Average Canadian immigrant earnings revealed

Immigrants living in Canada earn an average annual salary of CDN$31,000, new figures show.
The Statistics Canada data, based on tax filings for the 2012 financial year, reveals that earnings were significantly higher for principal applicant immigrants who were admitted to Canada through one of the country’s economic programmes.

The report shows that such immigrants, who include skilled workers, entrepreneurs, investors and Live-In Caregivers, typically earn an average salary of CDN$42,000 a year, while their spouses take home closer to CDN$26,000.

Immigrants admitted through the family reunification programme take home an average annual salary of CDN$28,000.
In 2012, the median after-tax income for a typical Canadian family of two or more was CDN$71,100, according to StatsCan.

The report also reveals that Canadian immigrants are not in the habit of leaving the province in which they first settle. In 2012, more than 80 per cent of immigrants who had landed in the previous year remained in the same province. The only provinces where this trend was bucked were Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, where immigrants tend to be more transient.

After living in Canada for 15 years, the retention rate drops to 70 per cent.