Economic impact of Canada immigration
Population growth through immigration tends to boost GDP, but not necessarily per capita income depending on whether immigrants have an income above or below the national average, and whether the skills they bring have impacts that multiply benefits throughout the economy. Analysis of census data as of 2000 shows that immigrant incomes were at 80% of the national average after 10 years of residing in Canada.
Some observers note that almost all Canadians are either immigrants or descendants of immigrants and that the Canadian standard of living is one of the highest in the world. Therefore, based on this simple logic, these observers argue that immigration must have been beneficial to the Canadian economy, at least at some point in the past. In 1991, the Economic Council of Canada concluded that "A historical perspective gives little or no support to the view that immigration is needed for economic prosperity. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the fastest growth in per capita real incomes occurred at times with net immigration was nil or negative. Later in the 20th century, the opposite linkage is seen but, clearly, there is no long-term correlation." A University of Montreal study published in 2002 by professor Marc Termote used different methods and studied different countries and concluded that immigration has no statistical impact to the per capita income of a country.
The economic impact of immigration differs by immigration category. For example, according to Statistics Canada, there are significant differences in the labour force participation rates. 2001 labour force participation rates by category:
* Economic immigrants: 91%
* Economic immigrant spouses: 63%
* Family class immigrants: 59%
* Refugees: 44%
* Average of all immigrants: 70%
* Average of all Canadians: 68%
In 2001, the overall unemployment rate of immigrants was 37%. Federal and provincial government social programs can experience greater expense without corresponding tax revenue due to the low employment rate of immigrants. The Fraser Institute claims that the immigrants who arrived between 1990 and 2002 cost governments $18.3 billion (per annum (as of 2002) net of taxes raised from those immigrants) relating to universal social services.
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