Labour Market, Retirement, Public and Private Pension and Related Activities of Older Immigrants

Project Lead

Arthur Sweetman

Team Members

Moyosore Sogaolu (external link) , Sergei Filiasov

Cluster: Interrogating Immigrant Un(der)employment: Causes, Consequences and Solutions

Very little quantitative research has been undertaken regarding immigrant seniors and their experiences, especially with respect to labour market activities and their use of pensions including public pensions.

This project focuses on the labour supply, retirement behaviour, private and public pension use, and related public policy and labour market issues relevant to the senior immigrant population with comparisons to the non-immigrant population and across various sub-groups of the immigrant and non-immigrant populations.

1. How are immigrant status, immigration-specific characteristics, and general demographic characteristics, associated with labour market and public program outcomes?
2. How does the structure of the public pension system influence immigrant choices and activities at ages normally associated with retirement?
3. Are public pensions and related programs serving the senior immigrant community?

This project will be quantitative and involve the analysis of large data sets, especially various censuses and Statistics Canada’s Longitudinal Administrative Database. It will quantify poverty, earnings, public pension receipt and the like both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Further, it will examine potential heterogeneity across individuals and families and explore potential behavioural responses to the parameters of the public pension system and any related differences across individuals.

The project is currently in progress.

Expected completion date: December 2026

Immigrant older adults; labour market; older adults; public pension system