Husam Dughman
Over a long period of time, and particularly since the events of 9/11, debate has raged about the causes of terrorism, especially in regard to religious extremism. A myriad of proposals has been put forward, including lack of education, poverty, naivety, desperation, and so forth. In the wake of the suicide bombings in the United Kingdom in 2005, some commentators, mostly Americans, suggested that, unlike their counterparts in the United States, members of the Muslim minority in the UK were not well integrated into British society, were not particularly wealthy or well-educated, nor were many of them homeowners. Those reasons, the American commentators proposed, accounted for the relative “peacefulness” of Muslims in the United States.
Events in the United States since 2005 have of course revealed very clearly that those aforementioned opinions were too premature. Sober heads now understand that it is misguided to associate education and wealth with virtue or, the other side of the coin, link lack of education and poverty to vice; they realize that many contemporary religious fanatics are educated, middle-class individuals. Not only that, but there is in fact concrete evidence that casts a big question mark over the claim that the disadvantaged situation of minorities fuels violence, including terrorism. Basing his views on his own ten-year experience as a Newcomer specialist (i.e., someone who helps immigrants settle in Canada), the author of this article intends to argue that there doesn’t appear to be a strong relationship between the highly traumatic experience of immigrant minorities in Canada and terrorism. Let’s first look at the overall situation of those groups in that country.
In 2006, 42% of Newcomers to Canada were in possession of a university degree, as opposed to 16% of Canadian-born individuals. In spite of this, Newcomers to Canada suffer from a higher unemployment rate and a lower income than those born in Canada; their lack of the “Canadian experience”, the difficulties of the hidden market (80-90% of jobs unadvertised), networking problems, and the non-recognition of their credentials have all been challenging obstacles for them.
The regulated professions in particular have seen problems develop for Newcomers to Canada: Although almost one half of university-educated Newcomers had studied and worked in a regulated profession back home, the overall matching rate for Newcomers to their professions in Canada is only 24% (62% for the Canadian-born.)
According to 2006 statistics (1), the matching rates in different occupations were as follows:
Field of study (Occupation) |
Canadian-born (%) |
Foreign-educated Newcomer (%) |
Medicine |
92 |
56 |
Dentistry |
90 |
44 |
Architecture |
56 |
26 |
Accounting |
50 |
24 |
Teaching |
62 |
20 |
Engineering |
42 |
19 |
Law |
69 |
12 |
The three provinces most Newcomers go to when they first arrive have the worst overall matching rates in Canada:
Province |
Canadian-born (%) |
Foreign-educated Newcomer (%) |
Quebec |
59 |
19 |
British Columbia |
62 |
22 |
Ontario |
62 |
24 |
Ontario’s matching rate average is the national average. It is to be noted, however, that the average matching rate for Canadian-educated Newcomers was 53%. This is comparable to the performance of Newcomers with degrees from countries similar to Canada: Ireland (59%); New Zealand (57%); South Africa (56%); Australia (50%); and the UK (44%).
The difference of 29% between the overall matching rate for Canadian-educated Newcomers (53%) and those who are foreign-educated (24%) can be attributable to the perception by Canadian employers that Canadian credentials are more valuable than foreign ones, although this does not explain why the Canadian-educated Newcomers do better than the British ones by 9% (53% to 44%), when British qualifications are world-renowned and are highly regarded in Canada. This also does not explain why the Canadian-born do better than the Canadian-educated Newcomers by, again, 9% (62% to 53%), when both have essentially the same qualifications overall. In fact, even after living in Canada for more than 10 years, the overall matching rate for foreign-trained Newcomers to Canada goes up to only 35%.
These data support findings by the Public Policy Forum (2), which show that many Canadian employers ignore Newcomers in their human resource planning and think other factors are more important, e.g. upgrading skills of current employees, hiring more young people, and hiring aboriginal people. Not only that, but these findings state that most Canadian employers say the majority of Newcomers they hired had elementary or high school as their highest education, which is rather strange considering that in 2002, almost 60% of Newcomers had post-secondary qualifications, including 46% with university degrees. According to the Public Policy Forum, 50% of Canadian employers say either that the “Canadian experience” is a requirement for employment or that it is more valuable than foreign experiences.
This reality of Newcomer lives belies some of the data that can be found on some profession-related websites. For example, according to Ontario Job Futures (3), the unemployment rate for engineers in Ontario is lower than 5% (e.g., 3% for electronics/ electrical engineers). However, as we have already seen in this article, the matching rate for foreign-trained engineers is only 19%, leaving 81% of them out of the engineering field; in other words, the 96% or 97% employment rate for engineers may not entirely refer to employment within the engineering field, since it seems that an engineer who works in McDonald’s would thus be regarded as “employed”.
One of the studies that has looked at the situation of Newcomers to Canada (4) points out that Newcomers who have come to Canada since the 1980s have not done well in terms of their employment rate or income, compared to the Canadian-born or previous Newcomers who had arrived in Canada between the 1940s and the 1980s. The study talks about discrimination as being a major problem for Newcomers, especially the non-European ones: Non-European family poverty is twice that of the European/ Canadian families, and in the case of some ethnic groups (West Asians, Arabs, Latin Americans, and Blacks) the poverty rate is three times as high. This is also reflected in a significant increase in the use of food banks by highly educated Newcomers. As a matter of fact, as this study shows, the annual Newcomer earnings deficit was already $15 billion in 1996, with $2.4 billion of this due to skill underutilization and $12.6 billion due to pay inequity. This great disparity has been attributed to discrimination as well as to the little or no value that Canadian employers attach to foreign qualifications and experience. The consequence of this has been the emergence of a Newcomer underclass, which is largely present in urban areas of significant poverty. This study adds that the huge inconsistency between Canada’s official policy of multiculturalism and anti-racism on the one hand and the reality of social exclusion on the other is well documented. Based on all this evidence, the study concludes that Canada is quite simply wasting the talents of Newcomers, people who are essential for strengthening Canada’s workforce and maintaining a sufficient tax base for Canada’s social services.
The harsh reality of Newcomer experiences in Canada has taken a toll on their health. One study (5) has suggested that Newcomers are needed in Canada to make up for below-replacement fertility; otherwise, the population of Canada would begin to decline around the year 2030 (6). Yet, their health, which upon arrival is rated better than that of the Canadian-born, deteriorates over time. The study has found that the non-European Newcomers in particular are twice as likely to report health problems as the Canadian-born or the European Newcomers (as evidenced by more frequent visits to the doctor.)
The above-mentioned study rejects smoking as the cause of the non-European Newcomers’ lower levels of health since, it says, they are only half as likely to smoke as the Canadian-born. It also rejects physical inactivity as a cause since, it maintains, the European Newcomers are more physically inactive than the non-European ones. Although this study does not point to any particular reason as the cause behind the health problems of non-European Newcomers, it does, however, mention that the average Body Mass Index (BMI) of the non-European Newcomers increases significantly compared to that of the Canadian-born or the European Newcomers. However, it is revealing that this study confirms that the non-European Newcomers are more likely than the Canadian-born or the European Newcomers to report low social support and to work in low-paid jobs. Given this remarkably disadvantaged situation of the non-European Newcomers, especially that of the highly educated professionals amongst them, it is very likely that the increase in their BMI has been brought about by stress, depression, anxiety, and stress-induced sleeplessness, all of which have been linked to weight increase (7).
The link between worse health and socio-economic underperformance has been backed up by another study (8). According to this study, employment and income are top social determinants of health for Newcomers to Canada. In spite of their high education, many Newcomers are unemployed, underemployed, or working in jobs unrelated to their field of study or job experience. This study indicates that the Newcomers’ lack of the “Canadian experience”, the non-recognition of credentials, and discrimination are major hurdles in their working lives. The study points to data to support this: Around 50% of Newcomers live in low-income housing (compared to about 20% of the Canadian-born), and the unemployment rate for Newcomers is more than twice the average in Toronto (19% to 9%).
About the author
Husam Dughman comes from a family that is historically descended from Europeans on his father’s side and Middle Easterners on his mother’s side. He was born in Libya and educated in Libya and the United Kingdom. Before Qaddafi came to power, Husam Dughman’s father had been the president of the University of Libya and his maternal grandfather had been a prime minister. Immediately following Qaddafi’s military coup d’état in 1969, both stood up to the Qaddafi regime and were consequently imprisoned: Husam Dughman’s father was incarcerated for a period of 10 years, during which he was subjected to regular torture by the Qaddafi regime, and his grandfather was incarcerated for five years.
In the 1990s, Husam Dughman returned to Libya and worked as a university professor of political science. Due to conflicts with the Qaddafi regime, he resigned from his university position in 1997 and subsequently worked in legal translation. Years later, Husam Dughman left Libya for North America, where he has been working as a Newcomer specialist, helping new immigrants with their settlement.
Husam Dughman has recently published a book, Tete-a-tete with Muhammad, and he has also published various articles about the Middle East. You can find out more by visiting his website at http://www.husamdughman.com
Endnotes:
- Zietsma, Danielle, Immigrants Working in Regulated Occupations, at www.statcan.gc.ca
- Public Policy Forum, Bringing Employers into the Immigration Debate, Survey and Conference, November 2004, at www.ppforum.ca
- Ontario Job Futures, www.tcu.gov.on.ca/eng
- Omidvar & Richmond (Laidlaw Foundation), Immigrant Settlement and Social Inclusion in Canada, www.laidlawfdn.org
- Ng, Wilkins, Gendron, and Berthelot, Dynamics of immigrants’ Health in Canada, www.publications.gc.ca/ Collection/ Statcan
- Statistics Canada, Population Projections for Canada Provinces and Territories, 2000-2026, 2001, www.statcan.gc.ca
See also, Statistics Canada, Population Projections, 2005 to 2031, www.statcan.gc.ca
- (a) Mayo Clinic, How do I control stress-induced weight gain?, at www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress/AN01128;
(b) WebMD, Depression, Anxiety Linked to Weight Gain, at www.webmd.com/depression/news/20091006;
(c) Science Daily, Lack of Sleep May Increase Calorie Consumption, at www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012
- Ontario Health Promotion E-Bulletin, The Global City: Newcomer Health in Toronto, www.ohpe.ca
(9) Canadian Parliament, www.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/researchpublications
(10) Citizenship and Immigration Canada, News Release- “Minister Kenney announces proposed plans to expedite skilled worker transition from temporary to permanent residence”, www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2012
(11) Citizenship and Immigration Canada, News Release- “Canada plans to admit more provincial nominees in 2012”, www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2011
(12) Maclean’s, Why the World’s Best and Brightest Struggle to Find Jobs in Canada http://www.macleans.ca/economy/business/land-of-misfortune/