Anti-Asian Discrimination and COVID-19 Effects on Recent Immigrants to Canada

• In Event: The Economic, Educational, and Mental Health Conditions of Newcomers in Canada During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Proposal

Canada is a nation of immigrants with 26 percent of its workers in 2019 being foreign-born and 80 percent of its population increase in 2017-18 coming from net immigration (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada 2020). Asia has remained the top source continent for immigrants in recent years. From 2017 to 2019, most newcomers to Canada (63.5%) were born in Asia (including the Middle East). Immigration is crucial for filling labour shortages, augments the working-age population as the population ages, and will help meet age-related expenses. Immigration can also lead to the diversity and networks that facilitate interaction with diverse suppliers and customers.

As an immigration country, Canada embraces multiculturalism and equity principles as part of the Constitution, the Charter of Rights and Freedom, and has implemented pay equity and employment equity legislations. However, racial discriminations against visible minorities remains in Canada. Systemic racism, racialization and discrimination are persistent barriers to employment (and advancement) for members of racialized groups, which have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 global pandemic. Analyzing the monthly Labour Force Survey (LFS) data over the period January 2018 to July 2020 surrounding the month of March 2020 when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a pandemic, we have found that the COVID-19 had a disproportionate adverse effect on the employment of recent immigrants relative to the Canadian-born and this was especially the case in low-skilled occupations and in industries hard hit by the pandemic. The effects of COVID-19 on hours worked for those who remained employed were modest as were the differential effects for recent immigrants, highlighting that most of the adjustment occurred in the extensive margin of reduced employment rather than the intensive margin of hours worked. COVID-19 was associated with higher wages for recent immigrants who remained employed relative to their Canadian-born counterparts, and this was especially the case for recent immigrants in low-skilled occupations and hard-hit industries. This was because these immigrants filled in the positions that were abandoned by local employees due to high risks of infection and low compensation from the workplace. In other words, these new immigrants completed additional work but were exposed to higher risks.

The substantial adverse effect of COVID-19 on the employment of recent immigrants, both absolutely and relative to their Canadian-born counterparts, has important implications for the integration of immigrants into the Canadian labour market. The fact that this adverse effect is disproportionately felt by recent immigrants in low-skilled occupations has equity implications since they were more likely to lose their jobs when the economy was hit hard by the pandemic. The results of our investigation also highlight the importance of educating the general public about the socioeconomic benefits of immigration and prevention strategies and programs to protect recent immigrants and Asian Canadians from employment discrimination in workplaces.
(462 words)

Author

• Tony Fang