Research on Immigration and Integration in the Metropolis www.riim.metropolis.net 1
The Economics of Canadian Citizenship Don J. DeVoretz Co-Director RIIM, SFU
Sergiy Pivnenko Senior Researcher RIIM Simon Fraser University
[email protected]
[email protected]
Willy Brandt Professor, IMER, Malmo University
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Overview • In 1996 Census of Canada 74.6% of immigrants reported Canadian citizenship. Over 88% of immigrants working in government (federal and other) and 74% in non-government sectors were naturalized citizens. • A Recent Supreme Court case upheld the citizenship requirement for certain federal jobs and ruled against an immigrant class action suit to recover damages from this alleged discrimination. • Canadian immigrants ascend to citizenship at different rates. For example, more than 68% of Polish immigrants acquired Canadian citizenship during their first ten years in Canada, whereas only 24% of the Dutch have become Canadians over the same period. • Only a small proportion of the population in 1996, about 3%, had dual or multiple citizenship, up from 2% in 1991. Canada has recognized dual citizenship since 1977. In 1996, one in every five naturalized Canadians (17%) had dual citizenship with Canada. The source countries for dual citizenship include United Kingdom, Poland, Italy, the United States and Portugal.
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Objectives •
To Model •
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The affect of economic (income, occupation), social (marital status, household size, children, etc.), political (dual citizenship up or out,) and demographic (age, years in Canada) variables on the immigrant decision to ascend to citizenship The economic impact of citizenship on the occupational distribution and earnings levels of immigrants
To Answer the following • • • • •
What are the individual determinants that affect the citizen–non-citizen decision for immigrants at various stages in their lifetime? What are the institutional determinants that affect the citizenship decision at various stages in the immigrant’s lifetime? Does the immigrant economically gain in either the public and private sectors from this ascension to citizenship? From an economic perspective what is the optimal waiting period before Canada should allow ascension to citizenship? Does ascension to citizenship retard or hasten return migration of Canadian immigrants?
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Literature •
DeVoretz, D. and K. Zhang, (2004) – Citizenship Choice part of the Brain Exchange decision process • Two agents provide subsidized human capital and public good • Move or stay in entrepot depending on transfer of acquired human capital
– Evidence: HK citizen emigres from Canada have greater education obtained in Canada and greater earnings than stayers in HK or Canada .
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Bratsberg B, et. al(2002) – Youth panel data in USA: • citizenship alters occupational distribution and raises earnings • Affect is greater for immigrants from less developed areas
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Mata, Fernando. (1999): – Principal Components 1996 Canadian Census – No evidence of economic impact of Canadian citizenship
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Literature • Pivnenko and DeVoretz (2003) – evidence of citizenship affect on Ukrainian earnings in Canada – Earnings of Ukrainain foreign-born citizens equals Canadian-born Ukrainians
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Constant and Zimmerman (2003) – Found repeat moves of German immigrants to and from Germany by citizens of EU countries.
• Bloemraad (2002) • Canadian dual citizenship more likely if : – Youth, education and offical language in Canadian home
• Conclusion: No comprehensive study of ascension and economic impact of citizenship to date. 6
Stylized Facts of Citizen-NonCitizen Populations All immigrants Frequency Percent
Citizens Frequency Percent
Non-citizens (All) Frequency Percent
Non-citizens (5yrs+) Frequency Percent
Age 17
