| Motivated by the large body of research finding worse outcomes for immigrants in many western countries, this thesis examines unstudied topics on labour market outcomes of foreign-born workers in Canada. The first two essays add temporary foreign workers to the study of immigrant outcomes, while the third essay studies the impact of ethnic enclaves on immigrant earnings assimilation.; In the first two essays, the labour market outcomes of temporary foreign workers are examined using the 1991, 1996 and 2001 Canadian Census and a combination of parametric, semiparametric and nonparametric estimation procedures. In the first essay, it is found that male temporary foreign workers experience much better outcomes in the Canadian labour market in terms of log weekly earnings than immigrants landing at the same time. In particular, foreign-born workers from the United States, Western/Southern/Northern Europe and Asia outperformed the recently landed immigrants. Using Oaxaca/Blinder decomposition and counterfactual density estimation, it is suggested that the earnings outcomes of future male immigrants might be improved by incorporating aspects of the selection process and policy that temporary foreign workers enter under to the regime governing the admittance of immigrants.; The fact that the temporary foreign workers enjoy better earnings outcomes in comparison to the recently landed immigrants motivates the second essay. One major cause for the worsening of outcomes of immigrants has been the decline in the returns to foreign credentials, particularly foreign labour market experience. It is found that male temporary foreign workers experience much higher returns to their foreign experience than do recently landed immigrants after controlling for observable characteristics. It is argued that this premium may be partially attributed to the credential recognition process that temporary foreign workers go through prior to obtaining a work permit in Canada. While all females receive high returns to their schooling, only non-visible minority temporary foreign workers obtain returns to their labour market experience.; This final essay examines the impact of living in an ethnic enclave on earnings growth of female and male immigrants in Canada using the 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996 and 2001 Censuses. Consistent with U.S. findings, enclaves are found to have a negative impact on the earnings growth of male immigrants. A negative impact is also found for female immigrants. Living in an enclave was found to be particularly harmful for immigrants who immigrated as adults, especially for females. For immigrants who arrived at a young age, there is little evidence to suggest any impact of living in an enclave. As well, exposure to one's own ethnic group had a more negative impact on high-skilled male immigrants, especially if they had received the bulk of their education outside of Canada. Enclaves were also found to hinder language skills by reducing the knowledge of the local native language for both male and female immigrants, and in particular for immigrants from countries with low knowledge of the local native language. |
