In 2024, 17.3% of people aged 15 and over who had immigrated to Canada in the previous five years lived below the official poverty line, twice the 8.7% rate for people born in Canada (Statistics Canada, Canadian Income Survey). That is 329,900 people. Those newcomers in poverty, though, sat about as far below the line as Canadian-born people in poverty did.
The wage data points the same way. The median newcomer admitted in 2022 earned $39,800 in wages in tax year 2023, a 10.6% drop that Statistics Canada called the largest since 1991. On our reading, most of that drop reflects a change in who arrived rather than lower pay within each category, and immigrants admitted in 2013 had reached the Canadian median wage by their tenth year.
The brief
- 17.3%
In 2024, 17.3% of immigrants aged 15 and over who landed in the previous five years were below the official poverty line, against 8.7% of people born in Canada (Statistics Canada, Market Basket Measure 2023 base).
- 5%
Canadian Experience Class principal applicants were 5% of immigrants aged 15 and over admitted in 2022, down from 27% in 2021, a change in mix that on our reading explains most of the 10.6% fall in entry wages in tax year 2023 (Statistics Canada).
- $20,100
Newcomers whose only Canadian history before permanent residence was a study permit had a median entry wage of $20,100 in tax year 2023, against $50,000 for those who had held only a work permit (Statistics Canada, Longitudinal Immigration Database).
- +74.8%
The median wage of immigrants admitted in 2013 rose 74.8% in constant dollars, from $27,400 in 2014 to $47,900 in 2023, level with the Canadian median (Statistics Canada).
Insight 01
Very recent immigrants are twice as likely to be in poverty, but those in poverty sit about as far below the line
In 2024, the poverty rate was 17.3% for immigrants who landed five years or less earlier, 15.9% for those who landed ten years or less earlier, 12.3% for all immigrants and 8.7% for people born in Canada, all aged 15 and over (table 11-10-0093-01). The five-year estimate is graded C, a coefficient of variation of 4% to 8%, so read it with some caution.
Depth is a separate question. The average gap ratio measures how far below the line people in poverty fall, as a share of the threshold: 35.1% for very recent immigrants and 34.3% for people born in Canada in 2024. The difference is how many fall below the line, not how far.
| Group | Poverty rate |
|---|---|
| Very recent immigrants (5 years or less) | |
| Recent immigrants (10 years or less) | |
| All immigrants | |
| Everyone aged 15 and over | |
| Born in Canada |
Source: Statistics Canada, table 11-10-0093-01 (Canadian Income Survey 2024, released April 29, 2026). Very recent immigrants: quality C, use with caution. Other rows quality A or B.
On the same base, the very recent immigrant rate rose from 12.5% in 2020 to 18.8% in 2023 before easing to 17.3% in 2024; the Canadian-born rate went from 6.5% to 9.0% and then 8.7%. Letters in the table are quality grades, unmarked cells are A or B, and the D-graded 2020 and 2021 newcomer figures make the starting point soft even if the direction is not.
| Poverty rate, aged 15 and over | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very recent immigrants (5 years or less) | 12.5% (D) | 13.9% (D) | 17.8% (C) | 18.8% (C) | 17.3% (C) |
| Recent immigrants (10 years or less) | 9.8% (D) | 11.4% (D) | 15.3% | 16.4% | 15.9% |
| All immigrants | 7.6% (C) | 8.9% (C) | 11.7% | 12.4% | 12.3% |
| Born in Canada | 6.5% | 7.4% | 9.1% | 9.0% | 8.7% |
| Everyone aged 15 and over | 7.4% | 8.3% | 10.6% | 10.9% | 10.9% |
One note on vintages. The National Advisory Council on Poverty’s 2025 report, titled in part “it is not a safety net if the holes are this big”, gives 17.8% for very recent immigrants, 15.3% for recent immigrants and 8.3% for the Canadian-born in 2023, on the older 2018-base Market Basket Measure. The 2023 base became the official poverty line in November 2025 and gives higher rates for these groups: 18.8% against 18.0% for very recent immigrants in 2023 in the current table. Every other poverty figure here uses the 2023 base.
Insight 02
The record 10.6% drop in newcomer pay was mostly about who was admitted in 2022
Statistics Canada reported in December 2025 that the real median entry wage, meaning wages one year after admission, fell 10.6% from $44,500 in tax year 2022 to $39,800 in tax year 2023, “the largest decline since 1991.” Over the same year, the median wage for all Canadians rose 1.1% to $47,650.
None of the main categories fell that far. Economic principal applicants dropped 5.5%, family-sponsored immigrants 4.1% and refugees 1.9%, while Canadian Experience Class principal applicants, already working in Canada before permanent residence, rose 3.4% to $60,600. The one detailed category that fell further was Canadian Experience Class spouses and dependants, down 11.2% to $37,100 (our calculation). When nearly every part falls by less than the whole, the mix has changed.
It had. Canadian Experience Class principal applicants made up 12% of immigrants aged 15 and over admitted in 2020, 27% of those admitted in 2021 and 5% of those admitted in 2022 (Statistics Canada). The 2021 group, heavy with people already earning Canadian wages, set the tax year 2022 entry wage. Our interpretation, not Statistics Canada’s: the 2023 number is a return toward a more ordinary mix after an unusual year, which fits with it still sitting above the 2020 entry wage of $34,400.
| Admission category | Entry wage, tax year 2022 | Entry wage, tax year 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| All newcomers | $44,500 | $39,800 | -10.6% |
| Canadian Experience Class, principal applicant | $58,600 | $60,600 | +3.4% |
| Skilled worker and trades, principal applicant | $58,600 | $56,000 | -4.4% |
| Economic principal applicant (all) | $54,500 | $51,500 | -5.5% |
| Provincial nominee, principal applicant | $49,600 | $47,700 | -3.8% |
| Economic spouse or dependant | $37,100 | $34,400 | -7.3% |
| Sponsored by family | $31,600 | $30,300 | -4.1% |
| Refugee | $26,400 | $25,900 | -1.9% |
-10.6%The fall in the overall median entry wage in 2023 was larger than the fall in every admission category in the table above, which on our reading points to a change in mix.
Insight 03
First-year pay depends on admission category: $60,600 for Canadian Experience Class, $25,900 for refugees
Median entry wages in tax year 2023 ran from $60,600 for Canadian Experience Class principal applicants to $25,900 for refugees (table 43-10-0026-01). Within the refugee group, protected persons who claimed asylum in Canada had $33,400 and government-assisted refugees $14,000. These medians exclude people with no wages, and they are individual pay, not household income.
| Category | Median entry wage |
|---|---|
| Canadian Experience Class | |
| Skilled worker and trades | |
| Economic principal applicant (all) | |
| Provincial nominee | |
| All newcomers | |
| Caregiver | |
| Economic spouse or dependant | |
| Protected person in Canada | |
| Sponsored by family | |
| Privately sponsored refugee | |
| Refugee (all) | |
| Government-assisted refugee |
Source: Statistics Canada, table 43-10-0026-01 (Longitudinal Immigration Database). Economic and caregiver categories are principal applicants unless stated. Refugee categories shown in the contrasting colour. Medians exclude zero values.
Canadian history before landing shows a similar spread. Newcomers who had held only a work permit had a 2023 median entry wage of $50,000, about two and a half times the $20,100 of those who had held only a study permit. The data does not say why; part-time work while finishing studies is one possible reason. The study-permit median rose 11.0% in a year.
| Canadian history before permanent residence | Entry wage, tax year 2022 | Entry wage, tax year 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work permit only | $54,100 | $50,000 | -7.6% |
| Work and study permits | $50,200 | $48,700 | -3.0% |
| Asylum claim | $32,300 | $34,700 | +7.4% |
| No Canadian history before landing | $29,000 | $32,600 | +12.4% |
| Other temporary permits | $23,300 | $24,600 | +5.6% |
| Study permit only | $18,100 | $20,100 | +11.0% |
Insight 04
Immigrants admitted in 2013 raised their median wage 74.8% in ten years, while refugees reached $35,000
Following one admission cohort over time is the cleanest test of catch-up. Immigrants admitted in 2013 had a median wage of $27,400 in their first tax year, 2014, and $47,900 in 2023, a rise of 74.8% in constant dollars (table 43-10-0026-01). That is level with the Canadian median: $47,650 in Statistics Canada’s December 2025 release, or $47,600 in the IRCC deputy minister’s 2026 transition binder.
Skilled workers climbed from $31,300 to $72,300 (+131.0%), and family-sponsored immigrants roughly doubled. Government-assisted refugees went from $10,900 to $30,200, the largest proportional gain in the table but still the lowest level after ten years.
| Admitted in 2013 | Year 1 (2014) | Year 5 (2018) | Year 10 (2023) | Change, year 1 to 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All newcomers | $27,400 | $38,000 | $47,900 | +74.8% |
| Canadian Experience Class, principal applicant | $64,000 | $77,800 | $92,100 | +43.9% |
| Skilled worker and trades, principal applicant | $31,300 | $52,500 | $72,300 | +131.0% |
| Provincial nominee, principal applicant | $47,000 | $58,700 | $66,100 | +40.6% |
| Economic spouse or dependant | $22,500 | $30,000 | $38,500 | +71.1% |
| Sponsored by family | $21,100 | $31,600 | $42,100 | +99.5% |
| Refugee (all) | $20,700 | $28,300 | $35,000 | +69.1% |
| Government-assisted refugee | $10,900 | $22,400 | $30,200 | +177.1% |
The 2018 cohort started higher and is still ahead: its median went from $36,800 in 2019 to $50,400 in 2023, against $38,000 for the 2013 cohort at year five. Its refugees went from $22,200 to $30,100 and its family-sponsored immigrants from $28,300 to $39,100.
A caution on a related table. The IRCC binder lists tax year 2023 medians by years since landing: $39,800 at year 1, $50,400 at year 5 and $47,900 at year 10. Those are different cohorts in one year, not one group ageing, so the lower year-10 figure does not mean wages fall after five years.
Two other numbers show where catch-up stalls. In the 2021 Census, 25.8% of immigrants aged 25 to 64 with a foreign degree worked in jobs that typically need high school or less, against 11.8% of immigrants with a Canadian degree and 10.6% of Canadian-born degree holders (Statistics Canada). And in tax year 2023, 40.9% of refugees one year after admission received social assistance, against 23.4% of refugees ten years after admission and a Canadian average of 8.1% (IRCC).
Insight 05
Ontario has the widest provincial poverty gap: 18.3% for recent immigrants against 9.2% for people born in Canada
In 2024, the poverty rate for immigrants who landed ten years or less earlier was 18.3% in Ontario against 9.2% for the Canadian-born, a gap of 9.1 points (table 11-10-0093-01). Quebec has the lowest rates on both sides, 12.2% against 5.9%, but the ratio there is just as wide: about two to one. Most provincial newcomer estimates are graded C or D, so read them with caution; gaps are our calculation, and Newfoundland and Labrador’s E-graded estimate is left out.
| 2024, aged 15 and over | Recent immigrants (10 years or less) | Born in Canada | Gap, points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | 18.3% (C) | 9.2% | 9.1 |
| Quebec | 12.2% (D) | 5.9% | 6.3 |
| Atlantic provinces | 15.1% (D) | 9.1% | 6.0 |
| British Columbia | 15.6% (C) | 11.0% | 4.6 |
| Alberta | 13.8% (D) | 9.6% (C) | 4.2 |
| Manitoba | 14.5% (D) | 10.7% (C) | 3.8 |
| Saskatchewan | 13.8% (D) | 10.1% | 3.7 |
| Canada | 15.9% | 8.7% | 7.2 |
Food insecurity follows the same pattern. In 2024, 22.3% of immigrants aged 15 and over who landed five years or less earlier lived in households with moderate or severe food insecurity, against 15.6% of people born in Canada (table 13-10-0835-01, newcomer estimate quality C). The newcomer figure was 13.1% in 2018 (quality D) and peaked at 25.6% in 2023.
So does unemployment. From January to August 2026, the unemployment rate for immigrants who landed five years or less earlier averaged 10.2%, against 6.3% for people born in Canada, our average of eight three-month moving averages from Labour Force Survey table 14-10-0471-01. Among people aged 25 to 54 in 2025, the annual rates were 9.4% and 4.9%. In the 12 months to December 2025, 8.4% of immigrants who landed in the previous five years did platform work, against 1.5% of the Canadian-born (our report on gig work in Canada).
What this data can’t tell you
- Poverty rates come from a household survey with small newcomer samples. Very recent immigrant estimates are graded C nationally and C to E by province; C and D grades mean coefficients of variation of 4% to 16%, so treat single-year moves of a point or two as noise.
- Wages in the Longitudinal Immigration Database are individual wages, salaries and commissions in 2023 constant dollars. They exclude self-employment income, benefits and other family members’ earnings, so they are not household income and cannot be set against the poverty line except as an illustration.
- The IMDB covers permanent residents who file taxes. Temporary workers, international students and asylum claimants without permanent residence are outside it.
- Cross-sectional tables by years since landing mix different arrival cohorts. Only the cohort rows in this report follow the same group over time, and people who leave Canada drop out of later years.
- The latest poverty data is for 2024 and the latest wage data for tax year 2023. Only the labour market figures reach into 2026.
Methodology and sources
Poverty rates, counts and average gap ratios are from Statistics Canada table 11-10-0093-01, Market Basket Measure 2023 base, people aged 15 and over, 2020 to 2024. Quality grades are Statistics Canada’s: A (coefficient of variation 0% to 2%), B (2% to 4%), C (4% to 8%), D (8% to 16%), E (16% to 33.3%, use with caution). The 2018-base series appears once, in the reference to the National Advisory Council on Poverty’s 2025 report. The 2018-base values now published in the same table for 2023 (18.0% very recent, 15.5% recent, 8.6% Canadian-born) differ from the report’s 17.8%, 15.3% and 8.3%; the table notes that 2018 to 2023 estimates were revised to 2021 Census population counts with the 2024 release, which is the likely reason, though we have not confirmed it. Thresholds are from table 11-10-0066-01 for a family of two adults and two children, 2023 base, current dollars. Our single-adult equivalent divides the family threshold by 2, the square root of family size 4: Toronto $62,880 / 2 = $31,440 for 2025, and $60,864 / 2 = $30,432 for 2023. Food insecurity is from table 13-10-0835-01, people aged 15 and over. Wages are from table 43-10-0026-01; changes not stated in The Daily are our calculation from published medians (for example $30,200 / $10,900 = 2.771, and Canadian Experience Class spouses and dependants $37,100 / $41,800 = 0.888). The Canadian Experience Class shares (12%, 27%, 5%) are of all immigrants aged 15 and over admitted in each year, per The Daily of December 8, 2025. The cross-sectional medians, social assistance incidence and the Canadian median of $47,600 are from the IRCC 2026 deputy minister transition binder. Unemployment for 2025 is the annual average in table 14-10-0472-01; the 2026 figure is the simple mean of the January to August three-month moving averages, not seasonally adjusted, in table 14-10-0471-01 (immigrants landed five years or less: 9.6, 10.0, 10.4, 11.0, 11.0, 10.4, 9.6 and 9.7; Canadian-born: 6.0, 6.2, 6.5, 6.6, 6.5, 6.2, 6.0 and 6.2). Because the January average includes November and December 2025, the window spans November 2025 to August 2026. Platform work is from The Daily of January 9, 2026.
- Statistics Canada, The Daily: Canadian Income Survey, 2024 (April 29, 2026)
- Statistics Canada, table 11-10-0093-01: Poverty and low-income statistics by selected demographic characteristics
- Statistics Canada, table 11-10-0066-01: Market Basket Measure thresholds for the reference family
- Statistics Canada, table 13-10-0835-01: Food insecurity by selected demographic characteristics
- Statistics Canada, The Daily: Longitudinal Immigration Database, 2024 (December 8, 2025)
- Statistics Canada, table 43-10-0026-01: Income of immigrant tax-filers by admission category and tax year
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Deputy Minister transition binder 2026: Immigrant outcomes (modified September 4, 2026)
- Statistics Canada, table 14-10-0472-01: Labour force characteristics by immigrant status, annual
- Statistics Canada, table 14-10-0471-01: Labour force characteristics by immigrant status, three-month moving average, unadjusted
- Statistics Canada, The Daily: 2021 Census, education and the labour market (November 30, 2022)
- National Advisory Council on Poverty, 2025 annual report
- Statistics Canada, The Daily: Labour Force Survey, December 2025 (January 9, 2026)
Frequently asked questions
What is the poverty rate for recent immigrants in Canada?
In 2024, 15.9% of immigrants aged 15 and over who landed in Canada in the previous ten years lived below the official poverty line, and 17.3% of those who landed in the previous five years, against 8.7% of people born in Canada (Statistics Canada, Market Basket Measure 2023 base). The five-year figure, about 329,900 people, is graded C by Statistics Canada, so treat it as approximate.
How much do new immigrants earn in Canada?
The median new immigrant earned $39,800 in wages one year after becoming a permanent resident, in tax year 2023 (Statistics Canada, Longitudinal Immigration Database). It ranged from $60,600 for Canadian Experience Class principal applicants to $25,900 for refugees, against $47,650 for all Canadians.
Why did newcomer entry wages drop in 2023?
Mostly because of who was admitted, on our reading: Canadian Experience Class principal applicants fell from 27% of immigrants aged 15 and over admitted in 2021 to 5% of those admitted in 2022 (Statistics Canada). The overall median entry wage fell 10.6% in tax year 2023, while economic principal applicants fell 5.5% and Canadian Experience Class pay rose 3.4%.
How long does it take immigrants to catch up on wages?
Immigrants admitted in 2013 reached the Canadian median by their tenth year, rising from a $27,400 median wage in 2014 to $47,900 in 2023, against a Canadian median of $47,650 (Statistics Canada). Skilled workers in that cohort reached $72,300, while refugees reached $35,000.
What is the unemployment rate for recent immigrants in Canada?
The unemployment rate for immigrants who landed five years or less earlier averaged 10.2% from January to August 2026, against 6.3% for people born in Canada (our calculation from Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey three-month moving averages). The three-month average ending in August 2026 was 9.7%.
Cite this report
NotchUp Research, “Newcomer Earnings and Poverty in Canada 2026” (October 2026), https://notchup.app/learn/newcomer-earnings-poverty-canada-2026/. Figures may be reproduced with attribution.
