The study Chronic Low Income Among Immigrants in Canada and its Communities provides new evidence on the incidence of chronic low income among immigrants aged 25 or older during the 2000s as well as variations across 29 Canadian cities and regions. Chronic low income is defined as having a family income under a low-income cut-off for five or more consecutive years.

The study finds that the share of immigrants in chronic low-income increased from 15.8% in 2000 to 16.3% in 2004, but then declined to 12.3% by 2012. Among the comparison group, which is comprised primarily of persons born in Canada, the share in chronic low-income declined from 6.1% in 2000 to 3.7% in 2012.

About one-half of all immigrants who were below the low-income cut-off in 2012 had been so for five years or more, compared to 43% among persons born in Canada. These shares were quite stable over the 2000s.

Read the full study here: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11f0019m/11f0019m2017397-eng.htm