A comparative analysis of the labour market outcomes of Filipino immigrants in the United States and Canada

Teresa Abada, University of Western Ontario
Feng Hou, Statistics Canada

The main objective of this paper is to compare the economic integration of Filipino immigrants to the US and Canada. The Philippines represents the fourth largest immigrant group in the United States behind Mexico, China and India. In Canada, the Philippines was the leading country of birth among people who immigrated to Canada between 2006 and 2011. While Filipino immigration to Canada is relatively recent beginning in the 1960s, the growth of the Filipino community has largely been due to its recent arrivals with almost two thirds of Filipino immigrants arriving since the early 1990s. In contrast, Filipino immigration to the United States has a much longer history dating back to the beginning of the 20th century owing to US colonization of the Philippines. One of the diverging patterns of integration between these two countries is that compared to those who arrived in the 1960 and 1970s, Filipino immigrants to Canada have become overrepresented in the caring industries, particularly those who work as nannies and care-workers for children and the elderly, a move triggered by the Foreign Domestic Movement in 1981-1992 and subsequently replaced by the Live-In Caregiver Program (LCP) in 1992. Using data from the 2011 National Household Survey of Canada and the 2009-2011 American Community Survey we compare the labour market outcomes of the US and Canada. Preliminary analysis show that Filipino immigrant women in the US are concentrated in health, nursing and nursing aide positions, while Filipino immigrant women in Canada are concentrated in home care, nursing aid and cleaning type positions. Filipino immigrant men in the US are concentrated in health, nursing aid positions although earn less than the native born in the US. Filipino immigrant men in Canada are concentrated in manufacturing and cleaning type jobs.