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THE OTTAWA CITIZEN ------------CANADA ---------THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1999 A5

New arrivals to Canada struggle to succeed

Immigrants today face more barriers, research data show

BY COLIN GREY

• Even as the federal government launches an initiative to bring more immigrants into the country, census data indicate that growing numbers of newcomers struggle to succeed in our economy.

• In the face of other barriers, like the difficulty of getting professional certification in Canada, or finding employers willing to accept a job applicant with a foreign degree, that means more Indian-born accountants end up as taxi drivers, and more Iranian-born dentists become cooks. "They're getting knocked down to the bottom," said Mr. Reitz. Mr. Reitz's findings generally agree with those of other researchers showing immigrants today take longer to integrate into the economy.
• The findings show, researchers say, that the government's goal of bringing in 300,000 immigrants to Canada in the year 2000 ignores one of the chief problems with our immigration policy: how immigrants fare after they arrive. "If you think of Canada as a company: when you hire new workers, most big corporations have orientation programs. They don't just turn the new employee loose in the organization and say to them, 'Well, find something useful to do," Mr. Reitz said. "Especially if they're from some far away place.
• A government study published in May shows 70.2 per cent of immigrants with a university degree who landed between 1980 and 1995 had a job in 1995, earning an average salary of $30,847.
• New arrivals to Canada face a number of obstacles, and the government does not do enough to help them. In 1981, immigrants who arrived during the previous five years earned salaries worth 85 per cent those of native Canadian men. Today, they are paid on average 65 per cent what Canadian-born men earn.
• Nancy Worsfold, executive director of Ottawa Carleton Immigrant Services, expressed little surprise at the findings, saying she worked with several immigrants who cannot find work in their fields for a number of reasons, including discrimination. "My observation is that a white Canadian with a British degree doesn't have -a lot of problems, but a third world immigrant with a British degree may have a lot of problems," she said.

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THE OTTAWA CITIZEN ------------CANADA ---------THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1999 A5

New arrivals to Canada struggle to succeed

Immigrants today face more barriers, research data show

BY COLIN GREY

Even as the federal government launches an initiative to bring more immigrants into the country, census data indicate that growing numbers of newcomers struggle to succeed in our economy.

The highly skilled immigrants that the government most wants have a harder time competing with today's highly educated Canadians tha