The literature has suggested that the life chances for immigrants from different countries of origin are not the same, with European immigrants having the best earning returns in the Canadian labour market, and black and Asian immigrants, the lowest (Reitz and Briton, 1994; Satzewich and Li, 1987; Abella, 1984). An analysis of longitudinal data collected by the Department of Manpower and Immigration on new immigrants arriving in Canada between 1969-71 found the rankings of immigrant groups by occupational status and employment income persisted over a three-year period, with immigrants from European countries and the US having an advantage that can be attributed to their origin, and with immigrants from non-white source countries having a disadvantage due to their origin (Satzewich and Li, 1987). Furthermore, the researchers showed that despite a narrowing of occupational status over time among immigrants from different countries of origin, the income disparity widened, even after adjusting for differences in other variables (Satzewich and Li, 1987).

A study based on the 1981 Census reviewed that after adjusting for differences in age and education, immigrant men and women from Europe and the US had higher employment income than immigrants of the same gender group from Asia and Africa (Beaujot, Basavarajappa and Verma, 1988). Similar findings were reported by Reitz and Breton (1994: 114) using data from the 1986 Census; their analysis showed that black and Asian immigrant men and women earned less than white male and female immigrants respectively, after differences in education and occupation were taken into account. Several factors have been identified as creating barriers of employment and social mobility for immigrants, especially for those from non-European origins. These factors include the difficulty faced by some immigrants in having their credentials fully recognized in Canada (McDade, 1988), and employment discrimination against immigrants with identifiable linguistic characteristics and racial features (Henry and Ginsberg, 1985; Henry, 1989; Scassa, 1994).

Trovato and Grindstaff (1986) studied immigrant women who were 30 years old in the 1981 Census, and compared the economic status of those who came to Canada as children, adolescents and adults to that of Canadian-born women of the same age. The findings indicated that among the ever married women, the ones who immigrated to Canada in their adulthood, and therefore most likely to have completed their education outside of Canada, were more likely to have completed university, but were less likely to be in the higher income group and more likely to be in the lower end of the occupational structure. Trovato and Grindstaff (1986) suggested three factors to explain the findings: the problem of full recognition of foreign credentials, the residency of less than ten years in Canada, and the problem of possible discrimination in the job market.

The point about foreign credentials was also made by Basavarajappa and Verma (1985), who, based on their analysis of Asian immigrants in Canada in the 1981 Census, argued that the insistence by employers on having Canadian experience as a condition of employment and the problem of foreign credentials not being fully recognized would explain why Asian immigrants were less likely to be in professional and managerial jobs, despite their relatively high educational attainment. Rajagopal (1990) produced data from the 1986 Census to indicate that although Indo-Canadians in Ontario were more likely than the general population in Toronto to have completed university, Indo-Canadians in Toronto had a lower annual income level than immigrants and non-immigrants in Toronto. Rajagopal (1990) suggested that one of the barriers had to do with Indo-Canadians' foreign credentials being highly discounted or not recognized by business and educational institutions, and evaluators using prejudicial opinions and not objective criteria in assessing Indian applicants.

McDade (1988) has identified several barriers of employment for immigrants related to their credentials and training not being fully recognized in Canada. For example in Ontario, foreign-trained persons in trades were routinely required to have more experience than those trained in the province before examination, and immigrants' training in their home countries were often discounted (McDade, 1988: 10-11). In many professional fields, those with foreign credentials often had to meet more stringent standards than those trained in Canada before professional certification was given; for example in engineering, foreign-trained engineers were required to complete a longer period of satisfactory practice experience, in addition to fulfilling all examination requirements (McDade, 1988: 12-19).

Scassa (1994) has argued that non-native speakers of the dominant language encounter discrimination in employment and in access to services on the basis of their language characteristics, and that their lack of fluency, their accent of speech, and their deviations from the language standard of the dominant group can be used as bases of unfavourable treatment, and as surrogates of racial discrimination. Ethnographic accounts by immigrant women in Fredericton also indicated that their accent and colour set them apart from mainstream society, despite their ability to speak English (Miedema and Nason-Clark, 1989). Several empirical studies of hiring practices have indicated that minority job-seekers have less chance of being employed than white Canadians (Henry and Ginsberg, 1985; Billingsley and Muszynski, 1985; Henry, 1989).

In a field study in Toronto, Henry and Ginsberg (1985) used matched black and white job seekers to apply for entry positions advertised in a newspaper, and found that white applicants received job offers three times more than black job-seekers. Furthermore, telephone callers with an Asian or Caribbean accent were often screened out when they called about a job vacancy. A follow-up study of employers and personnel managers of large businesses and corporations in Toronto revealed that 28 per cent of the respondents felt that racial minorities had less ability than white Canadians to meet performance criteria (Billingsley and Muszynski, 1985).

Henry (1989) replicated the 1984 study in 1989 and reported results of discriminatory practices in hiring; however, the findings also produced controversial interpretations by other researchers. Swan et al. (1991) accepted the smaller difference in the likelihood of black and white job-seekers being hired in 1989 as an indication of no racial discrimination. However, Reitz and Breton (1994 :84) argued that the demand for workers was greater in 1989 than in 1984, and when the effect of labour demand was removed, more jobs were offered to whites than blacks; they further argued that the results also showed that "no statistically significant change had occurred since 1984".

Incidents and perceptions of racial discrimination in many facets of Canadian life were also reported in academic writings as well as testimonies by members of visible minorities. For example, Nodwell and Guppy (1992) analysed self-reported experiences of discrimination collected of 294 Indo-Canadians residing in South Vancouver in 1983 and found that half of the men and women experienced some form of racial hostility that ranged from verbal abuse and physical harm to workplace discrimination, and that the frequency of racial incidents was unrelated to the victims personal attributes nor their public practices of ethnicity. Foschi and Buchan (1990) studied perceptions of task competence in an experiment setting, and found that university male subjects accepted more influence from a partner portrayed as White than from one portrayed as East Indian. The testimonies of members of racial minorities before the House of Commons Special Committee on Participation of Visible Minorities in Canada in 1983 also revealed many accounts of differential treatment (Canada, House of Commons, 1983). These materials, together with the foregoing cited academic studies, have clearly suggested that racial minority immigrants do not have the same life chances as other Canadians, and that unfavourable evaluation of foreign credentials and racial discrimination are some of the obstacles they encounter in Canadian society.

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