The Wealth of Immigrants: Expanding our Understanding of Immigrant Economic Integration in Canada

Wealth is a key feature of immigrants' successful economic integration in Canada, while more broadly contributing to their level of social inclusion and sense of self-efficacy throughout the life course. Yet, immigrant wealth has been largely ignored in the Canadian literature. Current analyses of immigrant economic integration focus primarily on labour market outcomes and growing earnings inequalities. This body of literature would be greatly enriched by strengthened understandings of immigrant savings, consumption, asset accumulation and investment. This paper thus brings together the fragmented and scarce literature related to immigrant wealth; consequently merging literatures from different fields and generating an important disucssion of the overarching issues affecting immigrant wealth in Canada. A critical review of the literature reveals that recent immigrant cohorts face increasing economic inequality compared to the Canadian born population and established immigrants, while wealth is increasingly polarized among recent immigrant groups. These trends have profound implications for the long-term economic well-being of immigrants in Canada, particularly as they reach retirement age.