences among these white” Canadians, while those not belonging to the groups, and then calculates the net (adjusted) earn- visible minority are “white Canadians.”4 ing differences after variations in individual and work-related characteristics have been taken into The dependent variable is “annual earnings from account. Multiple Classification Analysis (Andrews employment and self-employment,” which is the et al. 1976) is used to analyze the gross and net dif- sum of gross wages and salaries and net self- ferences in earnings for the 16 comparative groups. employment income before paying individual income The statistical procedure is essentially a least- taxes. Earnings from employment and self- squares solution which treats the dependent variable employment are used here to indicate outcomes of as a linear combination of a set of categorical and labour-market participation, and some individuals interval variables. For each interval variable in the had earnings from both sources, while some self- equation, Multiple Classification Analysis calculates employed individuals chose to pay themselves sala- the unstandardized multiple regression coefficient; ries. Statistics Canada applies upper and lower limits for categorical variables, it produces a regression to individual earnings to ensure confidentiality.5 coefficient for each category and expresses it as a Wages and salaries are always positive, but net self- deviation from the grand mean of the dependent employment income can have a negative value. Ac- variable. The gross deviations measure the effects tual earnings are retained for easy interpretation, but when variations in other independent variables have a better regression “fit” is obtained using the natu- not been adjusted; the net deviations are effects when ral logarithm of earnings as the dependent variable.6 inter-group variations in other independent variables have been taken into account. The independent variables measuring individual and work-related variations include: CMA (Census The statistical model used can be specified as Metropolitan Area) level at which the individual follows: resided (four categories ranging from “not CMA” α ∑ β δ φ to “large CMAs over one million people”), the na- Yj = + ( ij , ij, ij)

CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY Ð ANALYSE DE POLITIQUES, VOL. XXVII, NO. 1 2001 The Market Worth of Immigrants’ Educational Credentials 29

where Yj — the labour-market-related earnings of of the total number of degree-holders in the Cana- individual j — is expressed as a weighted sum of dian labour market outside the Atlantic provinces other variables, and where α is the grand mean of and Territories in 1995 (column 3). Immigrant for- β Yj, ij, a vector of dummy variables in which j var- eign degree-holders made up about 14 percent of ies from 1 to 16 measuring membership in the 16 all degree-holders; immigrant Canadian degree- δ comparative groups, ij are categorical variables and holders; 6 percent, and immigrant mixed education φ ij are interval variables that relate to individual and degree-holders, 7 percent. Thus, among immigrants, work-related characteristics. about half of the degree-holders can be estimated to have obtained their first degree from outside Canada, slightly less than one-quarter received their degree TYPES OF DEGREE-HOLDERS AND THEIR in Canada, and about a quarter had a mixture of for- GROSS EARNINGS eign and Canadian educational experiences that made it difficult to say whether their degrees were Estimates of four types of degree-holders from the from a Canadian or foreign university (column 4). 1996 Census are given in Table 1. Column 1 is based Finally, Table 1 (column 5) also shows that the pro- on the 2.8 percent sample in the microdata file, portion of degree-holders is highest (27 percent) whereas column 2 provides the population estimates. among those who immigrated at the age of 25 or Native-born Canadians account for about 74 percent older, followed by those who immigrated before age

TABLE 1 Estimated Number of Canadian Degree-Holders, Mixed-Education Degree-Holders, and Foreign Degree-Holders in the Canadian Labour Market, For Canada, Excluding Atlantic Provinces and Territories, 1995

% Degree- Holders among each Group Estimated Estimated % of Defined by Estimated Number Number % of all Immigrant Nativity and Type of in 2.8% in Total Degree- Degree- Age at Nativity/Age of Immigration Degree-Holders Sample Population Holders Holders Immigration

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] %% %

Native Born Canadian 48,364 1,727,286 73.7 . . . 16.1

Foreign Born Immigrated between ages 0-12 Canadian 3,872 138,286 5.9 22.5 21.8 Immigrated between ages 13-24 Mixed Education 4,436 158,429 6.8 25.7 16.9 Immigrated age 25 and over Foreign 8,928 318,857 13.6 51.8 26.9

Total (Native-born and foreign-born degree-holders) 65,600 2,342,857 100.0 100.0 17.4

Source: Compiled from 1996 Census of Canada, Public Use Microdata File on Individuals, based on a 2.8 percent probability sample of the population, excluding persons under 15 years of age, persons not in the labour force, non-permanent residents, and those in the Atlantic provinces and the Territories where information on age of immigration is not available.

CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY Ð ANALYSE DE POLITIQUES, VOL. XXVII, NO. 1 2001 30 Peter S. Li

13 (22 percent); in contrast, degree-holders made immigrant degree-holders only earned marginally less up 16 percent of those born in Canada. than their native-born counterparts.

The average gross annual earnings of various Among female, white Canadians, native-born types of degree-holders, by gender and visible- Canadian degree-holders also did not have an ad- minority status, are given in Table 2. The data indi- vantage over immigrant degree-holders of the same cate that for all types of degree-holders male, white gender and origin, except over white women who Canadians had the highest earnings, followed by immigrated at age 25 or older. Similarly, native- visible-minority men and then by female, white Cana- born, visible-minority female degree-holders (col- dians. In contrast, visible-minority women had the low- umn 4) had no clear income advantage over their est earnings. These differentials clearly indicate that foreign-born counterparts. In short, when gender and both gender and racial origin make a difference in earn- racial origin are taken into account, but before vari- ings for both native-born Canadians and immigrants ations in other factors are controlled, Table 2 shows before taking into account variations in other factors. that immigrant holders of any type of degree had earning levels which were the same or higher than Among men not of visible-minority origin (col- native-born degree-holders. umn 1), immigrants with any degree earned about $54,000 to $56,000 a year, compared to $52,000 a year for native-born Canadian degree-holders. Similarly, NET MARKET WORTH OF IMMIGRANT native-born, visible-minority men with a degree also DEGREE-HOLDERS did not have an obvious earning advantage over their counterparts born outside Canada (column 2). In fact, Estimates of the net effects of different types of immigrants with a mixed education degree earned more degree-holders on earnings are given in Appendix 1. than native-born Canadian degree-holders, and other In Model 1, all variables except “industry of work”

TABLE 2 Actual Annual Earnings of Canadian Degree-Holders, Mixed-Education Degree-Holders, and Foreign Degree-Holders, By Gender and Visible-Minority Status, 1995

Male Female Estimated Type of White Visible White Visible Nativity/Age of Immigration Degree-Holders Canadian Minority Canadian Minority

[1] [2] [3] [4]

Native Born Canadian $51,903 $39,099 $33,567 $26,628

Foreign Born Immigrated between ages 0-12 Canadian $56,139 $36,261 $35,705 $27,015 Immigrated between ages 13-24 Mixed Education $55,931 $43,080 $36,430 $28,733 Immigrated age 25 and over Foreign $54,320 $38,273 $31,372 $25,571

CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY Ð ANALYSE DE POLITIQUES, VOL. XXVII, NO. 1 2001 The Market Worth of Immigrants’ Educational Credentials 31 and “occupation” are entered into the equation; in and French had net earning levels near the mean, Model 2, both “industry of work” and “occupation” whereas those unilingual in French earned $3,638 a are included with other variables. Net effects are year less than the average, and those who spoke adjusted earning deviations (from the grand mean) neither official languages had the largest earning when variations in individual characteristics and disadvantage of $9,794 below the mean. Those hav- work-related variations in the equation have been ing an advanced degree had a net earning advantage taken into account. The net effects of various types over those with only the bachelor degree, and those of degree-holders on earnings are also reported as who worked more weeks earned more than those adjusted earning levels in Table 3. who worked fewer weeks. Finally, each year of work experience brings a net increment of $1,639 a year, To be expected, individuals with a degree living albeit in diminishing returns, and each year of resi- in larger CMAs and working full time tend to have dence in Canada increases the net earnings of im- higher net earnings than those with a degree in migrant degree-holders by $275 a year. smaller CMAs and working part-time (Appendix 1). The major field of study, the type of occupation and The net market worth of immigrant and native- the industry of work also affect earnings of degree- born degree-holders can be estimated from their net holders. For example, those in health fields had the earnings. Table 3 shows a rather different picture biggest net earning advantage, and those in arts, than the one provided in Table 2 before adjusting humanities, and related fields had the largest net for other variables. For all four gender and racial disadvantage. Knowledge of English or French af- groups, native-born Canadian degree-holders had fects earnings in different ways: degree-holders who higher net earnings than immigrant degree-holders. were unilingual in English or bilingual in English In general, native-born Canadian degree-holders had

TABLE 3 Adjusted Annual Earnings of Canadian Degree-Holders, Mixed-Education Degree-Holders and Foreign Degree-Holders, By Gender and Visible-Minority Status, Expressed as Deviations Above (+) or Below (-) Mean Annual Earnings ($44,298) of all Degree Holders, 1995

Male Female Estimated Type of White Visible White Visible Nativity/Age at Immigration Degree-Holders Canadian Minority Canadian Minority

[1] [2] [3] [4]

Native Born Canadian $7,480 $1,668 -$1,849 -$1,319

Foreign Born Immigrated between ages 0-12 Canadian -$1,344 -$5,908 -$11,129 -$8,395 Immigrated between ages 13-24 Mixed Education -$1,084 -$6,184 -$11,854 -$11,538 Immigrated age 25 and over Foreign -$1,696 -$12,520 -$13,528 -$17,501

CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY Ð ANALYSE DE POLITIQUES, VOL. XXVII, NO. 1 2001 32 Peter S. Li the highest earning, followed by immigrant Cana- is generally maintained, although the advantage of dian degree-holders and immigrant mixed education white women over visible-minority women disap- degree-holders, who had rather comparable earn- pears. For all types of degree-holders, white men ings. In contrast, immigrant foreign degree-holders had the highest earning level, followed by visible- had the lowest earnings. minority men who had an advantage over non-visible-minority women, as well as visible-minority The impacts of foreign degree and nativity affect women. In short, Table 3 clearly suggests that gen- immigrants differently, depending on gender and der, racial origin, and foreign credentials tend to racial origin. For example, native-born white men interact to produce complex outcomes for various earned about $9,000 more than each of the three groups of degree-holders. But as confirmed in pre- groups of immigrant degree-holders (Table 3, col- vious research (Li 1992), racial differences tend to umn 1). However, native-born, visible-minority men be more pronounced among higher income earners earned about $8,000 more than immigrant Canadian (men) than lower income earners (women). degree-holders and immigrant, mixed education degree-holders of the same gender and origin, but The precise effects of foreign credentials on earn- $14,000 more than immigrant foreign degree- ings for various gender and racial groups are fur- holders (column 2). Thus, compared to male, white ther decomposed into two parts. Using the earning Canadians, foreign credentials have a more severe level of native-born Canadians as a benchmark, and net adverse effect on visible-minority men. controlling for gender and racial origin, part of the net earning disadvantage of immigrants may be at- The pattern is similar for women. Native-born, tributed to their immigrant status, and part to for- white women earned $42,449 a year after adjusting eign credentials. The last row of Table 4 shows that for other differences, but immigrant Canadian the net difference between native-born Canadian de- degree-holders and immigrant, mixed education gree-holders and immigrant foreign degree-holders, degree-holders earned about $33,000 a year (col- controlling for gender and racial origin. The differ- umn 3). By comparison, white, female immigrants ence is largest among visible-minority women with a foreign degree earned about $30,770 a year. (-$16,182), followed by visible-minority men Native-born, visible-minority women also had the (-$14,188), and then white women (-$11,679). The net highest earnings ($42,979) compared to immigrants difference is smallest among white men. In short, the of the same gender and origin (column 4). In con- joint negative effects of immigrant status and foreign trast, female, immigrant Canadian degree-holders of degree are most severe for visible-minority women and visible-minority origin earned $35,903 a year, fol- men, and less so for white women and men. lowed by mixed education degree-holders ($32,760); those with a foreign degree earned the least Table 4 also shows that for white men (column 1) ($26,797). Similar to men, foreign credentials also and women (column 3), much of the net income dis- disadvantage visible-minority women more than parity between native-born Canadian degree-holders female, white Canadians. For example, white women and immigrant foreign degree-holders arises from born in Canada earned about $12,000 more than im- immigrant status. But about 47 percent of the net migrant foreign degree-holders of the same gender income disparity between native-born Canadian and origin, but visible-minority women born in degree-holders and immigrant foreign degree-hold- Canada earned $16,000 more than their counterparts ers can be attributed to foreign credentials for who were immigrant foreign degree-holders. visible-minority men, and 56 percent, for visible minority women. In short, if foreign degrees were Table 3 also shows that the hierarchy of earnings to be recognized as equivalent to Canadian degrees for various gender and racial groups found in Table 2 in the Canadian labour market, visible-minority

CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY Ð ANALYSE DE POLITIQUES, VOL. XXVII, NO. 1 2001 The Market Worth of Immigrants’ Educational Credentials 33

TABLE 4 Decomposing Net Earning Disadvantage of Immigrants’ Educational Credentials as Deriving from Immigrant Status and/or Foreign Degrees

Male Female Market Disadvantage (-) Measured Disadvantage White Visible White Visible by Earning Difference between Due to Canadian Minority Canadian Minority

[1] [2] [3] [4]

Native-born Canadian degree-holders Immigrant and immigrant Canadian degree-holders Status -$8,824 -$7,576 -$9,280 -$7,076

Immigrant Canadian degree-holders Foreign and immigrant foreign degree-holders Degree -$352 -$6,612 -$2,399 -$9,106

Native-born Canadian degree-holders and immigrant foreign degree-holders Both -$9,176 -$14,188 -$11,679 -$16,182

Source: Tests of significance are reported in Table A1 in Appendix.

women and men would stand to benefit the most in are native-born Canadian degree-holders, immigrant terms of reaching income parity with their native- Canadian degree-holders, immigrant mixed educa- born counterparts.11 tion holders, and immigrant foreign degree-holders. The study reveals that about half of immigrant degree-holders had foreign degrees, and the other half CONCLUSION had either Canadian degrees or mixed education degrees, and that immigrants were more likely than Despite the academic and policy interests on the native-born Canadians to be degree-holders. problem of evaluating immigrants’ credentials, little attempt has been made to estimate the market A comparison of gross earnings of different types worth of foreign degrees. Many studies have made of degree-holders while controlling for gender and explicit and implicit claims about how foreign cre- visible-minority status but not adjusting for other dentials of immigrants are being disadvantaged in variables indicates that credentials had only mar- the Canadian labour market to result in income dis- ginal effects on the earnings of immigrants. How- parity between immigrants and native-born Cana- ever, when variations of individual and work-related dians. This paper argues that gender and racial characteristics have been taken into account and characteristics of holders of credentials cannot be when gender and racial origin are controlled, immi- separated from the credentials themselves, since they grants’ credentials tend to substantially disadvan- produce complicated interaction effects. tage their net earnings. In general, immigrants’ credentials adversely affect the earnings of visible- Using the microdata file of the 1996 Census, the minority women and men more than white women paper constructs four types of degree-holders based and men. In particular, for visible minority women on age at immigration and degree held. These types and men, about half of the income disparity between

CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY Ð ANALYSE DE POLITIQUES, VOL. XXVII, NO. 1 2001 34 Peter S. Li native-born Canadian degree-holders and immigrant, NOTES foreign degree-holders can be attributed to foreign A version of this paper was presented at the Conference credentials. on “Creating Canada’s Advantage in an Information Age,” organized jointly by the Canadian Employment Research The study shows that foreign credentials produce Forum and the Institute for Research on Public Policy, a net effect on immigrants’ earnings over and be- Ottawa, 4-6 May 2000. This paper is based on research yond the influence of gender and racial origin. At supported by grants from the Social Sciences and Hu- the same time, the study also indicates that there is manities Research Council, and Prairie Centre of Excel- a clear earning disadvantage for immigrant, foreign lence for Research on Immigration and Integration. The degree-holders who are women of visible-minority helpful comments of the anonymous reviewers and the origin. Thus, the data confirm that there is a multi- editors are gratefully acknowledged. ple-negative effect of gender and race on the earn- 1The target population in the 1996 Census includes ings of immigrant women of minority origin (Boyd native-born Canadian citizens, landed immigrants and 1984; Beach and Worswick 1993). non-permanent residents who, on Census Day, were residing in a private dwelling in Canada. Institutional resi- Finally, the study has several policy implications. dents and residents of 77 incompletely enumerated Indian First, policy changes aimed at bridging the income reserves were not included. However, the 1996 Census, disparity between native-born Canadians and immi- like the 1991 Census, includes non-permanent residents grants should recognize that there are many sources in Canada, who are defined as persons who held a stu- of inequality arising from differences in gender, dent or employment authorization, Minister’s Permit, or race, immigrant status, and type of credentials. Sec- who were refugee claimants, as well as family members living with them at the time the census was taken (Statis- ond, policies that help to recognize foreign creden- tics Canada 1996). tials as equivalent to Canadian credentials in the labour market would contribute to bridging the in- 2The 1996 Public Use Sample File on Individuals con- come gap between native-born Canadians and im- tains records of 4,498 non-permanent residents, which migrants. However, such a recognition would, at made up 0.6 percent of the total sample. In the 1996 Cen- best, close about half of the income difference for sus population, there were 166,715 non-permanent residents, or 0.6 percent of the total population (Statistics visible-minority immigrants: between female, Canada 1996). native-born, Canadian degree-holders and female, immigrant, foreign degree-holders, as well as be- 3The variable “age at immigration” is different from tween male native-born Canadians and their immi- the variable “year of immigration” since in any given year grant counterparts. But policy changes aimed at there are different age groups entering Canada. In other recognizing foreign credentials are not likely to words, immigrants who came to Canada at the same age bridge the full 50 percent of the income gap because can belong to different entry cohorts, while immigrants of different ages coming to Canada can belong to the same such policy changes tend to be effective only in those entry cohort. jobs that require formal certification or licensing. In short, the labour market may continue to disad- 4In this paper, the term “visible minority” is used to vantage foreign credentials of job-seekers in jobs designate “non-white Canadians,” while “non-visible- that do not require formal certification. Third, there minority” membership is referred to as “white Canadi- is no doubt that recognition of foreign credentials ans.” Since the primary purpose is to test the effect of “race” along with “gender” and different types of cre- would remove some disparity between native-born and dentials, treating “visible minority” as “non-white Cana- immigrant degree-holders, but reduction of additional dian” does serve this purpose. Furthermore, although the inequality would require policies that are able to ad- census microdata file is relatively large, the cell frequency dress the more fundamental sources of inequality in for some groups, such as female, foreign-born visible mi- Canadian society premised upon gender and race. nority with degrees, becomes very small if further visible-

CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY Ð ANALYSE DE POLITIQUES, VOL. XXVII, NO. 1 2001 The Market Worth of Immigrants’ Educational Credentials 35 minority origins are segregated. It is also not clear how 10deSilva (1992, p. 22) also included a variable labeled such segregation can clarify the issue of “race,” since dif- “years of residence” in Canada in his model, but argued ferences attributed to different visible-minority origins that “years of residence” measures Canadian experience can be produced in part by “race,” and in part by “ori- already counted in the variable total “work experience,” gin.” The use of the variable “visible minority” as a proxy and as a departure from Chiswick and Miller (1988), for race is well accepted in the Canadian literature (see deSilva advocated separating the work experience for Hum and Simpson 1999; Li 2000) immigrants into pre- and post-immigration experience. The inclusion of both “total work experience” and “years 5Positive or negative limits were applied to 837 indi- of residence in the host country” in the same equation viduals with wages and salaries and to 403 individuals was introduced by Chiswick (1978), and subsequently with self-employment income in the census microdata. used by others such as Bloom and Gunderson (1991) and Assuming these were unique individuals, they made up Bloom, Grenier and Gunderson (1995). The standard in- at most 0.3 percent of the labour force in the sample (Sta- terpretation is that “years of residence in the host coun- tistics Canada 1996, Table 7). try” measures the effect of “assimilation,” or simply 6Portes and Zhou (1996) have argued that the statisti- familiarity with Canada, which is not measured by “work cally more superior loglinear model risks sacrificing outliers experience.” in order to normalize the residuals, and that there are solid 11Recognition of foreign credentials involves not only grounds to retain actual earnings to truly reflect the influ- their formal certification by licensing bodies and regula- ence of outliers. For this analysis, the full model (Table A1) tory agencies, but also social recognition by employers, produces an R value of 0.654 using actual earnings as the colleagues, and co-workers in the workplace even when dependent variable, and 0.737 using the natural logarithm formal licensing or certification is not required. of earnings as the dependent variable.

7“Full-time” refers to those who worked mainly full- EFERENCES time weeks in 1995, defined as involving working 30 R hours or more in one week, and “part-time” refers to those Abella, R.S. 1984. Report of the Royal Commission on who worked mainly part-time weeks in 1995 (Statistics Equality in Employment. Ottawa: Supply and Services Canada 1996). Canada. Alberta Task Force on the Recognition of Foreign Quali- 8The microdata file of the 1996 Census provides two fications. 1992. Bridging the Gap: A Report of the Task occupational classifications, based on the 1991 Standard Force on the Recognition of Foreign Qualifications. Occupational Classification (25 categories) and on the Edmonton: Government of Alberta. National Occupational Classification (14 categories) de- Andrews, F.M., J.N. Morgan, J.A. Sonquist and L. Klem. veloped by Statistics Canada and Human Resources De- 1976. Multiple Classification Analysis. Ann Arbor, MI: velopment Canada. The former takes into account Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan. industrial sectors in addition to using education, train- Basavarajappa, K.G. and R.B.P. Verma. 1985. “Asian ing, skill level, duties, and responsibilities of work as Immigrants in Canada: Some Findings from 1981 Cen- bases of classification, whereas the latter, constructed for sus,” International Migration 23(1):97-121. the purpose of employment equity designations, mainly re- Basran, G. and L. Zong. 1998. “Devaluation of Foreign lies upon the kind of work performed and the most impor- Credentials as Perceived by Non-White Professional tant duties related to the job. Since this analysis also uses Immigrants,” Canadian Ethnic Studies 30(3):6-23. the variable “industry of work,” the National Occupational Beach, C.M. and C. Worswick. 1993. “Is There a Dou- Classification of occupation is used to avoid the potential ble-Negative Effect on the Earnings of Immigrant overlap between the variables “occupation” and “industry.” Women?” Canadian Public Policy/Analyse de 9The microdata file of the 1996 Census uses the 1980 Politiques 19(1):36-53. Standard Industrial Classification to produce 16 classifi- Beaujot, R., K.G. Basavarajappa and R.B.P. Verma. 1988. cations. In this analysis, agriculture and other primary Income of Immigrants in Canada, Cat. No. 91-527E. industries are collapsed, and federal and other govern- Ottawa: Supply and Services Canada. ment services are also recoded into one group.

CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY Ð ANALYSE DE POLITIQUES, VOL. XXVII, NO. 1 2001 36 Peter S. Li

Billingsley, B. and L. Muszynski. 1985. No Discrimination Visible Minorities in Canada,” Canadian Public Here. Toronto: Social Planning Council of Metropolitan Policy/Analyse de Politiques 25(3):1-16. Toronto and the Urban Alliance on Race Relations. Li, P.S. 1992. “Race and Gender as Bases of Class Frac- Bloom, D.E. and M. Gunderson. 1991. “An Analysis of tions and their Effects on Earnings,” Canadian Review the Earnings of Canadian Immigrants,” in Immigra- of Sociology and Anthropology 29(4):488-510. tion, Trade and the Labour Market, ed. J.M. Abowd ______2000. “Earning Disparities Between Immigrants and R.B. Freeman. Chicago: University of Chicago and Native-Born Canadians,” Canadian Review of So- Press, pp. 321-67. ciology and Anthropology 37(3):289-311. Bloom, D.E., G. Grenier and M. Gunderson. 1995. “The McDade, K. 1988. Barriers to Recognition of the Cre- Changing Labour Market Position of Canadian Immi- dentials of Immigrants in Canada. Ottawa: Institute grants,” Canadian Journal of Economics 28(4b):987- for Research on Public Policy. 1005. Miedema, B. and N. Nason-Clark. 1989. “Second Class Boyd, M. 1984. “At a Disadvantage: The Occupational Status: An Analysis of the Lived Experiences of Im- Attainments of Foreign Born Women in Canada,” In- migrant Women in Fredericton,” Canadian Ethnic ternational Migration Review 18(4):1091-1119. Studies 21(2):63-73. ______1992. “A Matter of Degree and Major Issues: Nodwell, E. and N. Guppy. 1992. “The Effects of Pub- Immigrants, Educational Credentials and Economic licly Displayed Ethnicity on Interpersonal Discrimi- Correlates,” paper presented at the Canadian Employ- nation: Indo-Canadians in Vancouver,” Canadian ment Research Forum Workshop on Immigration, Hull, Review of Sociology and Anthropology 29(1):87-99. Quebec. Portes, A. and M. Zhou. 1996. “Self-Employment and the Canada. House of Commons. 1983. Proceedings of Spe- Earnings of Immigrants,” American Sociological Re- cial Committee on Participation of Visible Minorities view 61(2):219-30. in Canadian Society, Nos. 1-27. Ottawa: Supply and Rajagopal, I. 1990. “The Glass Ceiling in the Vertical Services Canada. Mosaic: Indian Immigrants to Canada,” Canadian Eth- Chiswick, B.R. 1978. “The Effect of Americanization on nic Studies 22 (1):96-105. the Earnings of Immigrants,” Journal of Political Reitz, J.G. and R. Breton. 1994. The Illusion of Differ- Economy 86(October):897-921. ence: Realities of Ethnicity in Canada and the United Chiswick, B.R. and P.W. Miller. 1988. “Earnings in States. Toronto: C.D. Howe Institute. Canada: The Roles of Immigrant Generation, French Satzewich, V. and P.S. Li. 1987. “Immigrant Labour in Ethnicity and Language,” in Research in Population Canada: The Cost and Benefit of Ethnic Origin in the Economics, Vol. 6, ed. T. Paul Schultz. Greenwich, CT: Job Market,” Canadian Journal of Sociology JAI Press, pp. 183-228. 12(3):229-41. deSilva, A. 1992. Earnings of Immigrants: A Compara- Scassa, T. 1994. “Language Standards, Ethnicity and Dis- tive Analysis. Ottawa: Economic Council of Canada. crimination,” Canadian Ethnic Studies 26(3):105-21. Foschi, M. and S. Buchan. 1990. “Ethnicity, Gender, and Statistics Canada. 1996. Documentation for 1996 Cen- the Perceptions of Task Competence,” Canadian Jour- sus, Public Use Microdata File on Individuals. Ottawa: nal of Sociology 15(1):1-18. Statistics Canada. Henry, F. 1989. Who Gets the Work in 1989? Ottawa: Swan, N. 1991. Economic and Social Impacts of Immi- Economic Council of Canada. gration: A Research Report. Ottawa: Supply and Ser- Henry, F. and E. Ginzberg. 1985. Who Gets the Work? A vices Canada. Test of Racial Discrimination in Employment. Toronto: Trovato, F. and C.F. Grindstaff. 1986. “Economic Status: The Urban Alliance on Race Relations and the Social A Census Analysis of Immigrant Women at Age Thirty Planning Council of Metropolitan Toronto. in Canada,” Canadian Review of Sociology and An- Hum, D. and W. Simpson. 1999. “Wage Opportunities for thropology 23(4):569-87.

CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY Ð ANALYSE DE POLITIQUES, VOL. XXVII, NO. 1 2001 The Market Worth of Immigrants’ Educational Credentials 37

APPENDIX

TABLE A1 Multiple Classification Analysis Models Estimating Net Effects of Independent Variables on Annual Earnings of Canadian Degree-Holders, Mixed Education Degree-Holders, and Foreign Degree-Holders, by Gender and Visible-Minority Status, 1995

Net Effects Net Effects on Earnings on Earnings Independent Variables Number [Model I] F Test [Model II] F Test

Types of degree-holders 278* 212* Native-born Male white Canadian 23,667 8,477 7,480 visible minority 567 1,891 1,668 Female white Canadian 21,287 -1,442 -1,849 visible minority 600 -1,359 -1,319 Foreign-born, immigrated between ages 0-12 Male white Canadian 1,472 -2,016 -1,344 visible minority 535 -6,569 -5,908 Female white Canadian 1,186 -12,537 -11,129 visible minority 543 -10,049 -8,395 Foreign-born, immigrated between ages 13-24 Male white Canadian 1,037 -1,700 -1,084 visible minority 1,172 -8,208 -6,184 Female white Canadian 850 -13,391 -11,854 visible minority 1,059 -14,113 -11,538 Foreign-born, immigrated age 25 or older Male white Canadian 2,164 -3,000 -1,696 visible minority 2,702 -15,749 -12,520 Female white Canadian 1,295 -15,959 -13,528 visible minority 1,672 -21,506 -17,501 CMA-level 118* 88* Not CMA 12,362 -3,137 -2,666 Small CMA (less than 500,000) 6,894 -1,092 -655 Medium CMA (500,000 to 1 million) 9,877 -1,508 -1,417 Large CMA (over 1 million) 32,675 1,873 1,575 Full/Part-time work 3194* 2564* Full-time 51,944 2,804 2,466 Part-time 9,864 -14,767 -12,985 Major field of study: 442* 272* Educational, recreational and counselling services 11,318 -3,068 -2,558 Arts, humanities and related fileds 8,575 -8,575 -6,178 Social sciences and related fields 12,250 -760 -152 Commerce, management and business administration 9,856 3,267 1,717 Agricultural and biological sciences 2,890 -5,515 -4,447 Engineering and applied sciences and technologies 6,572 2,817 304 Health professions, sciences and technologies 5,446 14,712 14,997 Mathematics, physics, and other 4,901 550 -807 Occupation 263* Senior managers 1,436 25,140 Middle and other managers 7,717 6,479 Professionals 32,121 1,671 Semi-professionals and technicians 3,707 -5,510

... continued

CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY Ð ANALYSE DE POLITIQUES, VOL. XXVII, NO. 1 2001 38 Peter S. Li

TABLE A1 (CONT’D.)

Net Effects Net Effects on Earnings on Earnings Independent Variables Number [Model I] F Test [Model II] F Test

Supervisors: clerical/sales services 582 -3,807 Supervisors: crafts/trades 738 -13,498 Administrative and senior clerical personnel 2,409 -6,046 Skilled sales and service personnel 1,646 -1,575 Skilled crafts and trades workers 493 -11,797 Clerical personnel 4,172 -8,906 Intermediate sales and service personnel 3,848 -4,647 Semi-skilled manual workers 1,085 -16,019 Other sales and service personnel 1,463 -5,433 Other manual workers 391 -9,807 Industry of work 94* Agriculture and primary 1,493 5,394 Manufacturing 5,787 4,808 Construction 943 -3,383 Transportation and storage 943 4,435 Communication and utility 1,678 6,087 Wholesale trade 2,172 3,276 Retail trade 3,381 -7,468 Finance/insurance/real estate 4,298 3,882 Business services 8,670 1,404 Governement services 5,570 -4 Educational services 14,559 -732 Health/social services 7,972 -183 Accommodation/food and beverage services 1,391 -8,221 Other services 3,551 -8,828 Knowledge of official languages 28* 29* English only 37,850 194 437 French only 3,257 -3,841 -3,638 Both English and French 20,645 280 -201 Neither English nor French 56 -11,481 -9,794 Number of degrees held 1134* 768* Bachelor only 47,197 -2,082 -1,695 Advanced 14,611 6,724 5,477 Work experience 61,808 1,936 3117* 1,639 2312* Work experience squared 61,808 -28 1464* -23 1077* Number of weeks worked 61,808 623 4245* 568 3711* Years since landing in Canada 61,808 323 175* 275 135* R2 0.39 1138* 0.43 770*

Note: Net effects are adjusted effects, expressed as deviations from the grand mean of $42,298 for all degree- holders, after differences in other characteristics in the equation have been taken into account. * p<0.05. Source: Compiled from 1996 Census of Canada, Public Use Microdata File on Individuals, based on a 2.8 percent probability sample of the population, excluding persons under 15 years of age, persons not in the labour force, non-permanent residents, and those in the Atlantic provinces and the Territories where information on age at immigration is not available.

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