HEC: The Selection of Recent High-Skilled Immigrants to Canada

Noteworthy study. Interesting that the government has adopted the recommendation to “reweighting current selection criteria to predict earnings” while at the same time implementing sectoral draws that are lower ranked with lower earnings in some cases:

We study economic integration, intentions, and selection using a new survey of recent high-skilled immigrants to Canada (arrivals 2015–2025), linked to native-conditional earning percentile ranks. We document five main results. First, high-skilled immigrants experience large earnings gains from migration, with average earnings roughly doubling within one year of arrival. Second, entry status strongly predicts early outcomes: immigrants on closed work permits outperform direct permanent residents, while students and open-permit entrants start lower, with students catching up faster. Third, nonpermanent residents do not, on average, integrate faster than permanent residents relative to natives, except for former students. Fourth, intentions to stay are more closely related to earnings growth than to income levels. Fifth, reweighting current selection criteria to predict earnings improves expected outcomes and shifts selection toward high-performing non-permanent residents, particularly those on closed permits.

Source: HEC: The Selection of Recent High-Skilled Immigrants to Canada