Labor Market Performance of Immigrants in Smaller Regions of Western Countries: Some Evidence from Atlantic Canada

Abstract

Despite recent interest in regionalization of immigration in host nations, most studies have analyzed immigrants’ economic performance by largely focusing on their overall national performance. A regional analysis is necessary because changing geographic distribution of immigrants can affect their economic performance positively or negatively. The present paper focuses on Atlantic Canada whose share in annual Canadian immigrant inflows has been traditionally low, but where recent policy initiatives have resulted in greater attraction and retention of immigrants. Immigrants are found performing better than non-immigrants in regional labor market. The importance of regional analysis of immigrants’ economic performance and contribution in host nations is highlighted.