Statistics Canada has published a study of the employment income trajectories of childhood immigrants—and their Canadian-born counterparts—who became certified journeypersons through apprenticeship completion or trade qualifiers. The study examined annual employment incomes at five different points in time and found that childhood immigrants had lower incomes than their counterparts at every time point. There were notable differences between trades: In several industrial and mechanical trades, childhood immigrants made significantly less than their counterparts, but they outperformed the salaries of Canadian-born journeypersons in select construction trades. StatCan concludes that the study outcomes could inform policies at supporting skilled trades training pathways, labour mobility, and earnings equity.
