The Immigration Dilemma edited by Steven Globerman The Fraser Institute Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada www.fraserinstitute.org Copyright © 1992 by The Fraser Institute. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without writ- ten permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The authors of this book have worked independently and opinions ex- pressed by them, therefore, are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the members or the trustees of The Fraser Institute. ISBN 0-88975-150-1 www.fraserinstitute.org Table of Contents Preface ....................vii About the authors ................ix Chapter 1 Background to Immigration Policy in Canada by Steven Globerman ..............1 Chapter 2 Post-War Canadian Immigration Patterns by William L. Marr ..............17 Chapter 3 The Socio-Demographic Impact of Immigration by Roderic Beaujot...............43 Chapter 4 Immigration Law and Policy by Larry Gold .................78 Chapter 5 The Economic and Social Effects of Immigration by Herbert G. Grubel..............99 www.fraserinstitute.org vi Chapter 6 The Economic Effects of Immigration: Theory and Evidence by Julian L. Simon ..............128 Chapter 7 Macroeconomic Impacts of Immigration by Alice Nakamura, Masao Nakamura, and Michael B. Percy ...............147 Chapter 8 Immigration and the Canadian Labour Market by Don J. DeVoretz ..............173 Chapter 9 Immigration and the Housing Market by J. F. Miyake ................196 Chapter 10 The Social Integration of Immigrants in Canada by Derrick Thomas ..............211 www.fraserinstitute.org Preface by Michael A. Walker EW SUBJECTS ARE AS CONTENTIOUS as immigration policy. The range Fof opinions literally covers all of the possibilities from completely open borders on the one hand to completely closed borders on the other. To some extent, the range of opinion reflects variation amongst people in the kind of society in which they would like to live. Some prefer the polyglot, richly textured cultural experience that open borders would produce. Others seek to preserve their own traditions and regard the di- lution of tradional ethnic mixes as a threat rather than an opportunity. These preferences, whether in favour of tighter or looser immigration criteria, are not something which can be subjected to scientific analysis. Hence, this book does not consider them. On the other hand, some of the variation in opinion is due to a dif- ferent perception about the facts. People with essentially the same pref- erences can disagree about the correct policy course because they have access to different information about the impact of immigration. The analysis provided in this book suggests that the facts are changing in the sense that historical experience and projected experience with immigra- tion are likely to be different. The purpose of this book is to provide a broad base of information for the consideration of those who are con- cerned about the immigration question in the hope that a reliable and comprehensive source of facts may produce convergence of opinion www.fraserinstitute.org viii about the ideal immigration policy. It considers the economic, social, le- gal and historical aspects of immigration and a range of professional as- sessment about what should be concluded on the basis of these facts. This is a timely book in that Canada is in the process of changing its immigration policy. The Fraser Institute has been pleased to sponsor the research and to make the independent examination of a tough public policy issue possible. However, because the authors and their editor have worked independently the views expressed are those of the au- thors and may or may not conform to those of the members and Trustees of the Fraser Institute. www.fraserinstitute.org About the Authors Roderic Beaujot Roderic Beaujot is Professor of Sociology and former director of the Population Studies Centre at the University of Western Ontario. He is also past president of the Federation of Canadian Demographers. After a Ph.D. at the University of Alberta, he worked at Statistics Canada from 1974 to 1976 and has since been at the University of Western Ontario, teaching in the areas of Canadian population and social policy, popula- tion of third world societies, and sociology of the family. His research has been in the areas of Canadian marriage and fertility, immigration and policy. His most recent book is Population Change in Canada: The Challenges of Policy Adaptation (McClelland and Stewart, 1991). He cur- rently holds a research grant to study “Production and reproduction: economic, cultural and structural accommodations for children.” Don J. DeVoretz Dr. Devoretz obtained his doctorate in economics from the University of Wisconsin in 1968. He has been with Simon Fraser University since 1968 with visiting appointments at Duke University and the Norwegian School of Economics. In addition, Dr. DeVoretz has sat on the Academic Advisory Board of Employment and Immigration since 1987. Dr. DeVoretz’ main research interests include the economics of immigra- tion with special emphasis on the employment, income and savings ef- fects of Canadian immigration flows. Dr. DeVoretz’ research findings have been reported both in professional journals and in The Wall Street www.fraserinstitute.org x Journal, The Globe and Mail, Macleans, and The Financial Times of London.A summary of his research findings is to be included in his forthcoming book, Canadian Immigrants: Windfall or Downfall? Steven Globerman Steven Globerman holds a Ph.D. in economics and is currently profes- sor of economics at Simon Fraser University and Adjunct Scholar at The Fraser Institute. He has served on the Faculty of Commerce and Busi- ness Administration at the University of British Columbia, the Faculty of Administrative Studies at York University, and the Faculty of Busi- ness Administration at Simon Fraser University. He has consulted for government agencies and private sector organizations and has pub- lished over 50 journal articles and 15 books and monographs on various aspects of economics and public policy. Larry Gold Larry Gold is a Barrister and Solicitor in public practice in Vancouver. He graduated from the University of British Columbia law school in 1973 and was called to the Bar in 1974. He currently practices law exten- sively in the areas of immigration and general litigation. He is a member of the Immigration subsection of the Canadian Bar Association. Herbert G. Grubel Herbert Grubel is a Professor of Economics at Simon Fraser University in the Department of Economics, specializing in international trade and finance. Born in Germany in 1934, Professor Grubel was educated at Rutgers University and at Yale where he received his Ph.D. in Econom- ics in 1962. During 1970-71 he was a Senior Policy Analyst for the U.S. Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., and in 1974-75 Professor Grubel was a visiting Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford. He has held academic posts at Stanford University, the University of Chi- cago, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Nairobi, the Australian National University, the University of Cape Town, the Insti- tute of Southeast Asian Studies, and the Kiel Institute of World Econom- ics. Professor Grubel has been the recipient of research grants from the National Science Foundation and the Canada Council. He is a member of The Fraser Institute Editorial Advisory Board. His publications include 14 books and over 100 scholarly articles in journals and books. www.fraserinstitute.org xi William Marr Bill Marr is Professor of Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University, and has authored or co-authored several articles and books on Canadian Economic History and Canada’s Immigration and its policies. His most recent research examines expenditure patterns and housing prefer- ences of various demographic groups in Canada. Joanna F. Miyake Joanna Miyake is presently a researcher at The Fraser Institute and an economic graduate student at Simon Fraser University. Her current area of research interest is the economics of health care. Alice Nakamura Alice Nakamura is a professor of business statistics in the Faculty of Business at the University of Alberta. She received a B.A. degree in eco- nomics from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and a Ph.D. in economics from The Johns Hopkins University. Her recent research is in the areas of labour economics and labour relations, microsimulation, and productivity measurement and analysis. She is a member of several editorial boards, on the executive for the Canadian Employment Re- search Forum, and the Vice President of the Canadian Economics Association. Masao Nakamura Masao Nakamura is a professor of finance and management science in the Faculty of Business at the University of Alberta. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees from Keio University in Tokyo and a Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University. His recent research interests focus on the financial and economic behaviour of firms and households in Canada, the U.S. and Japan, Japanese business practices, international business and econometrics. He has published extensively in leading economics and management journals. He is an Associate Editor for Labour Economics: An International Journal and a member of the Editorial Board for Manage- rial and Decision Economics. Michael Percy Dr. Michael Percy is a professor of economics at the University of Al- berta. He has done extensive work on issues of regional economic devel- www.fraserinstitute.org xii opment and resource management. Among his most recent books are Western Canada in the International Economy (1992) with E.J. Chambers and Strength in Adversity: A Study of the Alberta Economy (1990) with R. Mansell. Presently he is actively modelling the economic implications for Western Canada of alternate constitutional scenarios. Julian L. Simon Julian Simon teaches business administration at the University of Mary- land. His newest books are Population Matters: People, Resources, Envi- ronment and Immigration, and The Economic Consequences of Immigration.