New Quebecers integrate more easily into the job market than new Ontarians, the latest data from the Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ) revealed on Tuesday.
About 74% of “people from visible minorities in Quebec” of working age have a job, compared to only 70% in Ontario.
“In Quebec, the employment rate of black people (78.8%), that of Arab people (70.8%) and that of Latin American people (76.2%) are higher than those observed in Ontario (respectively 68.8%, 57.4% and 71.4%)”, specifies the ISQ report.
The reverse, however, occurs for people of Asian descent. The latter are more integrated into the labor market in Ontario than in Quebec, although in a lower proportion.
If being a woman and being a visible minority in Quebec is still detrimental to obtaining a job today, this disadvantage tends to diminish over the years. The gap between the employment rate of women from visible minorities and that of other women has gone from around 10% in 2016 to around 7% in 2021, still according to the ISQ.
Well-detailed reasons explain these delays, underline the authors of the report. The lack of work experience in Quebec, the difficulty of transferring one’s skills to a new country, a limited knowledge of French and the absence of a professional network are all handicaps that hinder the integration of new Quebecers. “Discrimination” also comes into play to understand these gaps, “especially for women”, it is specified.
These pitfalls tend to fade among second-generation immigrants. “Among non-immigrants,” continues the ISQ, “the employment rate of people from visible minorities (78%) is similar to that of those who are not from visible minorities (77%). »
Salary differences
The salary difference remains significant between visible minorities and the rest of the Quebec population, despite quantified progress in recent years. While the average annual income for these was $56,350 in 2019, it was around $43,840 for those. This is a relative difference of around 22%.
In 2019, the pay gap climbed to 25%.
The Latin American population is the one who suffers the most from this financial delay. The difference in average annual income between them and the rest of the population hovers between 26% and 32%, according to 2021 data.
Nevertheless, visible minorities occupy a more important place in the job market in Quebec each year. Their proportion has doubled in 20 years. It has increased from about 7% in 2001 to almost 18% in 2021.