Immigration has lowered wages in both Canada and the United States says a new study by Statistics Canada.

Canada
The main impact of large numbers of highly-skilled immigrants coming to Canada has been to push down the earnings of highly educated Canadians.  Canadians with postgraduate degrees saw their real weekly wages tumble 7 percent between 1980 and 2000. 

“It all boils down to the skill mix… Canada gets more skilled immigrants than America and they have a mitigating effect on wage inequality.”

United States
In the United States the opposite has happened. Most immigrants to the USA have been less skilled. The newcomers have depressed the earnings of low-paid Americans and increased the gap relative to the highest-paid.

Different Immigration Policies
According to Statistics Canada, the differences in skill mixes between Canada and the United States have been caused by differences in immigration policies during the last four decades.

Canadian immigration policies since the 1960s have encouraged high-skilled workers to come to the country. During the same period, American immigration policy has emphasised family reunification, resulting in a disproportionate number of low-skilled immigrants.

Significant illegal immigration to the United States since 1965 - an estimated 10.3 million as of 2005 - mostly from Mexico, has also contributed to the tendency for US immigrant workers to be lower-skilled than those who entered Canada.

Immigration to the United States, moreover, has tended to increase the supply of young workers; the opposite has been seen in Canada.

Immigration Numbers
Between 1980 and 2000, immigration increased the male labour force by 13.2% in Canada and 11.1% in the United States. In each country, a migration-induced increase of 10% in the labour supply was associated with a 3% to 4% drop in weekly earnings.

28 May 2007