| Description |
Immigration has accounted for 65% of Canadian population growth for the past five years, and this percentage is growing. By 2035, immigration is expected to account for nearly all of Canada's net population growth. As the number of immigrants continue to grow, many are beginning to wonder if immigrants are more disadvantaged in the current state of the economy than ever before. Issues like income inequality, subpar financial literacy, and a lack of guidance make it difficult for many in the workforce, particularly for immigrants. Moreover, living in a new country has many challenges, and a new and complex financial system exacerbates these challenges. Ultimately, Canadian immigrants need more resources or expertise than native-born citizens to navigate the Canadian economy effectively and establish themselves financially. Every two years, the Canadian Financial Capability Survey is distributed to thousands of Canadians nationwide, putting respondents in specific financial situations to test their financial capabilities. Metrics like objective financial knowledge (OFK) and subjective financial knowledge (SFK) are essential to understanding how different groups of Canada's population consume their financial knowledge. Hypotheses of this Canadian survey suggest that immigrants are more likely to exhibit lower levels of OFK than Canadian-born citizens, and that the financial gap between immigrants and citizens narrows as immigrants adapt to their environments. This paper delves into the Canadian Financial Capability Survey to show the existing critical differences between immigrants and citizens and further evaluate their differences. The linear regression used in this analysis shows that well-established immigrants, the immigrants who have lived in Canada for more than, have the best financial capability when compared to the rest of the Canadian population. Married respondents and respondents with at least a graduate degree are also shown to possess more knowledge. This research goes into detail about what the reasoning may be for these critical findings. |
