Lori Wilkinson, Ph.D. Department of Sociology

An Introduction to using the Longitudinal Survey of
Immigrants to Canada (LSIC)
Lori Wilkinson, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology
Manitoba Research Data Centre Workshop
November 28 2013 Winnipeg, Manitoba
What is LSIC?
• Follows over 7000 immigrants from date of
arrival through four years from 2001 to 2005
• Interviewed six months, two years and four
years post arrival
• Participation Criteria
• Arrived in Canada between October 1, 2000 and
September 30, 2001;
• Were age 15 years or older at the time of landing;
• Are not refugee claimants.
Advantages of LSIC
• Gold standard of sampling design
• Translated to 15 languages
• Contains important, unique variables such as
immigrant entrance status, pre-arrival
information, family information
– Over 5000 variables
– Government cooperation on data sharing
• Longitudinal design
• Bootstrapping available
• Most comprehensive dataset on immigrants
worldwide!
Disadvantages of LSIC
• Huge, complicated dataset
• How do researchers explain very complicated
models to lay audiences?
• Multiple files requiring merging
• Sample may not be large enough to examine
discrete groups (i.e., country of origin)
• “Dated” data
• No PUMF available so very little public use
(but makes it an advantage too!)
Selection of Topics
Statistics Canada, Special Surveys
Division, 2009
What kinds of questions can LSIC answer?
• How do pre-arrival education, training and
work experience influence post-arrival labour
market outcomes among immigrants?
• How do settlement conditions within the
family influence the educational outcomes of
immigrant children?
• What factors influence the use of settlement
services?
• Who has difficulty accessing settlement
services?
How provincial age cap policies for
high school contribute to dropouts
among immigrant youth in Canada
Lori Wilkinson, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology
University of Manitoba
Provincial Age Cap Policies
Age caps restricting the public funding of secondary education
has a disproportionately negative effect on newcomer youth.
• Publicly funded high
school education
ends:
– Age 18: NB, NFLD, QC,
ON
– Age 19: BC
– Age 20: AB, PEI
– Age 21: MB, NS, SK
• Keeping students in
school
– ON: denies driver’s
licenses to those under
age 18 not currently
attending school
– Increase legal school
leaving age: AB, ON,
MB
Sources: various provincial education legislative documents
available on request
Methodology
PHASE ONE
•
•
•
Quantitative analysis of the
Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants
to Canada (LSIC)
Canada during autumn Consists
of over 7600 immigrants who
arrived in 2000- 2001
Randomly selected by Citizenship
& Immigration Canada
– Representative of major
immigrant-sending countries
– Representative of the major
entrance classes (including
government/private sponsored
refugees)
– Not representative of refugee
claimants
• Wave 1 (6 months after
arrival), Wave 2 (2 years
after arrival), and Wave 3 (4
years after arrival)
PHASE TWO
• Qualitative, semi-structured
interviews with 82 youth in
Toronto, Hamilton,
Winnipeg & Vancouver
• Similar characteristics to
those in LSIC
• Special interest in
comparing the trajectories
for those with high school
education, trade/technical
school education or
university education
• Extensive questions about
educational and work
history prior to arrival, at
arrival & post-arrival
Sample: migrant youth arriving to Canada
between 2000-1; ages 15 and 29 years
High School Placement on Arrival by Immigrant
Entrance Category
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
77.2%
76.7%
69.3%
60.9%
39.1%
30.7%
23.3%
22.8%
Family Class
Skilled Workers
Behind
Business Class
Refugees
On-track
Source: Statistics Canada, LSIC-calculations by author.
High School Trajectory by Entrance Class and Racialized Status
6 months after arrival
2 years after arrival
Source: Statistics Canada,
LSIC-calculations by author.
0.60
0.10
0.26
0.91
0.49
0.62
0.61 0.57
0.53
0.32
0.44
Refugee Class
Skilled Class
Africa
Carribean
Southeast Asia
South Asia
West Asia
1.04
Hours of language
1.21
Family Class
No
English/French
Prior to Arrival
1.10
Middle East
1.71
Latin America
1.57
Other Europe
2.10
Southern Europe
Western
Europe
1.03
Eastern
Europe
1.60 1.47
age squared
Age
1.10
Income
Sex
1.47
1.02
2.29
2.60
Education Problems index W2
Discrimination Index
(W2/W3)
Importance of PESC Ed W1
Fractured Family
1.03
0.92 0.92
0.69
Appropriate grade placement
W1
Number of people to help W3
No help with ed needed W3
Recieved help with edu W3
Factors Influencing Early High School Leaving Among Early Newcomer
4.98
Youth in Canada
4.73
4.60
4.10
3.60
3.10
0.92
0.83
Source: Statistics Canada, LSIC-calculations by author.
Summary
• Refugee, racialized and male youth have
largest gaps in education to overcome at arrival
– Refugee and skilled worker youth are 5X more likely to leave
high school without a diploma
– Those without adequate education will have difficulty finding
good employment as adults
• Entrance class, racialized status and sex
should be used to identify those having
difficulties in school and start programs
• Age cap policies do influence high school
completion rates among immigrants
Policy Implications
• Provinces with more ‘generous’ age caps have
higher rates of high school completion
• Age cap in secondary education has
disadvantaged refugee & racialized youth and
should be used to justify programs to assist this
group in finishing high school
• Recognition that FCR is also a significant
problem even for those with high school level
education that might cause problems with job
transitions in Canada
What was done with the results?
• Publications: theses, journal articles,
academic conferences, government
speeches, government publications
• New programs implemented
• Shared results with participants and
stakeholders
• Used examples in teaching and publishing
• Launched other research projects:
– Longitudinal examination of work trajectories
– Immigration Research West
Statistics Canada Online Resources for LSIC
• Online description of LSIC:
http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?
Function=getSurvey&SDDS=4422&lang=e
n&db=imdb&adm=8&dis=2
• Microdata User Guide:
http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdbbmdi/document/4422_D1_T1_V3-eng.pdf
A Note from Statistics Canada
• The UBC and Manitoba Research Data Centres of
Statistics Canada provided invaluable advice relating to
the statistical analysis and access to the confidential
data from the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to
Canada. All errors and omissions are the responsibility
of the author.
• The analysis is based on confidential microdata
received from Statistics Canada and the opinions
expressed do not represent the views of Statistics
Canada.
Acknowledgements
• Co-researchers:
• Research assistants
– Sean Lauer, Miu Chung Yan
– Fadi Ennab, Jasmine
(UBC), Rick Sin (McMaster) &
Thomas, Swati Mandal,
Tat Tsang (U of T)
Nicole Palidwor
(University of Manitoba) • Postdoctoral Fellow:
– Christine Hochbaum, Da
– Bosu Seo (U Winnipeg)
Rae Lee (UBC)
• Employment Solutions for
– Kirandeep Sibia
Immigrant Youth, Manitoba
(McMaster University)
Labour and Immigration, the
• Statistics Canada
Immigrant Centre, Aksyon Ng
Research Data Centres
Ating Katataan (ANAK),
– Dr. Ian Clara, Analyst,
MOSAIC, and Settlement and
Manitoba RDC
Integration Services
• National Metropolis
• SSHRC/Metropolis Strategic
Project
Joint Initiative