Glossary: Demographic and Immigration Terms

a

(Demographic)
Aging

The process whereby the proportion of elderly increases in a population.

Aging Index

The ratio of the number of persons aged 65 and over, to the number of persons under 15, expressed per 100.

b

Brown Collar Ghetto

Defined as the part of Canada's workforce consisting of foreign trained professionals, who are visible minorities and work in low wage menial jobs. Source: Newsletter. Canada Immigrant Job Issues. November, 2003.
 

Brown Collar Ghetto Index
(BCGI)

Defined as the total Brown Collar Ghetto divided by the total number of non-white working foreign trained professionals by period of arrival (usually a year). The higher the BCGI the more racist the working practices are. Source: Newsletter. Canada Immigrant Job Issues. November, 2003.

Note. It is possible that some white professionals are underemployed and working below their potential, but their situation must be considered separately since they are not subject to 'racial discrimination' or to a selection process, but to general economic and social conditions. In other words, they are already part of the labour force either employed or unemployed, with postsecondary education or without it, while immigrants passed through a selection process based on strict requirements just to enter into the Canadian labour force.

Business Class
Immigration

Those who have the experience and resources to contribute to the Canadian economy. Business immigrants include investors, entrepreneurs, and self-employed immigrants.

c

Citizen

According to the Citizenship Act, citizenship can be acquired either by birth or through the naturalization process.

d

Demography

Demography is the study of human populations. It encompasses the study of the size, structure and distribution of populations and how populations change over the time due to mortality, fertility, migration.

The term demographics is mistakenly used as a synonym for demography, but it refers rather to selected population characteristics as used in marketing or opinion research.

e

Employment Discrimination

Is defined as negative employment decisions based on statuses such as birthplace or origins, rather than based solely on credentials and qualifications directly related to the potential productivity of the employee. Source: Jeffrey Reitz. "Immigrant Skill Utilization in the Canadian Labour Market: Implications of Human Capital Research."  2001.

f

Family Class
Immigration

Those immigrants who come to join close family members in Canada.

Family Income

It is the sum of the total incomes of all members of that family

h

Household

A household may consist of a family group (census family) with or without other non-family persons; of two or more families sharing a dwelling; of a group of unrelated persons; or of one person living alone.

Household Income

It is the sum of the total incomes of all members of a household 15 years of age and over.

i

Illegal Hiring Practices
VS
"Illegal" Immigrants

Those practices used by employers violating labour standards by illegally hiring undocumented workers, offering no benefits and sub-standard wages. Therefore, illegality comes into effect at the moment when these hiring practices take place.

Independent
Class Immigration

Category referred to independent immigrants who are subject to a point system, which considers age, education, ability to speak English and/or French, skills, and work experience needed in Canada's labour market. A permanent residence status is given when the applicant gets seventy points.

 l

Labour Force

The labour force comprises the total of the employed (those in work) plus the unemployed (those seeking work).

 m

Merchants of Immigration

All of the people and associations that benefit from immigrant recruitment and settlement services. They operate in both sending and host countries, and they can be regulated or not by the governments involved. They usually identify themselves as part of the "immigration industry." Source: Canada Immigrant Job Issues. 2006.

Merchants of Labour

Private agents have come to dominate recruitment and deployment (of migrants) in many labour-sending nations. Source: International Institute for Labour Studies. 2005.

 n

Nepotism

It's defined as appointing or hiring relatives to positions based on family status rather than on merit.

"Whether the nepotism be in favor of blood relatives, countrymen, or classmates, since they have in common the use of non-monetary considerations in deciding whether to hire, work with or buy from an individual or group."  Source: Gary S. Becker. 1957.

Networking

It is a common practice with which people are helped by friends or contacts to get a job or a position in Canada. The candidate for a position who already has a connection with an organization, is more likely to receive "serious" consideration for the job. So people are often hired on the basis of whom they know instead of what they know. In other countries this practice is openly known as nepotism.

p

Pay inequity

Is another form of employment discrimination against immigrants. This occurs when immigrants have full access to jobs involving significant skill and responsibility, so their skills are fully utilized, but they are simply paid less than native-born workers doing the same or similar jobs.
Source: Jeffrey Reitz. 2001.
Note: Pay inequity not only constitutes a failure to provide equal pay for work of equal value, but it also generates higher rates of surplus value.

Permanent Resident

A person with permanent resident status is a landed immigrant, or an immigrant who has settled permanently in Canada, but has not acquired Canadian citizenship.

Poverty Rate

Poverty rate or incidence of poverty refers to the proportion of the population living in households with incomes below the LICO. Source: Canadian Council on Social Development,  Urban poverty in Canada. 2000.

Note:  StatsCan has published a set of measures called the low income cutoffs, and consistently emphasized that these are quite different from measures of poverty; however, LICO measures are relative indicators of low income.

Low Income Cut-Offs (LICO). LICOs are set according to the proportion of annual family income spent on food, shelter and clothing. A new base year for LICOs is adopted from time to time; in other words, the cutoffs are adjusted to reflect more recent available data on family spending patterns. StatsCan, 2004.

Provincial Nominees (Immigrants)

Provincial nominees do not have to meet the usual selection criteria, but they must pass health and security requirements. British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Newfoundland have recently signed agreements regarding the selection of provincial nominees to fill specific provincial labour market needs.

r

Racism

A set of beliefs which asserts the natural superiority of one racial group over another, at the individual but also the institutional level. In one sense, racism refers to the belief that biology rather than culture is the primary determinant of group attitudes and actions. Racism goes beyond ideology; it involves discriminatory practices that protect and maintain the position of certain groups and sustain the inferior position of others.

Refugee

Convention Refugee: Is defined as a person outside of his country of nationality who is unable or unwilling to return because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. 
Designated Classes: Are persons in refugee-like situations who are in need of resettlement, even though they may not meet the strict definition of convention refugee.

Returning Residents

Those residents in Canada that are not Canadian citizens and are outside Canada for frequent or extended visits. These people should apply for a returning resident permit.

s

Systemic Racism

It is a specific type of racism.  It is a differential treatment given to particular racial groups through apparently neutral rules, policies and procedures. It is reinforced by institutional practices and power resulting in unfair treatment of particular racial groups. It usually deals with employment. For example, hiring procedures or entrance requirements may have the effect of excluding various racial groups particularly from higher positions. Also referred to as 'institutional' racism.

u

Underemployment

The situation where workers cannot obtain full-time employment or who are working at jobs for which they are overqualified. Underemployment has also been defined as "involuntary part-time" employment, or employment of a person on a part-time basis when full-time work is desired.

Under-utilization of Immigrant Skills

(Brain Waste) Defined as any employment of immigrants in work below a level of skill at which they could function as effectively as native-born Canadians. It also represents one form of employment discrimination based on immigrant status or immigrant origins. Source: Jeffrey Reitz. 2001.

v

Visible Minorities

The Canadian Employment Equity Act defines visible minorities as "persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in color."

Note: StatsCan  considers that the visible minority population includes the following groups: Chinese, South [Asian East Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, etc.]; Black, Filipino, Latin American, Southeast Asian [Cambodian, Indonesian, Laotian, Vietnamese, etc.]; Arab, West Asian [Afghan, Iranian, etc.];  Japanese, Korean, and Pacific Islander.

w

Workforce

It is defined as employed persons (employees and self-employed), who can be working either full-time or part-time.