Cultural Workforce Participation and Income by Immigration Status and Period of Immigration
Between 2011 and 2016 the Ottawa-Gatineau region welcomed 37,890 new landed immigrants and permanent residents. They became part of the 255,800 local residents who identified as being born outside of Canada and having or having held landed immigrant or permanent resident status on the 2016 Census, comprising 19.7% of the Ottawa-Gatineau population (note 1).
Immigration has played an important role in developing the region’s cultural fabric and immigrants play a vital role in the local culture workforce. Those considered immigrants for census purposes represented approximately 24% of workers in culture occupations, slightly higher than the overall workforce in Ottawa-Gatineau (21%). However, only about 18% of workers in artist occupations in Ottawa-Gatineau were immigrants.
About 2.7% of Ottawa-Gatineau cultural workers immigrated within the last five years before the Census (2011-2016), which is also slightly higher than in the overall workforce (2.4%). Roughly 3% of workers in artist occupations in Ottawa-Gatineau had immigrated in the previous five years.
Ottawa-Gatineau Cultural Workers, 2016
Immigration & Income
The impact of immigration on employment income for cultural workers varies considerably depending on how long an immigrant has been in Canada. It also varies considerably between Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA).
In Ottawa-Gatineau, cultural workers who immigrated before 2011 earned 16.5% more than non-immigrant cultural workers in 2015. However, those who immigrated between 2011 and 2016, earned 4.6% less than non-immigrants. This was a smaller income gap for recent immigrants than in any of the other major CMAs. There is not enough detail available from the 2016 Census to explain with any certainty why this is the case.
Average Employment Income by Immigration Period, 2015
Income Differences by Occupation
It is important to note that the differences in employment income between non-immigrants, pre-2011 immigrants, and recent immigrants varies substantially between culture occupations. Of the 37 culture occupations with employment income data for pre-2011 immigrants, these workers earned less than non-immigrants in 21 of them. Recent immigrants earned less than non-immigrants in Ottawa-Gatineau in every culture occupation for which data were available (note 2).
Occupations with the biggest income gaps for pre-2011 immigrants (note 3):
Painters, sculptors and other visual artists (60.6%)
Photographers (46%)
Producers, directors, choreographers and related occupations (45.9%)
Landscape and horticulture technicians and specialists (41.3%)
Architectural technologists and technicians (33.5%)
Occupations with the biggest income gaps for recent immigrants (note 4):
Professional occupations in advertising, marketing and public relations (46.5%)
Authors and writers (31.4%)
Software engineers and designers (26.2%)
Computer programmers and interactive media developers (15.0%)
Web designers and developers (13.5%)
Notes:
In reference to the 2016 Census, the term ‘immigrants' includes persons who are, or who have ever been, landed immigrants or permanent residents. In other words, people who have been granted permission to live in Canada permanently, including those who have moved on to naturalized citizenship. This category does not include ‘temporary foreign residents’ such as those on work or study visas. As a result, these figures are not inclusive of those classed as ‘temporary foreign residents’ although they do make significant contributions to the cultural life of our region. For more information, see Statistics Canada.
Due to data suppression, employment income data were only available for 37 culture occupations for pre-2011 immigrants and 6 culture occupations for 2011-2016 immigrants in Ottawa-Gatineau.
The numbers in brackets represent the income gap between pre-2011 immigrants and non-immigrants in Ottawa-Gatineau in 2015.
The numbers in brackets represent the income gap between 2011-2016 immigrants and non-immigrants in Ottawa-Gatineau in 2015.