Webinar: The Challenges of Immigrant Labour Market Integration

Online Event

Wednesday 3 Feb 2021
From 12PM To 1:15PM

Event organized in collaboration with

Immigration is a subject of public debate in Quebec. The recent revision of immigration quotas took place in an economic context marked, in particular, by a vigorous labour market in which labour scarcity has become a reality. Immigration is therefore seen as a possible solution. However, newcomers are often faced with challenges in integrating into their host country. While these difficulties can be observed in several spheres of their lives, their integration into the labour market is often indicative of the extent of the obstacles they experience.

The Association des économistes québécois - Montreal Chapter, in collaboration with the Société canadienne de science économique (SCSE) and CIRANO, organized a webinar on the integration of newcomers to the Quebec labour market.

Three speakers presented their research on this theme:

Brahim Boudarbat, Full Professor at the School of Industrial Relations of the Université de Montréal, Director of the Observatoire de la Francophonie économique de l'Université de Montréal, Fellow of the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), CIRANO Researcher and Fellow, presented the results of an experiment aimed at evaluating the existence of discrimination in the hiring of young North Africans on the Quebec labour market.
- Read the Project Report on the subject here.
Daniel Parent, Full Professor in the Department of Applied Economics at HEC Montréal, CIRANO Researcher and Fellow, presented a study on the differences in salary treatment between immigrants and native-born citizens, their dynamics and determinants.
- Read the Working Paper on the subject here.
Mireille Paquet, Holder of the Concordia University Research Chair on the Politics of Immigration and Associate Professor of Political Science at Concordia University, brought a policy perspective to the barriers experienced by immigrants in their quest for integration, including the role that public policy can play in addressing them.

Henri Thibaudin, co-founder and head of business development at Dameco, lead the discussion and question period with the panelists.

Event Overview (Event Website)

Brahim Boudarbat

A CIRANO Researcher and Fellow since 2004, Brahim Boudarbat is Full Professor in the School of Industrial Relations of the Université de Montréal. He is also Director of the Observatoire de la Francophonie économique de l'Université de Montréal, a Fellow of the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) and a member of the Expert Committee of the Labour Market Information Council.

Holding a Ph.D. in Economics from the Université de Montréal, he is interested in issues related to immigration, post-secondary education, income inequality and working conditions of Canadians. In particular, his research interests and work focus on the integration of immigrants into the labour market in Quebec and Canada, career choices by young Canadians, income distribution, income gaps between men and women, the return on education, overqualification in the job, the use of languages at work and their remuneration in Quebec, the brain drain, indicators of job quality. He is also interested in the education and vocational training systems and youth employment in Morocco.

Brahim Boudarbat is the author of numerous articles and reports on the labour market. He has conducted studies for several organizations, including the Quebec Ministry of Immigration, Diversity and Inclusion, Emploi-Québec, the Commission des partenaires du marché du travail (Quebec) and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. He also participated in the drafting of the 2016 Arab Human Development Report for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Prior to his current position, Brahim Boudarbat was a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer in the Department of Economics at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He was also Director of the Data Centre of the Université de Montréal, a member organization of the Quebec Inter-University Centre for Social Statistics (QICSS). From 1991 to 1998, Brahim Boudarbat was responsible for employment policies and the monitoring of the professional integration of graduates within the Ministry of Vocational Training in Morocco.

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Mireille Paquet

Mireille Paquet is Associate Professor at Concordia University and the Concordia University Research Chair on the Politics of Immigration. With Concordia colleagues, she co-founded and co-directs the Centre for the Study of Politics and Immigration (CSPI) and the Équipe de recherche sur l'immigration dans le Québec Actuel (ÉRIQA).

Mireille Paquet conducts research on immigration policy and politics in Canada, North America and Australia. She is interested in how political institutions and bureaucracies affect the content of immigration policy and the role of these institutions in immigration politics. Her current projects focus on the new politics of immigration in Canada, sanctuary cities, the role of immigration departments in contemporary immigration debates and new state responses to emerging immigration challenges.

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Daniel Parent

A CIRANO Researcher and Fellow since 1996, Daniel Parent is Full Professor in the Department of Applied Economics at HEC Montréal.

Holding a Ph.D. in Economics from the Université de Montréal, his research interests are labour economics and applied econometrics.

His current research focuses on industry-specificity of acquired skills, impact of private-sector training, school-to-work transition, impact of pay-for-performance schemes on the wage structure, and determinants of forms of compensation.

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Henri Thibaudin

Senior economist and business development manager at DAMÉCO. Holder of a Master's degree in Economics from the Université de Montréal, specializing in project evaluation.

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