According to a new Statistics Canada report, immigrant incomes have been rising in recent years.

In 2019, immigrants who became permanent residents 2018 reported median pay of $31,900, the highest among all groups of immigrants who arrived in Canada since 1981. It was also roughly 4% greater than the earnings of 2017 immigrants in 2018. However, at $38,800 in 2019, it was still approximately 18 percent less than the median wage for Canadian-born workers.

These data come from a recent study by Statistics Canada on immigrant salaries.

The research used information from the Longitudinal Immigration Database, which allows researchers to look at the characteristics of Canadian immigrants at the time of their admission, as well as their economic outcomes and regional mobility. It’s the first installment in a two-part series on immigrant outcomes. The second section deals with immigration mobility.

In 2019, the median incomes of the major applicants of economic-class immigration programs were greater than those of the Canadian-born population. One year later, these immigrants who arrived in 2018 had a median pay of $43,600, which is more than 12% higher than the Canadian median earnings ($38,800).

The reason for this may have something to do with how low-income immigrants are chosen.

“In the economic categories, principal applicants are chosen for their capacity to integrate into the Canadian labor market and contribute to the economy,” according to the report. “Most have at least one official language and a post-secondary education.”

Pre-immigration experience in Canada appears to affect immigrants’ salaries since it allows them to strengthen their language skills and knowledge of the Canadian labor market. Work and study experience, just work, and just study experience were the three categories of Canadian experience.

One year later, immigrants who had both employment and study experience prior to admission had the highest median wage. The median wage for these immigrants who were accepted in 2018 was $44,600 in 2019, which was higher than the $38,800 recorded by the Canadian-born population that year.

Immigrant salaries were boosted in the first year after arrival by work-related experience in particular. Immigrants with no prior work experience had a median wage of $39,300 in 2019, which was also greater than the Canadian-born population.

Because this group is on average younger than their colleagues, immigrants with just study experience before landing had the lowest median income one year after landing ($15,100 in 2019).

2018 immigrants had greater median incomes one year after landing than 2017 immigrants in all three groups.

Across all immigration categories, median salaries increased for both men and women between 2010 and 2019, although immigrant men and women benefited differentially from these increases.

Women’s median wage began lower than men’s and climbed quicker than men’s among economic-class major applicants. As a result, the salary difference between men and women grew over time, favoring men. According to the report, more research is needed to figure out why this happening.

All other types of immigration had the opposite effect. In the following immigration categories: economic dependents (such as spouses of major applicants), refugees, and family-sponsored immigrants, women’s median income started lower than men’s and climbed faster than men’s.

The wage difference between men and women narrowed over the study period as women’s median wages increased in these categories.