Immigrants and the Labour Market in Hamilton...Labour market outcomes for newcomers to Canada It is well-established that newcomers to Canada have poorer labour market outcomes compared

Immigrants and theLabour Market in Hamilton

JANUARY 2011

With funding from

Prepared by: Tom Zizys

Prepared with the support of:

Hamilton Immigration Partnership Council

Hamilton Training Advisory Board

This document may be freely quoted and reproduced without obtaining the permission of the Hamilton Training Advisory Board provided that no changes whatsoever are made to the text and the Hamilton Training Advisory Board is acknowledged as author.The information presented in this report is current at the time of printing.The views expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada or the Government of Ontario.

1IMMIGRANTS AND THE LABOUR MARKET IN HAMILTON

This report, undertaken by Tom Zizys for the Hamilton Immigration

Partnership Council and the Hamilton Training Advisory Board, provides an

analysis of the local labour market experiences of newcomers in Hamilton.

Hamilton faces a major contradiction. Newcomers bring much needed

skills but are facing enormous difficulties in being accepted into the

Hamilton labour market. Notwithstanding Hamilton’s increasing

dependence on immigration for its future success and population growth,

Hamilton is not making good use of its immigrant skills.

Responding to the issues identified in this report are complex: integrating

immigrants into the labour force involves a number of different

stakeholders including employers, unions, educational institutions,

community agencies serving immigrants, professional bodies, all three

levels of government, as well as the individual immigrants themselves.

This report identifies a number of opportunities and suggests some areas

for action to more fully utilize the resources that newcomers to Hamilton

bring to the local labour force. It is intended to facilitate discussion with all

the above noted stakeholders in developing and implementing appropriate

solutions.

In developing a Hamilton immigrant labour market development strategy

this report provides a foundational contribution of a discrete and essential

strand of Hamilton’s employment and economic development strategy.

PPREFACE

2 IMMIGRANTS AND THE LABOUR MARKET IN HAMILTON

This report provides an overview of labour market outcomes for immigrants and newcomers settling in Hamilton, and offers a number of recommendations aimed at improving these outcomes.

Historically, Hamilton has tended to attract immigrants and newcomers whose levels of educational attainment have been somewhat lower than those seeking to settle in other parts of Ontario. No doubt this is in part because of the nature of the industries that have defined the Hamilton economy.

Hamilton’s newcomers, even more so than in the rest of the province, have tended to end up in entry-level occupations, “survival jobs” that are often precarious and typically offer limited prospects for advancement to better jobs with higher pay and greater security.

Efforts to improve the labour market outcomes of newcomers to Hamilton will need to rely on initiatives that target specific occupations and industries, that are designed with a thorough understanding of the labour market dynamics of these distinct occupations and industries, and that depend on close interactions with employers in these fields. Such initiatives can only succeed when they address the individual employee recruitment, retention and training needs of partner employers as they define them.

This paper identifies some potential target occupations and industries that could serve as candidates for such an approach.

Hamilton industriesOverall, the distribution of jobs across industries in Hamilton is relatively similar to the proportions found in Ontario as a whole, with the following exceptions:

• A much higher concentration in Hamilton of jobs in: ¦ Health Care and Social Assistance, largely due to employment in hospitals; ¦ Education, thanks to employment in universities;

• A somewhat higher concentration in Manufacturing, driven by a very high concentration of jobs in primary metal production and associated manufacturing;

• A much lower proportion of Hamilton jobs in: ¦ Professional, Scientific and Technical Services, particularly businesses engaged in scientific

research and development and computer systems services; ¦ Finance and Insurance; and ¦ Public Administration, notably federal but also provincial government employment.

EEXECUTIVE SUMMARY


Occupations of Hamilton residentsAmong the broad occupation categories, Hamilton residents are less likely than other residents of Ontario to be employed in Management; Business, Finance and Administration; and Natural and Applied Sciences, and more likely to be employed in Health and Processing, Manufacturing & Utilities.Analyzing all 520 occupations, Hamilton residents are somewhat less likely than residents in the rest of Ontario to be employed in jobs that typically require a post-secondary education, and conversely more likely to be employed in blue collar jobs (manufacturing, construction, transportation) and entry-level service sector jobs.

Employment opportunitiesIn addition to having regard to what industries and occupations currently exist in Hamilton, a plan to enhance labour market outcomes for newcomers to the city also needs to have regard to future employment prospects. Hamilton’s Economic Development Strategy seeks to promote six industry clusters:

• Advanced manufacturing

• Agribusiness and food processing

• Clean technology

• Creative industries

• Goods movement

• Life sciences

Immigration to HamiltonGiven the size of its population, Hamilton receives a slightly lower share of the immigrants coming to Ontario. Hamilton receives proportionately fewer newcomers from Southern and Eastern Asia while in turn receiving disproportionately more newcomers from the Middle East, West Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe and Africa. On average, immigrants who choose to live in Hamilton have lower levels of educational attainment than those in the broad Greater Toronto Area, however this education discrepancy has been shrinking. Newcomers to the Hamilton CMA are somewhat less likely to hold degrees in Mathematics, Computer and Information Sciences or Humanities. Conversely, they are much more likely to hold degrees in Architecture, Engineering, and Related Technologies.

Labour market outcomes for newcomers to CanadaIt is well-established that newcomers to Canada have poorer labour market outcomes compared to Canadian-born workers, as well as earlier cohorts of immigrants, despite high levels of post-secondary academic qualifications and previous work experience, with higher levels of unemployment, lower levels of remuneration, and more highly educated individuals working in jobs requiring few qualifications.

The major obstacles that newcomer face in accessing job jobs include:

• Sufficient language proficiency;

• Canadian work experience;

• Recognition of foreign academic credentials;

• Recognition of foreign work experience;

• Familiarity with Canadian business practices, norms and culture.


Analysis of labour market outcomes of immigrants and newcomers to HamiltonA comparison of the varying proportions of immigrants (arrived in Canada before 2001) and newcomers (arrived in Canada between 2001 and 2006) by major occupation categories indicates the following:

Analyzing the data more closely reveals the following trends: pre-1996, immigrants to Hamilton tended to work in manufacturing jobs or in helping positions in health care or construction. The 1996-2000 wave of immigrants saw a growing proportion of newcomers employed in professional and technical occupations in natural and applied sciences, though not in the same proportions as Ontario as a whole. Among 2001-2006 newcomers, the proportions seem quite similar between Hamilton and Ontario (having regard to the slightly smaller proportion of newcomers in the Hamilton workforce). The one outlier is the high proportion of newcomers in Intermediate Occupations in Primary Industry in Hamilton.

Reviewing specific occupations, compared to Ontario as a whole, Hamilton’s newcomers are far more likely to find themselves in entry-level occupations. Three higher-level occupations make the top-ten list of jobs for Ontario’s newcomers: computer programmers, information system analysts, and financial auditors and accountants. In comparison, Hamilton’s newcomers’ top-ten list includes only post-secondary research assistants.

Skills/sector framework distributionViewing labour market outcomes for employed Canadian-born, immigrant and newcomer residents of Hamilton through the skills/sector framework illustrates the following:

• Both immigrants and newcomers hold a smaller proportion of Knowledge Work jobs than Canadian-born residents;

• Immigrants have a high concentration in the Middle Working category, the higher level jobs in manufacturing, construction and transportation;

• Newcomers meanwhile have a high concentration in the Working Entry category;

• Overall, the majority of newcomers (52.6%) end up in entry level jobs (Service Entry, Working Entry and Primary Entry).

HIGHER CONCENTRATIONS

IMMIGRANTS NEWCOMERS

Management +

Health + +

Social science, education, government +

Trades, transport and equipment operators +

Primary industry + +

LOWER CONCENTRATIONS

Business, finance and administration — —

Natural and applied sciences — —


These outcomes differ for those for the Ontario minus Toronto figures, where not only immigrants but also newcomers hold a higher proportion of Knowledge Work jobs than Canadian-born residents, and slightly less than half of newcomers end up in entry-level jobs.

However, this aspect of labour market outcomes for immigrants in Hamilton needs to be seen in perspective. Historically, immigrants came to Hamilton to work in the blue-collar occupations (notably the steel mills, but other working-class jobs as well). Over the last decade, the level of educational attainment of immigrants coming to Hamilton has risen significantly, even though it has not reached a par with that of immigrants settling in other parts of Ontario.

Comparing two cohorts of newcomers, those arriving between 1996 and 2001 and between 2000 and 2006, labour market outcomes for newcomers arriving in Ontario (both Toronto and the rest of Ontario minus Toronto) actually worsened, with fewer newcomers finding employment in Knowledge Work jobs. In Hamilton, the proportions in Knowledge Work jobs stayed steady, while otherwise there was shift in employment from Working sector jobs to Entry Service jobs.

There are a number of areas that warrant either further analysis and exploration (for example, learning more about a particular industry or occupation by talking with employers) or consultation with settlement and employment service providers, to assess some potential initiatives against the experience of service providers in the field. These areas can be described as follows:

Occupations where there has been some success in Hamilton (it would be worthwhile to gain further insights into the attraction of these occupations by speaking with employers as well as some newcomers working in these fields):

• Occupations in post-secondary education

• Electricians

• Metal forming, shaping and erecting trades

• Automotive service technicians

• Machine operators, industrial butchers and labourers in food, beverage and tobacco processing

• Sewing machine operators

• Metalworking machine operators

• Installers, servicers and trades helpers

In addition, there are a number of occupations where newcomers in Hamilton appear not to be doing as well as newcomers elsewhere in Ontario, and given the numbers of individuals involved, it warrants investigating what could be done. These occupations are:

• Health occupations

• Civil, mechanical and electrical and electronics engineers

• Agriculture and horticulture workers

• Bookkeepers


Over half of Hamilton’s newcomers end up in an entry-level job, and one in every five ends up in typical entry-level service job (sales clerk, cashier, cleaner, janitor, cook, server, security guard, taxi driver, etc.). A number of these occupations could be the subject of a career ladder program, where training and education attached to the workplace supports an individual to move up to the next job.

Hamilton’s six target clusters offer some possible opportunities, notably the following:

• Agribusiness and food processing (given the large number of newcomers already working in this sector)

• Goods movement (entry-level and advancement opportunities)

• Clean technology (possible bridging opportunities for foreign-trained engineers)

On the supply side (that is, services directed at newcomers), the following possible initiatives should be considered by the network of agencies providing settlement and employment services to newcomers in Hamilton:

• Cataloguing of all employment services for newcomers in Hamilton

• Coordinating the provision of employment services (for example, scheduling of hours of operation, of workshops and other group activities)

• Promoting dialogue and networking among the different employment services silos (EO, CIC, MCI and OW)

• Cataloguing of all English language services for newcomers in Hamilton

• Developing partnerships between language, employment and credential assessment services in Hamilton

• Specialized programs focused on career advancement, such as local bridging programs, pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship projects, and career ladder programs


CTABLE OF CONTENTSI. Introduction 8 II. The labour market outcomes of

immigrants in Hamilton 9

The labour market context 9Employment by industries in Hamilton 9Employment by occupations among Hamilton residents 12Future key industry clusters for Hamilton 14

Profile of immigrants and newcomers in Hamilton 16Source regions 16Educational attainment 17Some other characteristics 18

Visible minority status 18Major fields of study 19Field of study cross-tabbed by source country 19

Labour market outcomes 20Labour market outcomes generally for newcomers to Canada 20

Summary of the literature on labour market outcomes of newcomers to Canada 21

Analysis at the broad occupational level (1-digit NOC level) of labour market outcomes of newcomers to Hamilton 22

Analysis at the intermediate occupational level (2-digit NOC level) of labour market outcomes of newcomers to Hamilton 25

Analysis at the detailed occupation level (4-digit NOC level) of labour market outcomes of newcomers to Hamilton 26

Skills/sector framework distribution 27 III. From numbers to action: Opportunities for intervention 31

Opportunities by occupation 31Occupations experiencing challenges 37Dead-end occupations 41Opportunities among Hamilton’s six target clusters 42Opportunities on the supply side 44

IV. Conclusion 46 Appendices 47


This report provides an overview of labour market outcomes for immigrants and newcomers settling in Hamilton, and offers a number of recommendations aimed at improving these outcomes.

This report is organized as follows:

• A review of the employment context in Hamilton, including a description of Hamilton industries, occupations and economic development priorities;

• An overview of what the research literature tells us about the labour market experience of newcomers to Canada;

• A statistical profile of immigrants and newcomers to Hamilton;

• An overview of the labour market outcomes of immigrants and newcomers to Hamilton;

• Further analysis of this data and some resulting recommendations.

A word on terms: In this report, the term immigrants will refer to those individuals who were not born in Canada and have been in Canada for at least five years; when referring to data, this actually means those who arrived before 2001 (the most recent detailed data comes from the last Census, administered in 2006). The term newcomers will refer to those individuals who were not born in Canada and have been in Canada for less than five years; when referring to data, this actually means those who arrived between 2001 and 2006.

A word on data: most of the data for this report comes from customized Statistics Canada 2006 Census data made available to the Hamilton Training Advisory Board by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. The data covers the geographic area of the City of Hamilton. In a few instances, the data refers to the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area, which includes the City of Hamilton and also the City of Burlington and the Town of Grimsby. This data will be identified as Hamilton CMA. As well, most of the data refers to employment by residence, that is, the occupations and industries that Hamilton residents work in. These jobs may be located in the City of Hamilton, but includes jobs that residents commute to outside of Hamilton. In a few instances, the data refers to the actual jobs in Hamilton, and will be identified as such.

I.I. INTRODUCTION


The labour market contextEmployment by industries in HamiltonOne way to describe the labour market in Hamilton is through the levels of employment by industry. Table 1 lists the major industry categories (using the North American Industrial Classification System – NAICS), both by absolute number of jobs and by the percentage of the total workforce, using 2006 Census data. The figures for Ontario are offered as comparison.

This data does not include those who did not have a fixed workplace, which results in certain occupations and certain industries being undercounted, such as construction. Nevertheless, comparisons between Hamilton and Ontario are valid, because in each instance a comparable undercounting occurs.

Table 1: Employment in industries, Hamilton and Ontario, 2006

HAMILTON ONTARIO

# % # %

TOTAL 197200 100.0% 5570865 100.0%

11 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 3015 1.5% 99825 1.8%

21 Mining and oil and gas extraction 185 0.1% 21485 0.4%

22 Utilities 935 0.5% 43900 0.8%

23 Construction 6800 3.4% 176115 3.2%

31-33 Manufacturing 32905 16.7% 826445 14.8%

41 Wholesale trade 7645 3.9% 273795 4.9%

44-45 Retail trade 23885 12.1% 656575 11.8%

48-49 Transportation and warehousing 7610 3.9% 225510 4.0%

51 Information and cultural industries 3450 1.7% 152220 2.7%

52 Finance and insurance 6500 3.3% 300915 5.4%

53 Real estate and rental and leasing 3770 1.9% 114450 2.1%

54 Professional, scientific, technical services 8970 4.5% 416400 7.5%

55 Management companies & enterprises 110 0.1% 7705 0.1%

56 Administrative, support, remediation 6705 3.4% 219770 3.9%

61 Educational services 18890 9.6% 388370 7.0%

62 Health care and social assistance 29620 15.0% 563265 10.1%

71 Arts, entertainment and recreation 3680 1.9% 117075 2.1%

72 Accommodation and food services 13345 6.8% 367640 6.6%

81 Other services (not public administration) 10375 5.3% 265735 4.8%

91 Public administration 8805 4.5% 333680 6.0%

II.II. THE LABOUR MARKET OUTCOMES OF IMMIGRANTS IN HAMILTON


Overall, the distribution of jobs across industries is relatively similar to Ontario’s proportions, with the following exceptions: a much higher concentration in Hamilton of jobs in the Health Care and Social Assistance sector (largely due to employment in hospitals) and in Education (largely due to employment in universities), and a somewhat higher concentration in Manufacturing (driven by primary metal production and associated manufacturing); on the other hand, Hamilton has a noticeably smaller proportion of jobs in Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (particularly businesses engaged in scientific research and development and computer systems services), Finance and Insurance, and Public Administration (particularly federal but also provincial government employment).

Taking the analysis a bit further, Chart 1 highlights the top ten industries in Hamilton by number of jobs in 2006. The size of each bubble is proportional to the number of jobs in that industry. The vertical axis compares the degree of concentration of that industry in Hamilton compared to Ontario. “1” means that the number of jobs in that industry in Hamilton is in exactly the same proportion as found in Ontario as a whole. “2” means that industry has twice the proportion of jobs in Hamilton as found in Ontario, while “.5” means half. The horizontal axis shows the percentage change in the number of jobs in that industry between 2001 and 2006.

Chart 1: Size of industry, location quotient and growth between 2001 and 2006 of the top ten industries by number of jobs in Hamilton

3 | P a g e

Assistance sector (largely due to employment in hospitals) and in Education (largely due to employment in universities), and a somewhat higher concentration in Manufacturing (driven by primary metal production and associated manufacturing); on the other hand, Hamilton has a noticeably smaller proportion of jobs in Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (particularly businesses engaged in scientific research and development and computer systems services), Finance and Insurance, and Public Administration (particularly federal but also provincial government employment). Taking the analysis a bit further, Chart 1 highlights the top ten industries in Hamilton by number of jobs in 2006. The size of each bubble is proportional to the number of jobs in that industry. The vertical axis compares the degree of concentration of that industry in Hamilton compared to Ontario. “1” means that the number of jobs in that industry in Hamilton is in exactly the same proportion as found in Ontario as a whole. “2” means that industry has twice the proportion of jobs in Hamilton as found in Ontario, while “.5” means half. The horizontal axis shows the percentage change in the number of jobs in that industry between 2001 and 2006. Chart 1: Size of industry, location quotient and growth between 2001 and 2006 of the top ten industries by number of jobs in Hamilton

Manufacturing

Wholesale trade

Other services

Accommodation& food

Professional, scientific &

technical services

Educational services

Health care & social assistance

Retail trade

Transportation& warehousing

Public administration

=1000 employees

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

-30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30


The top right quadrant of the chart defines those industries that are more prominent in Hamilton and that have positive growth in employment (Health Care and Social Assistance, Educational Services, Accommodation and Food, and Other Services). The bottom right quadrant also signifies growth industries, but those that are disproportionately smaller in Hamilton (Professional, Scientific and Technical Services, Public Administration, and Wholesale Sale). Two industries (Retail Trade, Transportation and Warehousing) straddle the middle, meaning hardly any growth and present in Hamilton in the same proportion as that industry in Ontario. Finally, Manufacturing, the single largest industry by number of jobs in Hamilton, has seen a decline in employment of approximately 14% between 2001 and 2006.

There is a reason why Hamilton has often been called “Steel City.” While Manufacturing is the most prominent industry, among the 21 sub-sectors in manufacturing, Hamilton is particularly prominent for primary metal manufacturing (Location Quotient: 8.4), and within that sub-sector, Iron and Steel Mills stands out (Location Quotient: 16.4). That is, employment in iron and steel mills in Hamilton as a proportion of all jobs in Hamilton is sixteen times larger than the proportion for Ontario. Chart 2 illustrates the status of all the manufacturing sub-sectors, with only those more prominent in terms of either size or growth named in the chart.

Chart 2: Size of industry, location quotient and growth between 2001 and 2006 of manufacturing sub-sector industries in Hamilton

4 | P a g e

The top right quadrant of the chart defines those industries that are more prominent in Hamilton and that have positive growth in employment (Health Care and Social Assistance, Educational Services, Accommodation and Food, and Other Services). The bottom right quadrant also signifies growth industries, but those that are disproportionately smaller in Hamilton (Professional, Scientific and Technical Services, Public Administration, and Wholesale Sale). Two industries (Retail Trade, Transportation and Warehousing) straddle the middle, meaning hardly any growth and present in Hamilton in the same proportion as that industry in Ontario. Finally, Manufacturing, the single largest industry by number of jobs in Hamilton, has seen a decline in employment of approximately 14% between 2001 and 2006. There is a reason why Hamilton has often been called “Steel City.” While Manufacturing is the most prominent industry, among the 21 sub-sectors in manufacturing, Hamilton is particularly prominent for primary metal manufacturing (Location Quotient: 8.4), and within that sub-sector, Iron and Steel Mills stands out (Location Quotient: 16.4). That is, employment in iron and steel mills in Hamilton as a proportion of all jobs in Hamilton is sixteen times larger than the proportion for Ontario. Chart 2 illustrates the status of all the manufacturing sub-sectors, with only those more prominent in terms of either size or growth named in the chart. Chart 2: Size of industry, location quotient and growth between 2001 and 2006 of manufacturing sub-sector industries in Hamilton

Food manufacturing

Machinery manufacturing

Wood product

Primary metal

Fabricated metal

Transportation equipment

Furniture product

=1000 employees

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

-125 -75 -25 25 75 125


Employment by occupations among Hamilton residentsAnother way to profile employment in Hamilton is by what occupations residents are employed in. Not all of these jobs are in Hamilton, as some residents will commute outside Hamilton for work. But the majority of residents work in Hamilton and an analysis of their occupations provides another way of understanding the Hamilton economy.

Table 2 provides the number and proportion of Hamilton residents by major occupational categories, compared to Toronto, Ontario, and Ontario minus Toronto (Toronto’s concentration of corporate headquarters, banking and securities, and creative industries can distort the Ontario numbers – a fairer context for Hamilton is to compare it to the Ontario numbers without Toronto).

Certain occupations are less pronounced among Hamilton residents: Management; Business, Finance and Administration; and Natural and Applied Sciences. Two occupations which show larger proportions among Hamilton residents are in Health and in Processing, Manufacturing & Utilities.

There are 520 occupations defined under the National Occupational Classification (NOC). Another way to cluster these occupations is as follows:1

Knowledge workers – jobs that absolutely require a university degree or a three-year college diploma or a highly refined skill;

Middle jobs – jobs that typically do not require a post-secondary degree but which do require some skill, usually acquired through several years of work or through apprenticeship; and

Entry-level jobs – jobs that typically require a high school diploma, but otherwise require no experience, as well as the next-level job immediately accessible after a short period in an entry-level job.

Table 2: Employed residents by major occupational categories, employment in industries, Hamilton and Ontario, 2006

HAMILTON TORONTO ONTARIOONTARIO MINUS

TORONTO

TOTAL ALL OCCUPATIONS 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Management Occupations 9.1% 10.9% 10.6% 10.5%

Business, Finance and Administration Occupations 16.5% 20.7% 18.7% 18.2%

Natural and Applied Sciences 5.4% 8.2% 7.1% 6.8%

Health Occupations 6.7% 5.1% 5.4% 5.5%

Social Science, Education, Government Service 8.7% 9.7% 8.5% 8.3%

Occupations in Art, Culture, Recreation and Sport 2.5% 5.3% 3.0% 2.5%

Sales and Service Occupations 24.4% 22.5% 23.2% 23.3%

Trades, Transport and Equipment Operators 17.1% 10.2% 14.0% 15.0%

Occupations Unique to Primary Industry 2.4% 0.6% 2.5% 3.0%

Processing, Manufacturing & Utilities Occupations 7.2% 6.9% 7.0% 7.0%

1 This classification approach is described in greater detail in Tom Zizys, An Economy Out of Shape: Changing the Hourglass, Toronto Workforce Innovation Group, 2010


The Middle and Entry-level jobs are further divided by broad industrial sector:

Service sector: occupations engaged in the provision of services;

Working sector: occupations engaged in manufacturing, the trades and transportation;

Primary sector: occupations engaged in agriculture, fishing, farming, and oil and mining.

Table 3 displays the distribution of occupations in which Hamilton residents were employed in 2006, using the skill/sector framework described above.

To provide a context, comparisons are made with Toronto and Ontario minus Toronto. Toronto has such a high proportion of Knowledge Workers that the figures for Ontario do not properly reflect the distinct labour markets that exist in Toronto and the rest of Ontario.

Hamilton residents are somewhat more likely to be employed in Working sector jobs and in Service Entry jobs than residents in Ontario excluding Toronto, and somewhat less likely to be employed in Knowledge Work jobs.

Table 3: Distribution of employed residents by the skills/sector framework, Hamilton, Toronto and Ontario minus Toronto, 2006

HAMILTON TORONTOONTARIO MINUS

TORONTO

Knowledge Work 29.9% 40.7% 32.3%

Middle Service 11.5% 11.3% 12.3%

Service Entry 31.0% 29.6% 29.5%

Middle Working 13.9% 8.5% 12.0%

Working Entry 11.3% 9.4% 10.9%

Middle Primary 0.7% 0.1% 1.3%

Primary Entry 1.7% 0.5% 1.7%

TOTAL 100.0% 100.1% 100.0%

Chart 3: Distribution of employed residents by the skills/sector framework, Hamilton, Toronto and Ontario minus Toronto, 2006

7 | P a g e

Chart 3: Distribution of employed residents by the skills/sector framework, Hamilton, Toronto and Ontario minus Toronto, 2006

Future key industry clusters for Hamilton The current mix of industries and occupations in Hamilton provide a context for appreciating labour market prospects for newcomers. Another consideration is where one might anticipate employment growth. As part of the City of Hamilton’s Economic Development Strategy, six industry clusters have been identified as areas where Hamilton wishes to concentrate its efforts toward business attraction and growth. These clusters, in order of priority, are:

Advanced Manufacturing (refers to the new techniques and machines combined with information technology, microelectronics and new organizational practices, resulting in innovative and cost-effective manufacturing processes)

Agribusiness and Food Processing (includes primary production as well as foodservice providers, food manufacturers and non-food products and services)

Clean Technology (companies which design, develop or manufacture products or services which reduce negative environmental impacts; includes alternative energy generation, energy efficiency, manufacturing, waste and recycling, and so on)

Creative Industries (activities that focus on creating and leveraging value from intellectual

property products such as music, books, film and games; or providing business-to-business creative services including design, architecture, advertising, public relations, broadcasting, printing, computer programming, publishing, multimedia, audio-visual, photographic, digital media, as well as crafts. This sector also includes festivals, visual and performing arts)

Goods Movement (delivering goods and services to and from manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retailers)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Hamilton Ontario minus Toronto

Toronto

Primary Entry

Middle Primary

Working Entry

Middle Working

Service Entry

Middle Service

Knowledge Work


Future key industry clusters for HamiltonThe current mix of industries and occupations in Hamilton provide a context for appreciating labour market prospects for newcomers. Another consideration is where one might anticipate employment growth. As part of the City of Hamilton’s Economic Development Strategy, six industry clusters have been identified as areas where Hamilton wishes to concentrate its efforts toward business attraction and growth.

These clusters, in order of priority, are:

• Advanced Manufacturing (refers to the new techniques and machines combined with information technology, microelectronics and new organizational practices, resulting in innovative and cost-effective manufacturing processes)

• Agribusiness and Food Processing (includes primary production as well as foodservice providers, food manufacturers and non-food products and services)

• Clean Technology (companies which design, develop or manufacture products or services which reduce negative environmental impacts; includes alternative energy generation, energy efficiency, manufacturing, waste and recycling, and so on)

• Creative Industries (activities that focus on creating and leveraging value from intellectual property products such as music, books, film and games; or providing business-to-business creative services including design, architecture, advertising, public relations, broadcasting, printing, computer programming, publishing, multimedia, audio-visual, photographic, digital media, as well as crafts. This sector also includes festivals, visual and performing arts)

• Goods Movement (delivering goods and services to and from manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retailers)

• Life Sciences (the application of scientific tools and techniques in research, development and manufacturing, including pharmaceutics, gene therapy, clinical trials, biotechnology and nanotechnology)


Several of these clusters cross a number of industries and occupations but are nevertheless capable of being quantified. For example, the goods movement industry, also known as the supply chain sector, crosses such industry sectors as wholesale trade, retail trade and transportation and warehousing. According to the Canadian Supply Chain Sector Council, the Hamilton CMA’s supply chain sector resident labour force is the second largest in the province, and makes up a comparable proportion of Hamilton CMA’s labour force as the Toronto CMA (4.8% compared to 5.1%).

Similarly, one can arrive at an estimate for employment in the creative industries and provide a context for the relative importance for this industry in Hamilton compared to other Ontario benchmarks. One approach,3 called the creative trident, identifies three strands that make up the creative workforce:

• ‘Specialist’ artists, professionals or creative individuals working in creative/culture industries (i.e. the core culture jobs);

• ‘Support’ staff in those creative/culture industries providing management, secretarial, administrative or accountancy back-up; and

• ‘Embedded’ creative/culture staff, those individuals working in creative occupations in other industries not defined as creative or culture.

The list of occupations considered “creative occupations” and the list of industries considered “creative industries” is provided in Appendix A of this report. Relying on this approach results in the following mapping of the creative industry in Hamilton.

Table 4: Size of supply chain sector labour force, select Ontario census metropolitan areas, 2001, 2006 and 20092

2001 2006 2009

Hamilton 16821 17815 17997

Kingston 1638 1807 2023

Kitchener 13031 15785 14916

London 10202 11238 10576

Oshawa 7251 8921 8966

Ottawa-Gatineau (Ont.) 10312 12101 13039

St. Catharines - Niagara 7280 7311 6863

Sudbury 1889 2365 2374

Thunder Bay 1767 1670 1483

Toronto 125634 144098 150432

Windsor 6024 6339 6700

Table 5: Employment in the creative sector, City of Hamilton, 2006

EMPLOYMENT IN CREATIVE INDUSTRIES

EMPLOYMENTIN OTHER

INDUSTRIES

TOTAL EMPLOYMENT

Creative occupations 2020 2220 4240

Support occupations in creative industries 3550 3550

TOTAL 5570 7790

2 The Canadian Supply Chain Sector Council has a labour market data web tool that provides supply chain sector labour force data for Canada. Their website is <http://www.supplychaincanada.org/en/>.3 Drawn from Peter Higgs, Stuart Cunningham and Hasan Bakhshi, Beyond the creative industries: Mapping the creative economy in the United Kingdom, NESTA Technical report: February 2008.


As a proportion of all jobs that exist in Hamilton (see Table 1), the creative sector makes up 4.0%. This pales in comparison to the City of Toronto, where 9.2% of jobs are in the creative sector, however it is not too far off the average for the rest of Ontario, which stands at 4.6%.

Profile of immigrants and newcomers in Hamilton

Hamilton receives a slightly lower proportion of immigrants to Ontario. Whereas the population of the City of Hamilton represents roughly 4.1% of the Ontario population, the proportion of immigrants coming to Ontario who choose to reside in Hamilton falls somewhat short of that figure:

Source regionsThe profile of who comes to Hamilton is noticeably different from the pattern for Ontario as a whole. Among major source regions, Hamilton receives proportionately fewer newcomers from Southern Asia (e.g., Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) and Eastern Asia (e.g., China, Hong Kong), while in turn receiving disproportionately more newcomers from the Middle East (e.g., Iraq, Turkey), West Central Asia (e.g., Afghanistan), Eastern Europe (e.g. former Soviet Union, Romania), Southern Europe (e.g., former Yugoslavia) and Africa (e.g., Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, Zimbabwe). Data for immigration from these regions is provided below:

The figures for other source regions where the proportions for Hamilton and Ontario are roughly equal are not included in this table.

Table 6: Immigrants Coming to Ontario who chose to reside in Hamilton

Period 1991-2000 2001-2002 2003-2006

Number 26940 6145 10420

% of Ontario immigration 2.89% 2.55% 3.07%

Table 7: Some select regions of birth for recent immigrants, Hamilton and Ontario, 2003-2006

NUMBER ARRIVING TO HAMILTON

PERCENT OF ALL RECENT

IMMIGRANTS TO HAMILTON

NUMBER ARRIVING TO

ONTARIO

PERCENT OF ALL RECENT

IMMIGRANTS TO ONTARIO

West Central Asia/Middle East 1800 17.3% 37685 11.1%

Southern Asia 1685 16.2% 92580 27.3%

Eastern Asia 1225 11.8% 55855 16.4%

Eastern Europe 1035 9.9% 27590 8.1%

Eastern Africa 735 7.1% 11395 3.4%

United States 535 5.1% 11540 3.4%

Southern Europe 525 5.0% 8640 2.5%

Northern Africa 440 4.2% 5410 1.6%


Educational attainmentHamilton also differs in the level of educational attainment of the immigrants who have settled here. On average, immigrants who choose to live in Hamilton have lower levels of educational attainment than those in the broad Greater Toronto Area. However, the gap in educational attainment has been shrinking with each successive cohort of immigrants. This characteristic can be expressed in two ways, firstly, by those who have no educational certificate (Chart 4).

Prior to 1996, 41% of immigrants4 to Hamilton had no educational certificate (that is, not even a high school diploma). The spread between the area5 with the highest such figure (Hamilton at 41%) and that with the lowest (Ottawa at 22%) was 19% (almost double). For newcomers arriving between 2001 and 2006, Hamilton’s high figure dropped to 18.4%, only 3.6% higher than Ottawa’s low of 14.8%.

This trend can also be expressed in terms of immigrants holding a university Bachelor’s degree or higher, where the figures also show comparative improvement for Hamilton, although not at the same scale. Chart 5 illustrates how the percentage of immigrants with university degrees increased substantially during the periods 1996-2000 and 2001-2006. However, even though Hamilton’s numbers also climbed, its figure of 35.4% is 5% less than the next lowest regions compared (York region at 40.4% and Durham region at 40.5%) and almost 10% less than that for Peel-Halton region (44.2%).

Chart 4: Percentage of immigrants aged 15 years and older with no educational certificate

10 | P a g e

Table 8: Some select regions of birth for recent immigrants, Hamilton and Ontario, 2003-2006

Number Arriving to Hamilton

Percent of All Recent

Immigrants to Hamilton

Number Arriving to

Ontario

Percent of All Recent

Immigrants to Ontario

West Central Asia/Middle East 1800 17.3% 37685 11.1% Southern Asia 1685 16.2% 92580 27.3% Eastern Asia 1225 11.8% 55855 16.4% Eastern Europe 1035 9.9% 27590 8.1% Eastern Africa 735 7.1% 11395 3.4% United States 535 5.1% 11540 3.4% Southern Europe 525 5.0% 8640 2.5% Northern Africa 440 4.2% 5410 1.6%

The figures for other source regions where the proportions for Hamilton and Ontario are roughly equal are not included in this table.

Educational attainment Hamilton also differs in the level of educational attainment of the immigrants who have settled here. On average, immigrants who choose to live in Hamilton have lower levels of educational attainment than those in the broad Greater Toronto Area. However, the gap in educational attainment has been shrinking with each successive cohort of immigrants. This characteristic can be expressed in two ways, firstly, by those who have no educational certificate (Chart 4). Chart 4: Percentage of immigrants aged 15 years and older with no educational certificate

05

1015202530354045

Percentage with no educational certificate, successive immigrant cohorts, select Ontario regions, 1996-2006

pre-1996

1996 - 2001

2001-2006

4 This figure relates to all immigrants 15 years and older, whether or not they are in the labour force.5 Each of these areas refers to the jurisdiction of the relevant training board. In the case of Hamilton, it is the Hamilton Training Advisory Board.


Some other characteristicsSome more detailed data about newcomers is available via Statistics Canada on-line, however this free resource only makes data available for the Census Metropolitan Area. The Hamilton CMA includes the City of Hamilton plus the City of Burlington and the Town of Grimsby. Among newcomers who settled in the Hamilton CMA between 2001 and 2006, 80% chose the City of Hamilton as their home, so the CMA data on recent newcomers for the Hamilton CMA should paint a fairly accurate of the newcomers in the City of Hamilton.

Visible minority status. Partly as a way to check the applicability of the data, the visible minority status of newcomers for the Hamilton CMA and Ontario are compared in Table 8.

These Hamilton CMA figures correspond to the data relating countries of origin for newcomers to the City of Hamilton: a smaller proportion of South Asians and Chinese compared to Ontario and larger proportion of Arab (West Central Asia/Middle East) and non-visible minority populations (Eastern Europeans and likely the United States).

Chart 5: Percentage of immigrants aged 15 years and older with Bachelor’s degree or higher

11 | P a g e

Prior to 1996, 41% of immigrants4 to Hamilton had no educational certificate (that is, not even a high school diploma). The spread between the area5 with the highest such figure (Hamilton at 41%) and that with the lowest (Ottawa at 22%) was 19% (almost double). For newcomers arriving between 2001 and 2006, Hamilton’s high figure dropped to 18.4%, only 3.6% higher than Ottawa’s low of 14.8%. This trend can also be expressed in terms of immigrants holding a university Bachelor’s degree or higher, where the figures also show comparative improvement for Hamilton, although not at the same scale. Chart 5 illustrates how the percentage of immigrants with university degrees increased substantially during the periods 1996-2000 and 2001-2006. However, even though Hamilton’s numbers also climbed, its figure of 35.4% is 5% less than the next lowest regions compared (York region at 40.4% and Durham region at 40.5%) and almost 10% less than that for Peel-Halton region (44.2%). Chart 5: Percentage of immigrants aged 15 years and older with Bachelor’s degree or higher

Some other characteristics Some more detailed data about newcomers is available via Statistics Canada on-line, however this free resource only makes data available for the Census Metropolitan Area. The Hamilton CMA includes the City of Hamilton plus the City of Burlington and the Town of Grimsby. Among newcomers who settled in the Hamilton CMA between 2001 and 2006, 80% chose the City of Hamilton as their home, so the CMA

4 This figure relates to all immigrants 15 years and older, whether or not they are in the labour force. 5 Each of these areas refers to the jurisdiction of the relevant training board. In the case of Hamilton, it is the Hamilton Training Advisory Board.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Peel-Halton Toronto Waterloo York Durham Hamilton

Percentage with Bachelor degree or higher, successive immigrant cohorts, select Ontario regions, 1966-2006

pre-1996

1996 - 2001

2001-2006

Table 8: Visible minority status, immigrants arriving between 2001 and 2006, Hamilton CMA and Ontario

VISIBLE MINORITY STATUS HAMILTON CMA ONTARIO

Chinese 9.8% 15.1%

South Asian 18.3% 29.7%

Black 8.8% 7.5%

Filipino 3.8% 6.4%

Latin American 6.4% 4.5%

Southeast Asian 1.8% 1.6%

Arab 8.2% 3.9%

West Asian 3.7% 4.5%

Korean 2.9% 2.8%

Japanese 0.1% 0.3%

Visible minority, not included 0.6% 1.0%

Multiple visible minority 1.5% 1.1%

Not a visible minority 33.9% 21.7%


Major fields of study. Newcomers to the Hamilton CMA differ in some small but notable ways from the Ontario average as far as their post-secondary fields of study are concerned:

Hamilton CMA newcomers are somewhat less likely to hold degrees in Mathematics, Computer and Information Sciences or Humanities. Conversely, they are much more likely to hold degrees in Architecture, Engineering, and Related Technologies. The proportion of Hamilton newcomers with degrees in Business, Management and Public Administration is comparable to that of Ontario minus the Toronto CMA, though the Toronto CMA has higher proportions.

Field of study cross-tabbed by source country. Average figures hide the dynamics that are experienced by particular groups. If one unpacks the newcomer data on major field of study to examine it by newcomer source country, one finds patterns that cannot be explained unless one connects directly with these communities to examine why they chose the destinations they did.

Table 9: Major fields of study, newcomers arriving between 2001 and 2006, aged 25 to 54 years old, Ham-ilton CMA and Ontario

MAJOR FIELD OF STUDY HAMILTON CMA ONTARIO ONTARIO MINUS TORONTO CMA

Education 4.9% 4.3% 4.9%

Visual and performing arts, and communications 2.7% 2.8% 2.7%

Humanities 5.5% 6.9% 6.4%

Social and behavioural sciences and law 9.5% 9.4% 9.8%

Business, management and public administration 19.0% 22.1% 18.9%

Physical and life sciences and technologies 6.2% 6.1% 6.8%

Mathematics, computer & information sciences 6.0% 8.5% 7.7%

Architecture, engineering, and related fields 29.4% 25.5% 25.9%

Agriculture, natural resources and conservation 1.7% 1.8% 2.6%

Health, parks, recreation and fitness 12.7% 10.6% 11.8%

Personal, protective and transportation services 2.5% 1.9% 2.5%

TOTAL 100.1% 99.9% 100.0%

Table 10: Select fields of study for several source countries, for immigrants to Hamilton CMA and Ontario, comparing pre-1991 arrivals with newcomers (2001-2006)

Business, management and public administration

HAMILTON ONTARIO

Before 1991 2001-2006 Before 1991 2001-2006

Eastern Asia 15.4% 16.2% 25.3% 20.6%

Southern Asia 14.8% 19.6% 21.5% 24.5%

Western Asia 22.4% 22.0% 21.4% 15.0%

Architecture and engineering

HAMILTON ONTARIO

Before 1991 2001-2006 Before 1991 2001-2006

Eastern Asia 24.5% 40.3% 20.4% 31.7%

Southern Asia 23.0% 21.1% 23.0% 19.8%

Western Asia 25.3% 31.0% 27.4% 28.8%


Eyeballing the data, comparing trends between Hamilton and Ontario for immigrants with different fields of study and coming from different source countries, one is hard-pressed to find a pattern. For example, immigrants to Ontario from Eastern and Southern Asia have higher proportions of degrees in Business, Management and Public Administration, but those proportions are notably lower for immigrants from these source countries coming to the Hamilton CMA, while immigrants coming from Western Asia to the Hamilton CMA have higher proportions of those degrees than the provincial average, especially for recent newcomers. On the other hand, the patterns for those with Architecture and Engineering degrees do seem to hold when comparing Hamilton CMA and Ontario. What draws certain individuals to a given locale requires further qualitative investigation, having regard for different source countries and different fields of study.

Labour market outcomes

Labour market outcomes generally for newcomers to CanadaIt is well-established that newcomers to Canada have poorer labour market outcomes compared to Canadian-born workers, as well as earlier cohorts of immigrants, despite high levels of post-secondary academic qualifications and previous work experience. In particular, newcomers have:

• Higher levels of unemployment;

• Higher levels of working in occupations for which they are over-qualified;

• Poorer outcomes for women;

• Outcomes that vary by country of birth;

• Lower employment incomes which do rise over time, but the trajectory of income increases has been falling with each successive wave of immigrants.

A lot of attention has been focused on internationally trained professionals who have difficulty landing jobs in their field. Of newcomers with foreign credentials, only 28% had received recognition of these credentials within four years of landing.6 This results in their accepting employment in jobs below their level of educational attainment, sometimes low-paying, dead-end entry-level work. Those with more limited educational backgrounds and/or with significant English language difficulties often end up in contingent, casual work or sub-standard, informal employment (being paid off the books or engaged in hidden self-employment).

6 Rene Houle and Labouaria Yssaad, “Recognition of newcomers’ foreign credentials and work experience,” Perspectives on Labour and Income, Vol. 11, No. 9, Statistics Canada Catalogue No. 75-001-X, p. 18.


The “match” rates between professional degrees and employment in those occupations vary by profession.

Below the bolded line, match rates for immigrants are less than half those for Canadian-born holders of the same degree. Immigrants refer to all immigrants, regardless how long they had been in Canada.

Summary of the literature on labour market outcomes of newcomers to CanadaThe labour market obstacles that newcomers face in Canada has provoked an extensive array of studies which has resulted in considerable consensus both in describing the challenges and in proposing broader strategies for addressing these challenges. This consensus can be described as follows:8

• Language proficiency is an extremely important qualification for employment; this goes beyond common conversational ability to include proficiency in the vocational field as well as an appreciation of Canadian forms of communication (tone, body language, nuances);

• Foreign work experience is widely discounted, except for those with pre-arranged jobs or those whose work experience was in the United States or the United Kingdom;

• Bridging programs for internationally trained professionals are very helpful, perhaps not always in helping access employment directly, but certainly in terms of helping newcomers understand the Canadian labour market, develop contacts and better understand how their chosen profession is practiced in Canada;

• Getting employment quickly is generally a good idea, but attention has to be paid to ensuring there are pathways to better jobs;

Table 11: Match rates for select professions, Canadian-born and immigrants to Canada, 20067

CANADIAN-BORN FOREIGN-EDUCATED IMMIGRANTS

All fields of study 62% 24%

Chiropractics 87% 84%

Occupational therapy 82% 65%

Medicine 92% 56%

Nursing 73% 56%

Pharmacy 84% 45%

Dentistry 82% 44%

Physiotherapy 90% 44%

Optometry 95% 38%

Veterinary medicine 83% 29%

Architecture 56% 26%

Teaching 50% 24%

Diet/Nutrition 62% 20%

Accounting 60% 20%

Engineering 42% 19%

Law 69% 12%

7 Danielle Zietsma, “Immigrants working in regulated occupations,” Perspectives on Labour and Income, Vol. XI, No. 2, 20108 A bibliography of studies relied upon for this summary can be found in Appendix B of this report.


• Factors that contribute to job market success:

¦ Acquiring Canadian work experience;

¦ Developing networks and contacts to access job opportunities;

¦ Acquiring an understanding of and fluidity with Canadian business culture and workplace norms

• On the demand side, many employers:

¦ Do not believe that their current strategies for integrating internationally educated professionals are effective;

¦ Do not believe that they have effectively developed the cultural intelligence skills of their front-line managers;

¦ Understand the best practices for integrating internationally educated professionals, but face barriers relating to cost and feasibility, especially among small and medium-sized employers.

Analysis at the broad occupational level (1-digit NOC level) of labour market outcomes for immigrants and newcomers to HamiltonAn analysis of the occupations that immigrants and newcomers find themselves in starts at the broadest level. All occupations are classified according to the National Occupational Classification, encompassing some 520 occupations. These are grouped into 10 broad occupational categories. Immigrants and newcomers are distributed in different proportions across these main occupational categories in Hamilton, compared to their distribution in Ontario.

Table 12: Percentage distribution of immigrants and newcomers among employed workers by broad occupational categories, Hamilton and Ontario, 2006

HAMILTON ONTARIO

% I

MM

IGR

AN

TS

% N

EW

CO

ME

RS

% I

MM

IGR

AN

TS

% N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ALL OCCUPATIONS 21.9% 3.6% 24.8% 5.5%

MANAGEMENT OCCUPATIONS 21.7% 2.8% 25.5% 3.7%

BUSINESS, FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION 17.1% 2.1% 25.5% 4.8%

NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES OCCUPATIONS 24.2% 5.5% 31.8% 9.5%

HEALTH OCCUPATIONS 26.3% 3.6% 26.0% 4.8%

OCCUPATIONS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE, EDUCATION, GOV’MENT 18.1% 3.6% 19.7% 3.9%

OCCUPATIONS IN ART, CULTURE, RECREATION AND SPORT 16.5% 2.1% 20.2% 3.5%

SALES AND SERVICE OCCUPATIONS 20.1% 3.8% 22.5% 6.1%

TRADES, TRANSPORT AND EQUIPMENT OPERATORS 25.1% 3.2% 24.8% 4.6%

OCCUPATIONS UNIQUE TO PRIMARY INDUSTRY 21.3% 3.8% 13.1% 2.2%

PROCESSING, MANUFACTURING & UTILITIES OCCUPATIONS 32.9% 6.6% 34.3% 9.8%


Overall, the proportion of employed immigrants as a proportion of employed Hamilton residents (21.9%) is close to the figure for Ontario as a whole (24.8%), however the proportion of newcomers is substantially smaller (3.6% compared to 5.5%). This reflects the proportionately lower proportion of newcomers coming to Ontario who are choosing to reside in Hamilton.

We can compare the proportion of immigrants/newcomers in a given occupation in Hamilton to the proportion for Ontario as a whole by expressing the percentages as a ratio (see Table 13). Thus, the proportion of immigrants employed in all occupations in Hamilton (21.9%) compared to the proportion in Ontario as a whole (24.8%) is 0.88 (21.9/24.8). Similarly, the proportion of immigrants in Health Occupations in Hamilton (26.3%) compared to Ontario (26.0%) as a whole is 1.01 (26.3/26.0). That figure tells us that the proportion of immigrants employed in Health Occupations in Hamilton is about the same as that found in Ontario as a whole (1.01 is just about 1), yet it is somewhat larger than the proportion of immigrants found in all occupations in Hamilton (1.01 compared to 0.88). What this means is that immigrants to Hamilton end up being slightly over-represented in Health Occupations, compared to their proportion in the workforce.

Each number represents the ratio between the proportion of immigrants or newcomers employed in an occupation in Hamilton compared to the proportion for Ontario as a whole. The colour coding shows where that ratio is roughly similar to the ratio for all occupations in Hamilton (yellow), somewhat higher (green) or lower (pink). (Charts 6 and 7 illustrate the ratios graphically.)

Table 13: Ratio of employed Hamilton immigrants and newcomers by broad occupational categories compared to Ontario, 2006

IMMIGRANTS NEWCOMERS

ALL OCCUPATIONS 0.88 0.65

MANAGEMENT OCCUPATIONS 0.85 0.76

BUSINESS, FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION 0.67 0.44

NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES OCCUPATIONS 0.76 0.58

HEALTH OCCUPATIONS 1.01 0.75

OCCUPATIONS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE, EDUCATION, GOV’MENT 0.92 0.92

OCCUPATIONS IN ART, CULTURE, RECREATION AND SPORT 0.82 0.6

SALES AND SERVICE OCCUPATIONS 0.89 0.62

TRADES, TRANSPORT AND EQUIPMENT OPERATORS 1.01 0.7

OCCUPATIONS UNIQUE TO PRIMARY INDUSTRY 1.63 1.73

PROCESSING, MANUFACTURING & UTILITIES OCCUPATIONS 0.96 0.67


Chart 6: Ratio of employed Hamilton immigrants by broad occupational categories compared to Ontario, 2006

What Table 13 illustrates is that the proportion of immigrants and newcomers employed in both Business, Finance and Administration and in Natural and Applied Sciences Occupations is proportionately lower than the proportion for Ontario as a whole. Even with a high proportion of immigrants and newcomers employed in Hamilton in Processing, Manufacturing and Utilities Occupations, that figure is only slightly higher than Ontario in the case of immigrants (0.96 compared to 0.88), and just about the same in the case of newcomers (0.67 compared to 0.65). But the figures for employment in Primary Industry occupations are proportionately much higher, both when compared to the Ontario numbers (ratios of 1.63 and 1.73) and when one compares those figures to the corresponding numbers for all occupations in Hamilton. (Employment in Primary Industry occupations is relatively small, comprising less than 3% of employment in all occupations).

Chart 7: Ratio of employed Hamilton newcomers by broad occupational categories compared to Ontario, 2006

Processing, Manufacturing and Utilities

Occupations Unique to Primary Industry

Trades, Transport and Equipment Operators

Sales and Service Occupations

Art, Culture, Recreation and Sport

Social Sciences, Education, Government

Health Occupations

Natural and Applied Sciences Occupations

Business, Finance and Administration

Management Occupations

TOTAL - ALL OCCUPATIONS

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8

Processing, Manufacturing and Utilities

Occupations Unique to Primary Industry

Trades, Transport and Equipment Operators

Sales and Service Occupations

Art, Culture, Recreation and Sport

Social Sciences, Education, Government

Health Occupations

Natural and Applied Sciences Occupations

Business, Finance and Administration

Management Occupations

TOTAL - ALL OCCUPATIONS

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8


Analysis at the intermediate occupational level (2-digit NOC level) of labour market outcomes for immigrants and newcomers to HamiltonThe 10 broad occupational categories further subdivide into 26 intermediate categories. At that level, we can see the evolving composition of immigrants to Hamilton compared to the Ontario figures. Table 14 shows the top five intermediate occupational categories by percentage of immigrants, looking at pre-1996 immigrants, immigrants who arrived between 1996 and 2000, and newcomers who arrived between 2001 and 2006.

Table 14: Percentage distribution of immigrants and newcomers among employed workers by intermediate occupational categories, Hamilton and Ontario, 2006

HAMILTON ONTARIO

PRE-1996 IMMIGRANTS

MANUFACTURING MACHINE OPERATORS AND ASSEMBLERS 32.1% MANUFACTURING MACHINE OPERATORS

AND ASSEMBLERS 35.3%

LABOURERS IN MANUFACTURING 32.1% LABOURERS IN MANUFACTURING 31.5%

ASSISTING OCCUPATIONS HEALTH 31.9% PROFESSIONAL OCCUPATIONS IN NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES 30.7%

TRADES HELPERS, CONSTRUCTION LABOURERS 29.9% MANUFACTURING SUPERVISORS AND SKILLED OPERATORS 29.8%

MANUFACTURING SUPERVISORS AND SKILLED OPERATORS 28.7% ASSISTING OCCUPATIONS HEALTH 29.7%

1996-2000 IMMIGRANTS

MANUFACTURING MACHINE OPERATORS AND ASSEMBLERS 6.1% PROFESSIONAL OCCUPATIONS IN NATURAL

AND APPLIED SCIENCES 12.6%


PROFESSIONAL OCCUPATIONS IN NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES 4.8% MANUFACTURING MACHINE OPERATORS

AND ASSEMBLERS 7.8%

INTERMEDIATE OCCUPATIONS IN PRIMARY INDUSTRY 4.4% TECHNICAL OCCUPATIONS RELATED TO

NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES 6.3%

TECHNICAL OCCUPATIONS RELATED TO NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES 3.9% ELEMENTAL SALES AND SERVICE OCCUPATIONS 5.4%

2001-2006 NEWCOMERS


PROFESSIONAL OCCUPATIONS IN NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES 7.1% PROFESSIONAL OCCUPATIONS IN NATURAL

AND APPLIED SCIENCES 11.1%

MANUFACTURING MACHINE OPERATORS AND ASSEMBLERS 6.9% MANUFACTURING MACHINE OPERATORS

AND ASSEMBLERS 9.3%

INTERMEDIATE OCCUPATIONS IN PRIMARY INDUSTRY 5.9% ELEMENTAL SALES AND SERVICE OCCUPATIONS 7.6%

ELEMENTAL SALES AND SERVICE OCCUPATIONS 4.9% TECHNICAL OCCUPATIONS RELATED TO NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES 7.2%


While there is a high degree of similarity among the proportion of pre-1996 immigrants working in manufacturing occupations, there is one noticeable difference between Hamilton and Ontario when comparing the top five intermediary occupations with the highest concentration of immigrants: in Ontario, Professional Occupations in Natural and Applied Science occupies third place (in Hamilton: twelfth).

Among the 1996-2000 Ontario immigrants, Professional Occupations in Natural and Applied Science occupies first place among the intermediary occupations with the highest proportion of newcomers for that period, at 12.6%. For Hamilton, this same occupation has risen to third place, but with only 4.8% of newcomers.

Among 2001-2006 newcomers, the top five intermediary occupations rank much the same when comparing Hamilton and Ontario, except that Intermediary Occupations in Primary Industry make the list for Hamilton (at 4th place), while Technical Occupations in Natural and Applied Science round out the list for Ontario (at 5th place).

Thus, Hamilton has experienced an evolution as far as in what occupations its immigrants became employed. Pre-1996, immigrants tended to work in manufacturing jobs or in helping positions in health care or construction. The 1996-2000 wave of immigrants saw a growing proportion of newcomers employed in professional and technical occupations in natural and applied sciences, though not in the same proportions as Ontario as a whole. Among 2001-2006 newcomers, the proportions seem quite similar between Hamilton and Ontario (having regard to the slightly smaller proportion of newcomers in the Hamilton workforce). The one outlier is the high proportion of newcomers in Intermediate Occupations in Primary Industry in Hamilton.

Analysis at the detailed occupation level (4-digit NOC level) of labour market outcomes for immigrants and newcomers to HamiltonDigging down to the 4-digit NOC codes allows for a more precise view of how the labour market dynamics of Hamilton immigrants differ from that of Ontario’s. Firstly, we look at the 10 top occupations by number, for immigrants and newcomers, for both Hamilton and Ontario. Table 15 displays the numbers for Ontario first, to set the context, following by the Hamilton numbers (Table 16).

Table 15: Employed immigrants and newcomers by 4-digit NOC categories, Ontario, 2006

PRE-2000 IMMIGRANTS 2000-2006 NEWCOMERS

1. Retail salespersons 57500 1. Retail salespersons 14240

2. Retail trade managers 33720 2. Food counter attendants 10450

3. Truck drivers 25725 3. Cashiers 9745

4. General office clerks 25585 4. Computer programmers 6410

5. Information systems analysts 24230 5. Truck drivers 6220

6. Light duty cleaners 23470 6. Information systems analysts 6215

7. Registered nurses 23180 7. Retail trade managers 5890

8. Financial auditors & accountants 23110 8. Other labourers - manufacturing 5910

9. Janitors and building supervisors 22305 9. Light duty cleaners 5770

10. Food counter attendants 21520 10. Financial auditors & accountants 5265


The trend for Ontario, comparing the numbers for these detailed occupations between pre-2000 immigrants and newcomers arriving between 2000 and 2006, shows two contradictory tendencies: on the one hand, three higher level occupations make the top-ten for newcomers (computer programmers, information system analysts, and financial auditors and accountants) compared to two for pre-200 immigrants (registered nurses, financial auditors and accountants). On the other hand, basic survival jobs take two of the top three occupations for these same newcomers (food counter attendants and cashiers).

In the case of Hamilton, higher level occupations among the top-ten list are even less common: one for pre-2000 immigrants (registered nurses), and one for newcomers (post-secondary research assistants). Apart from retail trade managers and welders, the remaining jobs are essentially entry-level jobs (while personal support workers require some qualifying courses, in terms of pay and advancement opportunities it ranks as an entry-level category occupation).

Skills/sector framework distributionApplying the skills/sector framework (see Table 3 for all Hamilton employed residents) to assess the distribution of immigrants and newcomers across the different categories of occupations produces the following result:

Table 16: Percentage distribution of immigrants and newcomers among employed workers by 3-digit NOC categories, Hamilton, 2006

PRE-2001 IMMIGRANTS 2000-2006 NEWCOMERS

1. Retail salespersons 1960 1. Retail salespersons 425

2. Personal support workers 1335 2. Post-sec research assistants 320

3. Retail trade managers 1295 3. Food counter attendants 285

4. Registered nurses 1140 4. Retail trade managers 275

5. Truck drivers 1120 5. Cashiers 260

6. Janitors and building supervisors 1070 6. Labourers – food manufacturing 225

7. Light duty cleaners 1050 7. Welders 195

8. Welders 955 8. Personal support workers 190

9. Labourers – food manufacturing 880 9. Light duty cleaners 185

10. Food counter attendants 850 10. Industrial butchers 150

Truck drivers 150

Table 17: Distribution of employed residents by the skills/sector framework, Canadian-born, immigrants (pre-2000) and newcomers (2000-2006), Hamilton, 2006

CANADIAN-BORN

IMMIGRANTS(PRE-2000)

NEWCOMERS(2000-06)



Service Entry 31.9% 27.9% 33.0%


Working Entry 10.3% 13.8% 17.5%



TOTAL 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%


Several features of this distribution are worth highlighting:

• Both immigrants and newcomers hold a smaller proportion of Knowledge Work jobs than Canadian-born residents;

• Immigrants have a high concentration in the Middle Working category, the higher level jobs in manufacturing, construction and transportation;

• Newcomers meanwhile have a high concentration in the Working Entry category;

• Overall, the majority of newcomers (52.6%) end up in entry level jobs (Service Entry, Working Entry and Primary Entry).

How do these outcomes compare to the rest of Ontario? Again, it is important to distinguish between Toronto and the rest of Ontario.

Toronto has a huge discrepancy in the proportions of Canadian-born, immigrants and newcomers in Knowledge Work jobs. Otherwise, the pattern is rather similar, in both cities more than half of newcomers finding themselves in entry-level jobs.

Chart 8: Distribution of employed residents by the skills/sector framework, Canadian-born, immigrants (pre-2000) and newcomers (2000-2006), Hamilton, 2006

23 | P a g e

Table 17: Distribution of employed residents by the skills/sector framework, Canadian-born, immigrants (pre-2000) and newcomers (2000-2006), Hamilton, 2006

Canadian-born

Immigrants(pre-2000)

Newcomers(2000-06)

Knowledge Work 30.7% 27.5% 27.1% Middle Service 11.7% 11.2% 8.0% Service Entry 31.9% 27.9% 33.0% Middle Working 13.0% 17.3% 11.9% Working Entry 10.3% 13.8% 17.5% Middle Primary 0.7% 0.8% 0.4% Primary Entry 1.7% 1.5% 2.1%

TOTAL 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Several features of this distribution are worth highlighting:

Both immigrants and newcomers hold a smaller proportion of Knowledge Work jobs than Canadian-born residents;

Immigrants have a high concentration in the Middle Working category, the higher level jobs in manufacturing, construction and transportation;

Newcomers meanwhile have a high concentration in the Working Entry category;

Overall, the majority of newcomers (52.6%) end up in entry level jobs (Service Entry, Working Entry and Primary Entry).

Chart 8: Distribution of employed residents by the skills/sector framework, Canadian-born, immigrants (pre-2000) and newcomers (2000-2006), Hamilton, 2006

30.7% 27.5% 27.1%

31.9%27.9% 33.0%

13.0%17.3% 11.9%

10.3% 13.8% 17.5%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Canadian-born Immigrants Newcomers

Primary Entry

Middle Primary

Working Entry

Middle Working

Service Entry

Middle Service

Knowledge Work

Table 18: Distribution of employed residents by the skills/sector framework, Canadian-born, immigrants (pre-2000) and newcomers (2000-2006), Toronto, 2006

CANADIAN-BORN


NEWCOMERS(2000-06)



Service Entry 27.2% 30.5% 35.3%


Working Entry 5.2% 12.4% 14.8%



TOTAL 99.9% 99.9% 100.1%


The pattern for the rest of Ontario minus Toronto’s numbers is slightly different:

Significantly, in the rest of Ontario, not only immigrants but also newcomers hold a higher proportion of Knowledge Work jobs than Canadian-born residents, and overall, slightly less than half of newcomers end up in entry-level jobs (47.6%).

Thus, whereas immigrants and newcomers occupy a proportionately smaller share of Knowledge Work jobs in Hamilton than do Canadian-born residents, the opposite is true for the rest of Ontario minus the Toronto figures.

However, this aspect of labour market outcomes for immigrants in Hamilton needs to be seen in perspective. Historically, immigrants came to Hamilton to work in the blue-collar occupations (notably the steel mills, but other working-class jobs as well). Over the last decade, the level of educational attainment of immigrants coming to Hamilton has risen significantly, even though it has not reached a par with that of immigrants settling in other parts of Ontario. This rise in qualifications is reflected in the statistics when one compares how two different immigrant cohorts fared, those who arrived between 1996 and 2001 and those arriving between 2000 and 2006.9

Table 19: Distribution of employed residents by the skills/sector framework, Canadian-born, immigrants (pre-2000) and newcomers (2000-2006), Ontario minus Toronto, 2006

CANADIAN-BORN


NEWCOMERS(2000-06)



Service Entry 30.5% 25.5% 31.8%


Working Entry 10.4% 12.4% 14.7%



TOTAL 100.1% 100.0% 100.1%

Chart 9: Distribution of employed residents by the skills/sector framework, Canadian-born, immigrants (pre-2000) and newcomers (2000-2006), Ontario minus Toronto, 2006

25 | P a g e

Chart 9: Distribution of employed residents by the skills/sector framework, Canadian-born, immigrants (pre-2000) and newcomers (2000-2006), Ontario minus Toronto, 2006

Thus, whereas immigrants and newcomers occupy a proportionately smaller share of Knowledge Work jobs in Hamilton than do Canadian-born residents, the opposite is true for the rest of Ontario minus the Toronto figures. However, this aspect of labour market outcomes for immigrants in Hamilton needs to be seen in perspective. Historically, immigrants came to Hamilton to work in the blue-collar occupations (notably the steel mills, but other working-class jobs as well). Over the last decade, the level of educational attainment of immigrants coming to Hamilton has risen significantly, even though it has not reached a par with that of immigrants settling in other parts of Ontario. This rise in qualifications is reflected in the statistics when one compares how two different immigrant cohorts fared, those who arrived between 1996 and 2001 and those arriving between 2000 and 2006.9

9 There is a slight overlap between these two categories, a consequence of how two different sets of census data were assembled.

31.7% 34.4% 32.6%

30.5% 25.5% 31.8%

10.4% 12.4% 14.7%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Canadian-born Immigrants Newcomers

Primary Entry

Middle Primary

Working Entry

Middle Working

Service Entry

Middle Service

Knowledge Work

9 There is a slight overlap between these two categories, a consequence of how two different sets of census data were assembled.


Between these two periods, newcomers to the rest of Ontario actually fared slightly worse as far as their labour market outcomes were concerned, given the drop in the proportion of Knowledge Work jobs (from 35.3% to 32.6%) and a corresponding increase in those taking Service Entry jobs (28.1% to 31.8%).10 The result is likely a consequence of the dot com bust, reducing the number of jobs available to IT newcomer professionals arriving to Ontario. Hamilton actually bucked this trend, with the proportion of Knowledge Work jobs holding steady (a very slight increase from 26.5% to 27.1%). This may have been due to the fact that Hamilton attracts fewer newcomers with computer degrees, and so experienced a far smaller drop in newcomer employment as a result of the dot com bust. The large increase in the proportion of Hamilton newcomers in Service Entry jobs (from 28.5% to 33.0%) reflects a shift from jobs in Middle Working and Working Entry occupations.

Table 20: Distribution of employed newcomers by the skills/sector framework, comparing 1996-2001 and 2000-2006 cohorts, Hamilton and Ontario minus Toronto

HAMILTON ONTARIO MINUS TORONTO

1996-2001 2000-2006 1996-2001 2000-2006

Knowledge Work 26.5% 27.1% 35.3% 32.6%

Middle Service 6.8% 8.0% 9.0% 9.4%

Service Entry 28.5% 33.0% 28.1% 31.8%

Middle Working 14.5% 11.9% 10.9% 10.0%

Working Entry 21.3% 17.5% 14.5% 14.7%

Middle Primary 0.2% 0.4% 1.0% 0.5%

Primary Entry 2.1% 2.1% 1.3% 1.1%

TOTAL 99.9% 100.0% 100.1% 100.1%

Chart 10: Distribution of employed newcomers by the skills/sector framework, comparing 1996-2001 and 2000-2006 cohorts, Hamilton and Ontario minus Toronto

26 | P a g e

Table 20: Distribution of employed newcomers by the skills/sector framework, comparing 1996-2001 and 2000-2006 cohorts, Hamilton and Ontario minus Toronto

Hamilton Ontario minus Toronto 1996-2001 2000-2006 1996-2001 2000-2006 Knowledge Work 26.5% 27.1% 35.3% 32.6% Middle Service 6.8% 8.0% 9.0% 9.4% Service Entry 28.5% 33.0% 28.1% 31.8% Middle Working 14.5% 11.9% 10.9% 10.0% Working Entry 21.3% 17.5% 14.5% 14.7% Middle Primary 0.2% 0.4% 1.0% 0.5% Primary Entry 2.1% 2.1% 1.3% 1.1%

TOTAL 99.9% 100.0% 100.1% 100.1% Between these two periods, newcomers to the rest of Ontario actually fared slightly worse as far as their labour market outcomes were concerned, given the drop in the proportion of Knowledge Work jobs (from 35.3% to 32.6%) and a corresponding increase in those taking Service Entry jobs (28.1% to 31.8%).10 The result is likely a consequence of the dot com bust, reducing the number of jobs available to IT newcomer professionals arriving to Ontario. Hamilton actually bucked this trend, with the proportion of Knowledge Work jobs holding steady (a very slight increase from 26.5% to 27.1%). This may have been due to the fact that Hamilton attracts fewer newcomers with computer degrees, and so experienced a far smaller drop in newcomer employment as a result of the dot com bust. The large increase in the proportion of Hamilton newcomers in Service Entry jobs (from 28.5% to 33.0%) reflects a shift from jobs in Middle Working and Working Entry occupations. Chart 10: Distribution of employed newcomers by the skills/sector framework, comparing 1996-2001 and 2000-2006 cohorts, Hamilton and Ontario minus Toronto

10 The same trend was experienced by these two cohorts arriving in Toronto. See Tom Zizys, An Economy Out of Shape: Changing the Hourglass, Toronto Workforce Innovation Group, 2010, p. 25.

26.5% 27.1% 35.3% 32.6%

28.5% 33.0%28.1% 31.8%

21.3% 17.5% 14.5% 14.7%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

1996-2001 2000-2006 1996-2001 2000-2006

Hamilton Ontario minus Toronto

Primary Entry

Middle Primary

Working Entry

Middle Working

Service Entry

Middle Service

Knowledge Work

10 The same trend was experienced by these two cohorts arriving in Toronto. See Tom Zizys, An Economy Out of Shape: Changing the Hourglass, Toronto Workforce Innovation Group, 2010, p. 25.


Labour market data, by itself, is descriptive, not prescriptive. But labour market data coupled with interpretation and local context can suggest where there are anomalies or gaps in the functioning of the labour market. These become areas that warrant exploration, through further investigation as well as consultation with stakeholders, which can lay the groundwork for future action.

This section aims to identify categories for possible labour market action using the following approaches:

1) Occupations that appear to either offer opportunities or pose particular challenges for newcomers;

2) Potential opportunities for newcomers among Hamilton’s six strategic industry clusters;

3) Lessons learned from other newcomer labour market integration strategies.

Opportunities by occupationA number of occupations have been selected for comment, based on the following simple criteria: the occupation employed at least 50 Hamilton newcomers and the proportion of Hamilton newcomers in that occupation was somewhat higher than their proportion among all Ontario’s employed newcomers.11 Each occupation will be profiled using the following template:

NU

MB

ER

IN

H

AM

ILTO

N

% O

F O

NTA

RIO

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

PART % EMP % UNEMPLOYMENT %

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

ALL

ON

TAR

IO A

LL

OCCUPATIONS

11 Technically, the following rule was applied: employed Hamilton newcomers make up 2.59% of all employed newcomers in Ontario. Occupations were chosen wherever the proportion of Hamilton newcomers was over 3% of the entire Ontario newcomer population employed in that occupation.

III.III. FROM NUMBERS TO ACTION: OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTERVENTION


LEGEND:

Number in Hamilton: Number of Hamilton newcomer residents citing that occupation, either in or out of the labour force (minimum 50); this is not the number employed, but rather the labour force activity number, the base for calculating the participation and employment rates

% of Ontario newcomers: Percentage of Ontario newcomers citing that occupation who are resident in Hamilton (this provides a sense of the concentration of that occupation among Hamilton residents – minimum 3%, compared to average for all occupations of 2.59%)

PART %: Participation rate; that is, among all adults, those who are either working of looking for work; a low participation rate suggests either many retirees or people who have given up looking for work

EMP %: Percentage of those both participating and not participating in the labour force who are employed

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: Of those participating in the labour force, the percentage unemployed

Hamilton newcomers: All newcomers residents in Hamilton

Ontario newcomers: All newcomers residents in Ontario

Hamilton ALL: All residents in Hamilton

Ontario ALL: All residents in Ontario

The participation rate and the employment rate figures allow for comparisons to be made between the labour market outcomes of Hamilton newcomers to Ontario newcomers

The unemployment rate figures allow for comparisons to be made between outcomes for Hamilton newcomers, Ontario newcomers, all Hamilton residents and all Ontario residents

All figures are from the 2006 census. The participation, employment and unemployment rates cannot be assumed to apply to the current year, however they provide a point of comparison between different populations (newcomers and all residents) and different geographies (Hamilton and Ontario). Significant variations in the results, from the average or between variables, suggest areas that require further investigation.

Table 21: labour market characteristics, all occupations

NU

MB

ER

IN

H

AM

ILTO

N

% O

F O

NTA

RIO

N

EW

CO

ME

RS


HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

ALL

ON

TAR

IO A

LL

ALL OCCUPATIONS 10450 2.59 89.9 90.0 83.8 83.4 6.8 7.3 4.8 4.8


Overall, for 2006, Hamilton newcomers have participation rates and employment rates very similar to those of all newcomers to Ontario. Hamilton and Ontario have the same unemployment rate for all residents, and while newcomers have higher unemployment rates, Hamilton’s newcomer unemployment rate is somewhat less than that for Ontario.

In the cases highlighted below, a number of specific occupations appear to result in better labour market outcomes for newcomers to Hamilton than for those newcomers settling in other parts of the province. Indeed, in many of the examples, Hamilton newcomers have even better labour market outcomes than non-newcomers (that is, immigrants in Canada for more than five years plus the Canadian-born). There could be any number of reasons for this, not all of them positive. For example, some people may choose one of these professions as a last resort, simply because they have been able to get a job in this field, even though otherwise they would not consider this occupation to be their profession. As a result, the numbers may show a high participation rate and a high employment rate, only because someone may end up in this occupation only because they got a job (perhaps because of social networks linking them to other immigrants and newcomers already working in these jobs). While this may be the case, it is noteworthy that in most instances the unemployment rate for Hamilton newcomers for each of these occupations is often zero, compared to higher rates for newcomers elsewhere – why would these Hamilton numbers be different from the rest of the province?

The point is that having identified these occupations, some inquiry now needs to be taken on the ground to ascertain why Hamilton newcomers are working in these fields and why they appear to be experiencing relatively positive labour market outcomes.

Post-secondary education. In relative terms, newcomers actually do rather well in Hamilton as far as employment in post-secondary education goes.

A notably higher proportion of Ontario newcomers are employed in post-secondary education in Hamilton compared to other occupations. Their participation and employment rates as university professors, post-secondary teaching and research assistants, and college and other vocational instructors are higher, with very low unemployment rates for university professors and PSE assistants. On the other hand, Hamilton newcomers who are college and vocational instructors have higher unemployment rates.

Table 22: Select labour market characteristics, occupations in post-secondary education, newcomers to Hamilton, 2000 to 2006

NU

MB

ER

IN

H

AM

ILTO

N

% O

F O

NTA

RIO

N

EW

CO

ME

RS


HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

ALL

ON

TAR

IO A

LL

University professors 90 4.97 88.9 88.1 83.3 79.0 0.0 10.3 5.9 4.5

PSE teaching/research assistants 365 7.49 90.4 82.6 87.7 73.7 4.5 10.8 8.5 11.9

College and vocational instructors 80 4.26 93.8 86.2 87.5 77.1 13.3 10.8 3.0 4.6


This appears to be a healthy labour market for newcomers. What is the university sector doing to generate such results, and what could be done with respect to the college and vocational sector to improve their numbers?

Electricians. Two categories of electricians seem to offer strong employment prospects for newcomers to Hamilton. Every newcomer participating in the labour force in the occupation of electrician (except industrial and power system) and industrial electrician in Hamilton is employed. (Of course, this does not include those who may have been electricians but stopped looking for work in that category and switched to another profession, but their unemployment numbers still beat that for all individuals in that occupation in Hamilton.)

It warrants exploring why these electricians have fared so well in Hamilton, compared to outcomes for other electrician newcomers in Ontario and compared to outcomes for other electricians in Hamilton.

Industrial engineers have been included even though they have less than 50 newcomer workers because they are an occupation close to electricians generally.

Metal forming, shaping and erecting trades. Hamilton has a very high proportion of Ontario’s newcomers working in these occupations, and their labour market outcomes are very positive.

Table 23: Select labour market characteristics, occupations in select electrical trades, newcomers to Hamilton, 2000 to 2006

NU

MB

ER

IN

H

AM

ILTO

N

% O

F O

NTA

RIO

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

PART % EMP % UNEMPLOYMENT %H

AM

ILTO

N

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

ALL

ON

TAR

IO A

LL

Electricians (general) 50 4.46 90.0 94.6 90.0 89.3 0.0 5.7 4.0 7.0

Industrial electricians 40 5.37 100 96.0 87.5 92.6 0.0 2.8 2.1 3.9

Table 24: Select labour market characteristics, occupations in select metal forming, shaping and erecting trades , newcomers to Hamilton, 2000 to 2006

NU

MB

ER

IN

H

AM

ILTO

N

% O

F O

NTA

RIO

N

EW

CO

ME

RS


HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

ALL

ON

TAR

IO A

LL

Structural metal fabricators 50 25.6 100 94.9 90.0 84.6 0.0 10.8 1.3 3.3

Welders 195 10.7 100 94.3 100 91.0 0.0 3.5 2.7 4.8


This is another category where Hamilton newcomers outperform newcomers in the rest of the province as well as others working in these occupations in Hamilton. It warrants exploring whether newcomers with comparable skills could be trained as structural metal and platework fabricators fitters or as welders and related machine operators, given the newcomer success rates in this field.

Automotive service technicians. This is an occupation that attracts a higher proportion of Hamilton newcomers, with excellent employment outcomes compared to those for newcomers in this occupation in the rest of Ontario, as well as other residents in Hamilton. It suggests a marketplace ready and willing to employ qualified newcomers.

Machine operators, industrial butchers and labourers in food, beverage and tobacco processing. Three occupations have been identified under this category:

• Process control and machine operators, food and beverage processing

• Industrial butchers and meat cutters, poultry preparers and related workers

• Labourers in food, beverage and tobacco processing

Table 25: Select labour market characteristics, automotive service technician occupation, newcomers to Hamilton, 2000 to 2006

NU

MB

ER

IN

H

AM

ILTO

N

% O

F O

NTA

RIO

N

EW

CO

ME

RS


HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

ALL

ON

TAR

IO A

LL

Automotive service technicians 80 3.81 93.8 94.0 93.8 89.5 0.0 4.3 3.9 2.6

Table 26: Select labour market characteristics, occupations in food, beverage and tobacco processing, newcomers to Hamilton, 2000 to 2006

NU

MB

ER

IN

H

AM

ILTO

N

% O

F O

NTA

RIO

N

EW

CO

ME

RS


HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

ALL

ON

TAR

IO A

LL

Machine operators 65 4.92 100 94.3 92.3 89.4 0.0 5.2 4.3 4.5

Industrial butchers 160 18.0 93.8 91.6 93.8 88.2 0.0 3.7 4.9 4.2

Labourers 270 5.44 85.2 87.8 83.3 79.5 0.0 9.5 6.2 9.3


495 Hamilton newcomers cite one of these occupations when identifying their labour force activity. Their high participation rate and zero unemployment rate translates into 435 of these newcomers being employed in these occupations, representing 5% of all employed newcomers in Hamilton. That one in twenty newcomers to Hamilton end up in these occupations warrants investigating this industry: are Hamilton newcomers choosing these occupations in the first instance, or is it a fallback survival job, one with many other immigrants already working in this field and thus providing an entry point? Do there exist opportunities for labourers in this category to work their way up to positions as machine operators and/or industrial butchers?

Sewing machine operators. Sewing machine operators in the rest of Ontario is not a promising occupation: one in ten (9.8%) sewing machine operators in Ontario was unemployed in 2006, including one in eight (12.2%) newcomers in this category. Only three-quarters of Ontario newcomers citing this occupation are participating in the labour force. Yet for Hamilton newcomers, this occupation has proven to be worthwhile: their participation rate is 90.5% and their unemployment rate is 0.0%.

Metalworking machine operators.

Of Hamilton newcomers who list this occupation for their labour market activity, 100% are participating in the labour force, and 100% are employed, which means a zero unemployment rate, compared to a 12.2% unemployment rate for newcomers in Ontario as a whole, and a high unemployment rate for all Ontarians: 9.8%.

Table 27: Select labour market characteristics, sewing machine operator occupation, newcomers to Hamilton, 2000 to 2006

NU

MB

ER

IN

H

AM

ILTO

N

% O

F O

NTA

RIO

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

PART % EMP % UNEMPLOYMENT %H

AM

ILTO

N

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

ALL

ON

TAR

IO A

LL

Sewing machine operators 105 4.81 90.5 86.5 90.5 76.0 0.0 12.2 4.8 9.8

Table 28: Select labour market characteristics, metalworking machine operator occupation, newcomers to Hamilton, 2000 to 2006

NU

MB

ER

IN

H

AM

ILTO

N

% O

F O

NTA

RIO

N

EW

CO

ME

RS


HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

ALL

ON

TAR

IO A

LL

Metalworking machine operators 50 4.67 100 91.6 100 86.4 0.0 5.6 2.6 6.3


Installers, servicers and trades helpers. This category includes residential and commercial installers and servicers (for example, siding or window installers and water heater or swimming pool servicer), and construction trades helpers and labourers. Once again, these occupations exhibit relatively good labour market outcomes (though less so for installers and servicers). At most, these jobs require a high school diploma. Might there be opportunities to support these individuals to work their way up the trades ladder, perhaps with apprenticeship training starting with construction craft worker?

Occupations experiencing challengesIn addition to those occupations profiled above, where Hamilton newcomers appear to have somewhat better labour market outcomes compared to newcomers in the rest of the province, there is another set of occupations where the data suggests that Hamilton newcomers are experiencing challenges integrating into the labour market.

Health occupations. Citizenship and Immigration Canada collects information on the stated intentions of immigrants, both in what occupation they intend to work and in what city they intend to settle. In addition, Statistics Canada collects information through the Census on the number of newcomers in a given locality and their occupation, for the purpose of labour force statistics. These two sets of information are presented in Table 30. The CIC data is for the period 1995 to 2005 and covers the Hamilton CMA, while the Statistics Canada data is for the period 2000 to 2006 and covers the City of Hamilton.

% of ONT – Hamilton number as a percent of all Ontario number

Table 29: Select labour market characteristics, occupations as installers and servicers, and construction trades helpers, newcomers to Hamilton, 2000 to 2006

NU

MB

ER

IN

H

AM

ILTO

N

% O

F O

NTA

RIO

N

EW

CO

ME

RS


HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

ALL

ON

TAR

IO A

LL

Installers and servicers 60 8.05 91.7 95.3 83.3 89.9 0.0 5.6 4.8 5.0

Construction trades helpers 135 3.74 96.3 89.5 92.6 83.5 0.0 6.8 11.6 10.6

Table 30: Settlement intentions (1995-2005) for Hamilton CMA and census data (for newcomers 2000 to 2006) for the City of Hamilton12

CIC DATA STATISTICS CANADA DATA

Intention toSettle in Hamilton CMA

City of Hamilton residents

Labour force activity Employed

# % of ONT # % of ONT # % of ONT

All health occupations 415 2.2 700 3.8 600 3.8

Specialist physicians 28 2.7 35 4.0 25 3.8

Family physicians 33 2.7 25 3.8 25 5.0

Registered nurses 66 3.1 155 3.5 120 3.0

12 CIC data from Toronto Immigrant Employment Data Initiative, Facts sheets 09-16, 09-17, 09-18 and 09-19.


In terms of concrete numbers, the CIC figures evidently represent only a portion of the newcomer data. Extrapolating the figures, the CIC data would suggest a figure of 18,864 newcomers choosing health occupations in Ontario in the eleven-year period between 1995-2005, while the extrapolated Census number indicates 18,421 individuals for a shorter seven-year period. But the more important figure is the percentage number: in all occupations cited, Hamilton ended up receiving a larger portion of individuals choosing this occupation than was stated in their original intentions.

How did these individuals fare in terms of their labour market outcomes?

Hamilton newcomers whose occupation was registered nurse had significantly poorer labour market outcomes than similar newcomers elsewhere: their participation and employment rates were lower, with their unemployment rate over three times that experienced by newcomers in the rest of Ontario. The participation rate for specialist physicians and family physicians was also lower for Hamilton newcomers, although for those in the labour force, their unemployment rate was zero.

The issue then is what interventions are needed to assist more newcomers whose occupation is registered nurse acquire the appropriate licensing in Ontario? The CARE Centre for Internationally Educated Nurses is an Ontario program focuses on assisting newcomers with registered nursing education to meet the registration requirements for registered nurses and practical nurses. Begun in 2001 to serve the Greater Toronto Area, the program expanded in 2005 to Hamilton. It would be timely to explore with the CARE program what success it has been having since starting operations in Hamilton.

Table 31: Select labour market characteristics, occupations as specialist physicians, family physicians and registered nurses, newcomers to Hamilton, 2000 to 2006

NU

MB

ER

IN

H

AM

ILTO

N

% O

F O

NTA

RIO

N

EW

CO

ME

RS


HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

ALL

ON

TAR

IO A

LL

Specialist physicians 35 4.00 73.3 84.7 71.4 76.0 0.0 9.0 2.1 1.2

Family physicians 25 3.76 71.4 84.0 100 75.2 0.0 9.5 0.6 1.1

Registered nurses 155 3.48 87.1 93.5 77.4 89.5 14.8 4.2 2.5 1.6


Civil, mechanical and electrical engineers. Applying the usual analysis, one’s first impression would be that Hamilton newcomers in these three engineering occupations appear to do relatively well, compared to similar newcomer engineers in the rest of the province: their participation rate is higher, their employment rate is higher, and their unemployment rate is zero.

However, the CIC data for settlement and occupation intentions provides a different perspective.13

The CIC newcomer settlement intention data indicates that only 1.7% of newcomers coming to Ontario and citing engineer as their profession were aiming to reside in Hamilton. On the other hand, for the more prominent engineering occupations, Hamilton newcomers had up from 3.05% to 3.39% of all such engineers arriving in Ontario.

On the other hand, the CIC data suggested that some 978 newcomer engineers were going to be arriving in Hamilton between 2000 and 2005. Extrapolating that number to 2006 would result in an estimated 1141 newcomer engineers coming to Hamilton (the average number for the period 2000 and 2005 was 163, so 978 + 163 = 1141). The Census data, however, shows that only 600 individuals identified engineering as their occupation for labour force activity purposes.

This suggests that a large number of newcomers whose profession is engineering are no longer calling themselves engineers, either because they have gone back to school to get accreditation as engineers or because lacking accreditation they have taken on jobs in a different occupation. This is a question that warrants investigation: what has happened to the missing newcomer engineers?

Table 32: Select labour market characteristics, occupations as civil engineers, mechanical engineers and electrical and electronics engineers, newcomers to Hamilton, 2000 to 2006

NU

MB

ER

IN

H

AM

ILTO

N

% O

F O

NTA

RIO

N

EW

CO

ME

RS


HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

ALL

ON

TAR

IO A

LL

Civil engineers 60 3.39 100 91.5 91.7 84.7 0.0 7.4 2.7 3.0

Mechanical engineers 80 3.25 93.8 93.7 93.8 88.2 0.0 5.9 2.3 2.9

Electrical & electronics engineers 65 3.05 100 94.4 92.3 91.5 0.0 3.0 9.5 2.6

Table 33: Newcomers planning to work as engineers and intending to settle in Hamilton CMA, 2000-2005

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 TOTAL %

158 157 184 177 165 137 978 1.7

13 13 CIC data from Toronto Immigrant Employment Data Initiative, Facts sheets 09-08.


Agriculture and horticulture workers. These occupations are singled out because Hamilton has a notably larger proportion of newcomers working as entry-level primary sector workers. Overall, their employment rates are slightly better than that for Ontario newcomers. The point, however, is that this represents a not insignificant concentration of newcomers (235 individuals over the period 2000 to 2006) and their circumstances and job advancement prospects should be explored.

Bookkeepers. While a relatively small number of individuals, their participation rate is especially worse than that of newcomers to the rest of Ontario. Is there a reason why this may be so?

Table 35: Select labour market characteristics, bookkeeper occupation, newcomers to Hamilton, 2000 to 2006

NU

MB

ER

IN

H

AM

ILTO

N

% O

F O

NTA

RIO

N

EW

CO

ME

RS


HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

ALL

ON

TAR

IO A

LLBookkeepers 60 3.48 66.7 86.7 75.0 80.6 0.0 6.7 2.4 3.1

Table 34: Select labour market characteristics, occupations in agriculture and horticulture, newcomers to Hamilton, 2000 to 2006

NU

MB

ER

IN

H

AM

ILTO

N

% O

F O

NTA

RIO

N

EW

CO

ME

RS


HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

ALL

ON

TAR

IO A

LL

General farm workers 80 6.69 62.5 77.8 62.5 69.0 0.0 11.8 8.4 6.4

Nursery and greenhouse workers 50 8.26 80.0 88.4 80.0 83.5 25.0 5.6 5.1 6.2

Harvesting labourers 45 9.57 100 72.3 100 61.7 0.0 13.2 8.2 14.3

Landscaping labourers 60 5.33 83.3 81.8 83.3 72.9 0.0 11.4 10.1 9.0


Dead-end occupationsIt bears emphasizing that a significant proportion of newcomers, both to Hamilton and to Ontario as a whole, end up in entry-level positions, experiencing poor pay and few prospects for advancement. It may be that some of them are pursuing further studies to acquire Canadian credentials and are working on the side to make ends meet, but it is also likely that many have turned to survival jobs because of their difficulty in finding either employment in their field and/or a job that pays an adequate wage.

Other elemental sales occupations: e.g. telemarketers, canvassers, street vendors

These are not all of the entry-level jobs, but they represent the main proportion of them. One in five newcomers (19.6%) to Hamilton ended up in one of these occupations. In all, 52.6% of Hamilton’s employed newcomers ended up in entry-level jobs (see Table 20: 33.0% in service sector, 17.5% in working sector and 2.1% in primary sector).

It may be that some of these individuals could benefit from “career ladder” programs, training and education attached to the workplace that supports an individual to move up to the next job. Given the poor labour market outcomes for newcomer registered nurses, how many of them have drifted into work as visiting homemakers, perhaps even babysitters? Might programs targeting individuals in these occupations help them reach the next rung (licensed practical nurse)? Similarly, might there be an opportunity to target an apprenticeship program to lift cooks into chefs’ positions? Perhaps a special set of courses and certification to move more retail salespersons into retail supervisors and retail manager occupations?

Table 36: Select labour market characteristics, select entry-level occupations, newcomers to Hamilton, 2000 to 2006

NU

MB

ER

IN

H

AM

ILTO

N

% O

F O

NTA

RIO

N

EW

CO

ME

RS


HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

N

EW

CO

ME

RS

ON

TAR

IO

NE

WC

OM

ER

S

HA

MIL

TON

ALL

ON

TAR

IO A

LL

Cooks 135 2.73 96.3 88.9 88.9 83.5 0.0 6.1 6.5 7.1

Retail salespersons 515 2.78 87.4 84.8 82.5 76.9 5.6 9.3 6.5 6.5

Food and beverage servers 110 2.37 90.9 82.1 90.9 76.6 0.0 6.8 7.4 7.5

Visiting homemakers 105 4.25 85.7 92.5 81.0 88.7 11.1 4.4 3.7 3.9

Babysitters, nannies 65 1.28 53.8 78.7 38.5 74.4 28.6 5.5 6.5 7.3

Cashiers 370 2.86 77.0 83.1 70.3 75.2 8.8 9.4 7.0 8.5

Grocery clerks 70 2.18 100 85.0 100 76.8 0.0 9.7 8.2 8.0

Other elemental sales occupations 80 3.81 81.2 82.1 62.5 69.3 15.4 15.7 12.2 13.6

Security guards 100 2.29 100 91.2 100 85.0 0.0 6.9 5.7 6.2

Light duty cleaners 225 3.20 93.3 86.7 82.2 82.0 9.5 5.6 7.6 6.2

Janitors, caretakers 175 3.72 60.0 89.7 60.0 84.5 0.0 5.9 4.4 5.2

Taxi and limo drivers 100 4.94 90.0 96.0 90.0 94.6 0.0 1.5 3.1 2.8


Opportunities among Hamilton’s six target clustersAnother angle to consider when contemplating labour market options for newcomers is among the industry clusters identified by the City of Hamilton’s Economic Development Strategy. If greater effort is being made to expand these industries, might there be opportunities for newcomers? The answer to this question differs depending on the cluster. Two, perhaps three of these clusters likely offer limited opportunities for a newcomer-specific strategy, while the remainder may show some promise.

Life sciences. The life sciences cluster represents a highly specialized field involving researchers, business, healthcare providers and education. Newcomer labour market integration in this field is far more likely going to involve highly targeted recruitment of researchers from overseas as opposed to the development of a supportive settlement strategy for life sciences newcomers already here. Consider that between 2000 and 2006, only 15 Hamilton newcomers cited life science professional as their occupation. That being said, there are also a large number of newcomers working as university professors, research assistants and teaching assistants, who likely contribute to the pool of professionals working in this field. In terms of a Local Immigration Partnership, it is likely more practical for a Life Sciences Economic Development Strategy to put into place an adjunct program to recruit and help settle life science professionals from overseas, as opposed to a LIP devising a settlement program aimed at life science professionals among the Hamilton newcomer population.

Creative industries. The creative industries include a very wide range of occupations, from architects to broadcasters and from graphic designers to composers. By and large, in Hamilton each of these occupations has no more than a handful of newcomers. Indeed, that appears to be the case in Toronto as well. Newcomers generally populate the creative arts occupations in proportions smaller than their share of occupations in other industries. It would likely not be worthwhile to focus a newcomer labour market effort on the creative industries in Hamilton because there are so few Hamilton newcomers choosing those occupations.

Advanced manufacturing. Traditional manufacturing occupations span a predictable array of occupations, from factory labourers performing basic activities, to machine operators and assemblers, to manufacturing supervisors. Advanced manufacturing involves a higher level of skills than traditional manufacturing, starting with assemblers, machine operators and tool and die makers, to design engineers, computer installers/repairers, and instrument control technicians, most of which require specialized certificates and diplomas. As traditional manufacturing continues to shed workers, there will be a ready tool of candidates seeking to transition into advanced manufacturing, dependent on appropriate training being available. Hamilton may be hard-pressed to provide targeted advanced manufacturing training to newcomers, given the need to transition existing workers (both Canadian-born and immigrants) into these emerging employment fields. The best that could be hoped for would be bridging programs that assist newcomers acquire the vocational language skills as well as the necessary soft skills (problem-solving, initiative, teamwork) that are an important part of the advanced manufacturing workplace.


Agribusiness and food processing. As noted in the occupation analysis above, occupations in this field, both in terms of agricultural and horticultural workers, as well as jobs in food, beverage and tobacco processing, have a disproportionate share of newcomers in the workforce. This would suggest several potential avenues to pursue:

• Would employers in these sectors benefit from programs that could assist newcomers to become job-ready sooner?

• Would employers in these sectors benefit from programs that could attract more newcomers to the present numbers already employed in this sector?

• Would employers in these sectors benefit from programs that could assist incumbent newcomer workers to advance to higher level occupations within the industry?

Goods movement. The City of Hamilton’s Economic Development Strategy appears to focus more on opportunities related to goods movement operations (transportation, freight handling, warehousing, distribution). In that regard, there are entry-level and advancement opportunities in operational occupations such as material handlers, shippers and receivers, and longshore workers. While these are entry-level working sector jobs, the supply chain sector has a good distribution of occupations across the middle tier and upper tier of occupations, and relatively healthy job advancement through work experience and further training and education. This could lead to occupations such as: retail and wholesale buyers; purchasing agents and officers; customs, ship and other brokers; as well as supervisory and managerial positions. There could be an opportunity to develop a career ladder program with the industry, focusing on supporting newcomers to access entry-level jobs, with the express purpose of providing work experience and training that would qualify them for higher-level positions.

Another consideration is placing internationally trained professionals in the supply chain sector, applying their knowledge in a professional field to the movement of such goods (e.g. a health care professional working on medical supplies logistics). For those who cannot readily acquire accreditation in their previous field, this could be a potential alternative. Currently such a project is being jointly delivered in Toronto through the Canadian Supply Chain Sector Council and MicroSkills, a non-profit settlement and employment services agency.

Clean technology. The Clean Tech sector represents a wide cross-section of activities, such as: alternative energy generation; energy efficiency; manufacturing; water and water waste management; waste management, recycling and reuse of materials. This is a field of applied technologies, and so is heavily reliant on engineers, technicians, technologists, drafters and other technology-related occupations. This could be a field where one could explore the fit between these technology occupations and the significant number of foreign-trained engineers who appear not to be successful in acquiring accreditation and employment in their chosen profession. Of note in this regard, the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers has developed a bridging program to prepare internationally-trained engineers for technical positions in the green economy. The first offering in this program is currently underway in Toronto, and it is set to expand to Ottawa and southern Ontario in 2011.14

14 “Preparing Internationally-Trained Engineers in the Green Economy,” The OSPE Advocate, May 2010, p. 1.


Opportunities on the supply sideA focus on the supply side of the labour market equation emphasizes preparing an individual for employment. Based on the literature relating to labour market outcomes, a number of considerations require attention, as far as newcomers are concerned:

• Language proficiency;

• Familiarity with Canadian business culture and practices;

• Capacity to navigate the labour market, to learn about job opportunities as well as career pathways.

In addressing these challenges, several types of interventions are needed:

• Language learning that enhances vocational language skills;

• Mentorship and internship opportunities so that newcomers gain practical insights and personal connections in their employment field, as well as knowledge of Canadian business culture;

• Labour market information that is timely and of high quality;

• Support with career advancement.

For newcomers to receive this kind of assistance, the services environment needs to be capable of providing this range and intensity of support. In that regard, several conditions need to be in place:

1) Catalogue of employment services for newcomersSuch a catalogue would not be limited to a listing of which agencies provide what services (including such information as location of services, hours of operation and eligibility requirements), but more nuanced information on actual activities beyond the standard list (counseling, employment resource information, job developers) to include such features as:

¦ Mentorships¦ Internships¦ Job trials/placements¦ Job shadowing¦ Co-op placements¦ Volunteer opportunities¦ Workshops¦ Guest speakers¦ Site visits¦ Networking clubs¦ Networking with professional associations¦ Networking with local BIAs¦ Networking with newcomers who have settled¦ Bridging programs¦ Conversation clubs focused on vocational language skills¦ Practice firms¦ HOST programs

Such a catalogue would be available to every employment agency serving newcomers and would be available to be shared with each newcomer.


2) Coordination of employment servicesWith a catalogue of employment services in place, service providers should seek to coordinate their services to provide the greatest range of options to newcomers. This would include at the very least a master list of workshops, clubs and speakers’ events, with every effort made not to double-book such events at the same time, to allow the greatest access to the broadest range of such services.

3) Linking CIC and MCI services with EO and OW servicesServices funded through Citizenship and Immigration Canada and through the (Ontario) Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration need to link with Employment Ontario services funded through the (Ontario) Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities and Ontario Works employment services administered through the municipal government, at the very least to coordinate outreach to employers. Employers are bombarded with inquiries about employment, by unemployed individuals, numerous temp agencies seeking contract temp work, and numerous employment agencies seeking employment for their clients. A coordinated strategy among the many agencies assisting the unemployed could ensure a higher quality of connection with employers, and an enhanced ability to understand employers’ needs.

4) Catalogue of English language servicesAs with employment services, there is a need for a comprehensive catalogue of all language services, not only basic LINC and ESL programs, but all related services, in particular enhanced ESL and conversational clubs, including those focusing on specialized language skills, and language assessment services that ensure referral to the appropriate language class.

5) Develop partnership between language, employment and credential assessment servicesIn order to ensure that all the various parts of the system supporting labour market outcomes for newcomers work in concert, there is a need to bring these various players together, to determine whether there are effective mechanisms that guide clients through the language assessment, language services, credential assessment and employment services maze.

6) Specialized programs focusing on career advancementOnce all the players in the system supporting the labour market outcomes of newcomers are identified and brought together, one can begin focusing attention on the next employment step, moving from placement in a job to guidance along a career path. With these various players at the same table, one could explore options, depending on opportunities and challenges most evident locally. These could include:

¦ Special local bridging programs

¦ Pre-apprenticeship projects and local apprenticeship programs

¦ Career ladder programs in specific industries


Hamilton has tended to attract immigrants and newcomers whose levels of educational attainment have been somewhat lower than those seeking to settle in other parts of Ontario. No doubt this is in part because of the nature of the industries that have defined the Hamilton economy.

Over the last few years, this gap in the levels of educational attainment has been shrinking. At the same time, the City of Hamilton has been seeking to diversify its economic base across emerging opportunities.

Meanwhile, Hamilton’s newcomers, even more so than in the rest of the province, have tended to end up in entry-level occupations, “survival jobs” that are often precarious and typically offer limited prospects for advancement to better jobs with higher pay and greater security.

Efforts to improve the labour market outcomes of newcomers to Hamilton will need to rely on initiatives that target specific occupations and industries, that are designed with a thorough understanding of the labour market dynamics of these distinct occupations and industries, and that depend on close interactions with employers in these fields. Such initiatives can only succeed when they address the individual employee recruitment and retention needs of partner employers.

This paper has identified some potential target occupations and industries that could serve as candidates for such an approach.

IV.IV. CONCLUSION


The culture industries are defined as follows (the number refers to the NAICS Code, an industry classification system):

5111 Newspaper, periodical, book and directory publishers

5112 Software publishers

5121 Motion picture and video industries

5122 Sound recording industries

5151 Radio and television broadcasting

5152 Pay and specialty television

5161 Internet publishing and broadcasting

5191 Other information services

5413 Architectural, engineering and related services

5414 Specialized design services

5418 Advertising and related services

7111 Performing arts companies

7113 Promoters (presenters) of performing arts, sports and similar events

7114 Agents and managers for artists, athletes, entertainers and other public figures

7115 Independent artists, writers and performers

7121 Heritage institutions

APPENDIX A: CREATIVE SECTOR DEFINED


The culture occupations are the following (the number refers to the NOC Code, an occupation classification system):

2151 Architects

2152 Landscape architects

2153 Urban and land use planners

2251 Architectural technologists and technicians

2252 Industrial designers

2253 Drafting technologists and technicians

5111 Librarians

5112 Conservators and curators

5113 Archivists

5121 Authors and writers

5122 Editors

5123 Journalists

5124 Professional occupations in public relations and communications

5125 Translators, terminologists and interpreters

5131 Producers, directors, choreographers and related occupations

5132 Conductors, composers and arrangers

5133 Musicians and singers

5134 Dancers

5135 Actors and comedians

5136 Painters, sculptors and other visual artists

5211 Library and archive technicians and assistants

5212 Technical occupations related to museums and art galleries

5221 Photographers

5222 Film and video camera operators

5223 Graphic arts technicians

5224 Broadcast technicians

5225 Audio and video recording technicians

5226 Other technical and co-ordinating occupations in motion pictures, broadcasting and the performing arts

5227 Support occupations in motion pictures, broadcasting and the performing arts

5231 Announcers and other broadcasters

5232 Other performers

5241 Graphic designers and illustrators

5242 Interior designers

5243 Theatre, fashion, exhibit and other creative designers

5244 Artisans and craftspersons

5245 Patternmakers, textile, leather and fur products


APPENDIX B: BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR SUMMARY OF LITERATURE (PAGES 15-16)

2007 Internationally Educated Professionals Conference Research Report, “Strategic Workforce Planning and Internationally Educated Professionals: An Employer Perspective,” 2007

2009 Internationally Educated Professionals Conference Research Report, “Best Practices: Employers and IEPs Speak about Strategies for Integrating Internationally Educated Professionals into the Canadian Labour Force,” 2009

Rupa Banerjee and Anil Verma, “Determinants and Effects of Post-Migration Education Among New Immigrants in Canada,” Working Paper No. 11, Canadian Labour Market and Skills Researcher Network, February 2009

Gustave Goldmann, Arthur Sweetman and Casey Warman, “The Economic Return on New Immigrants’ Human Capital: the Impact of Occupational Matching,” Working Paper No. 21, Canadian Labour Market and Skills Researcher Network, April 2009

Daniel Hiebert, “The Economic Integration of Immigrants in Metropolitan Vancouver, “ IRPP Choices, Vol. 15, No. 7, 2009

Eric Nan Liu, Access to Employment or Access to Employers: A Descriptive Study of Employers’ Attitudes and Practices in Hiring Newcomer Job Seekers, M.A. Thesis, Ryerson University, 2006

Lillie Lum and Jane Turrittin, “Educating for Employment Integration: Ontario Education Projects,” CERIS Project Synopsis, December 2007

Timothy Owen and Sophia Lowe, Labour Market Integration of Skilled Immigrants: Good Practices for the Recognition of International Credentials, Expert Group Meeting on Migration and Education: Quality Assurance and Mutual Recognition of Qualifications, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, August 2008

Krishna Pendakur and Simon Woodcock, “Glass Ceilings or Glass Doors? Wage Disparity Within and Between Firms,” Working Paper No. 46, Canadian Labour Market and Skills Researcher Network, October 2009

Garnett Picot, “Immigrant Economic and Social Outcomes in Canada: Research and Data Development at Statistics Canada,” Statistics Canada Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series, 2008

Garnett Picot and Feng Hou, “The Effect of Immigrant Selection and the IT Bust on the Entry Earnings of Immigrants,” Working Paper No. 29, Canadian Labour Market and Skills Researcher Network, June 2009Mikal Skuterud and Mingcui Su, Immigrants and the Dynamics of High-Wage Jobs: Evidence from the Canadian Labour Force Survey, 2009

TIEDI, Does Returning to School After Immigration Affect Labour Market Outcomes for Immigrants?, 2010

Danielle Zietsma, “Immigrants working in regulated occupations,” Perspectives on Labour and Income, Vol. XI, No. 2, 2010

Immigrants and the Labour Market in Hamilton...Labour market outcomes for newcomers to Canada It is well-established that newcomers to Canada have poorer labour market outcomes compared

Documents