| Migrant Integration in the Mid-21st Century: Bridging Divides Barriers and Bridges: Technology, Hiring, and Health for Newcomers Spring 2026 Retreat Toronto Metropolitan University | Event | 2026-03-26 | Mashatan, A., Gruzd, A., Stamenova, V., Banerjee, R., Seguel, P. |
| Annual Conference of the Atlantic Canada Economics Association (ACEA 2025)"Immigrant Earnings Assimilation in Canada: Cohorts, Inequality, and Sample Selection",
Authors: Husame Doganay (University of Alberta), Tony Fang (Memorial University of Newfoundland), Xingfei Liu (University of Alberta), Saba Ranjbar (University of Alberta),
Arthur Sweetman (McMaster University)
Abstract:
Purpose: This paper provides a comprehensive, non-parametric analysis of immigrant
earnings assimilation in Canada using five decades of micro-data from the Canadian Census (1971–2021). We track immigrant and native employment income trajectories at multiple points of the distribution—the mean, median, 25th percentile, and 75th percentile—disaggregated by cohort, gender, and age at arrival.
Design Methodology and approach: We demonstrate that immigrant’s earnings
assimilation is highly sensitive to sample selection: restrictive definitions that
exclude students, the self-employed, or zero earners present an overly optimistic picture, while inclusive samples reveal more persistent disadvantage. Taken together, the findings show that averages (means and medians) mask critical distributional variation and structural barriers.
Findings: Our results highlight persistent earnings gaps at entry, limited convergence over time, and widening inequality within immigrant groups. Immigrants at the top quartile (p75) experience partial catch-up, reducing shortfalls by roughly $5,000–10,000 over the first decade, while those at the bottom quartile (p25) remain locked $15,000–25,000 behind natives even after ten years. Gender and age differences compound these patterns, with women and older arrivals showing especially weak progress at the lower end of the distribution.
| Conference | 2025-10-19 | Saba Ranjbar |
| presentation at 2025 14th International Symposium of Quantitative Economics, Jilin University, Changchun, China, July 2025This was an earlier version of the paper titled "Immigrant Earnings Assimilation in Canada:
Cohorts, Inequality, and Sample Selection",
Authors:
Husame Doganay (Department of Economics, University of Alberta), Tony Fang (Department of Economics, Memorial University of Newfoundland), Xingfei Liu (Department of Economics, University of Alberta), Saba Ranjbar (Department of Economics, University of Alberta), Arthur Sweetman (Department of Economics, McMaster University)
Abtract:
In this paper, we leverage a novel methodology in investigating immigrant’s earning dynamics in
Canada over a crucial period of 1971-2021 when both the world and Canadian economy
witnessed profound transformations: such as the rapid ascent of digital technologies; volatile
shifts in the phase of globalization; and the unprecedented rise of remote work; accelerated by
the COVID-19 pandemic. Our innovative econometric approach allows us to non-parametrically
track earnings of successive Canadian immigrant cohorts in the face of such dramatic economic
transformations in the Canadian labour market. We argue that classical sample selection criteria
and traditional regression based functional analysis of immigrant earnings often offers only one
side of the whole picture on how immigrants assimilate into the Canadian labour market. Our
non-parametric cohort-tracking analysis offers a more comprehensive view on how immigrants
fare in the Canadian labour market. Our results suggests that during the past five decades,
Canadian immigrants’ earnings continue to fall behind natives. We show large and persistent
heterogeneity in earnings gap among cohorts and gender. Our paper provides a comprehensive
lens through which policy makers can see how historical (technological change, trade wars) and
recent trends (AI, Remote work) have shaped how Canadian labour market utilizes the skills and
productivities brought by international immigrants. University of Alberta | Conference | 2025-07-10 | Liu, X. |
| Southern Economic Association (SEA) 95th Annual Meeting Labor Market Discrimination (General) Session
The presented work was an earlier version of the paper titled "Earnings Assimilation in Canada (2006-2021): A Seemingly Unrelated Regression Approach" University of Alberta | Conference | 2025-11-25 | Doganay, H. |
| The Chinese Economists Society China Annual Conference, Lingnan College, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China, July 2025The presented paper was an earlier version of the paper titled "Immigrant Earnings Assimilation in Canada: Cohorts, Inequality, and Sample Selection"
Authors:
Husame Doganay (Department of Economics, University of Alberta), Tony Fang (Department of Economics, Memorial University of Newfoundland), Xingfei Liu (Department of Economics, University of Alberta), Saba Ranjbar (Department of Economics, University of Alberta), Arthur Sweetman (Department of Economics, McMaster University)
University of Alberta | Conference | 2025-07-06 | Liu, X. |
| Western Economic Association International (WEAI) 18th International Conference University of Alberta | Conference | 2026-04-01 | Liu, X. |
| Earnings assimilation of immigrants in Canada: 1971–2021 University of Alberta | Conference | 2025-05-09 | Liu, X. |
| The earnings of immigrants in Canada: The role of gender and the form of employment – An updated picture with the most recent cohorts | Conference | 2025-05-29 | Saba Ranjbar |
| A Historical Note on the Assimilation Rates of Foreign-Born Men and Women in the U.SThis project is closely related to the currently ongoing project "Immigrant Earnings Assimilation in Canada: Cohorts, Inequality, and Sample Selection" under Theme 2 <>. The paper is currently under review at Career Development International. University of Alberta | Publication | 2025-01-01 | Harriet Orcutt Duleep, Daniel J Dowhan, Liu, X., Mark C Regets, Robert Gesumaria |
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