Summary of Non-fiction Book
July 15, 2007
Yumiko Kose

According to Shirley Seward and Marc Tremblay in their book, "IMMIGRANTS IN
CANADA: THEIR RESPONSE TO STRUCTURAL CHANGE(1981-1986)"

(Institute for Reseach on Public Policy. June 1991), Canadian immigration policy has placed
considerable emphasis on the economic objective of immigration, particularly the role immigration plays in the labour market.


The writers explains that females, every immigrant and non-immigrant groups, were
"concentrated more heavily than males in rapidly expanding industries, whereas males are more heavily concentrated than females in declining industries". However, when you compare
immigrants and non-immigrants, the writer also states that more female immigrants worked in
declining industries than non-immigrants and Third World male immigrants are in rapidly
expanding industries compared to European immigrants.


Females are more heavily concentrated in than males in the service sector and males are
more concentrated in the goods sector(Shirley Seward and Marc Tremblay, June 1991, p.11).
The writers also found that in non-market services like education, health, social services and
public administration, a proportion of non-immigrants is higher than immigrants.


The writers revealed some facts about education, official language ability, and employment
income. According to them, a larger proportion of immigrants from Third World has only
elementary education and no official language ability. In most cases, European immigrants, as a
group, have higher incomes than Third World immigrants(Shirley Seward and Marc Tremblay,
June 1991, p.14).


Immigrants men as a group appear to be responding more effectively than non-immigrant
men to labour needs(Shirley Seward and Marc Tremblay, June 1991, p.15). Also, we found in
in the Seward and Tremblay (1991) study that "immigrant women as a group are responding less effectively to labour needs than non-immigrant women. The writers concludes that there are worrisome trends associated with the distribution of immigrants in the changing labour force. According to them, "several immigrant groups, especially recent immigrant women from Third World sources, who have low levels of education and earnings, are over-concentrated in declining industries where they face the possibility of displacement."























WORD LIST
(IMMIGRANTS IN CANADA:THEIR RESPONSE TO STRUCTURAL CHANGE(1981-1986))

July 15, 2007
Yumiko Kose

1. objective : something that you are working hard to achieve

This is not to suggest that the economic objective of immigration is restricted to its role in the
labour market.


2. census : an official count of all the people in a country, including information about their ages, jobs,
etc.

At the time of the 1986 Census, 64.7 per cent of all immigrants participate in the labour force.


3. proportion : a part or number of something

It is possible that the latter proportion may be even higher now, given increasing immigration levels
in recent years.


4. hypothesis : an idea that is suggested as an explanation for something, but that has not yet been
proven to be true


A study by McInnis lends further support to the hypothesis that immigrants tend to be concentrated
in expanding industries.


5. assumptions : something that you think is true although you have no proof

On the basis of these findings, Seward and Tremblay (1989) suggest that the assumptions
sometimes made regarding the role of immigrants in the labour force may be over-stated.


6. distribution : the act of giving things to each person in a group or of supplying goods to stores,
companies, etc.

Table 6 shows the distribution of immigrants and non-immigrants in the three categories of the
service sector, as well as in the goods sector.


7. identical : exactly the same
Table 5 provides identical information for immigrants from European sources.

8. striking : unusual or interesting enough to be noticed

This is most striking in the case of recent Third World females in the goods sector.


9. apparent : seeming to be real or true, although it may not really be so

Part of the reason for this apparent contradiction between skill level and employment income may
lie in other features which characterize traditional services.


10. contradiction : a difference between two statements, beliefs, or ideas about something that means
they cannot both be true

Part of the reason for this apparent contradiction between skill level and employment income may
lie in other features which characterize traditional services.


11. characterize : to describe the character of someone or something in a particular way

Part of the reason for this apparent contradiction between skill level and employment income may
lie in other features which characterize traditional services.


12. adjustment : a small change made to something, such as a machine, a system, or the way something
looks

This age adjustment will be undertaken in subsequent phases of this research.


13. subsequent : coming after or following something else

This age adjustment will be undertaken in subsequent phases of this research.


14. phases : happening gradually in a planned way

This age adjustment will be undertaken in subsequent phases of this research.


15. recency : having happened or begun to exist only a short time ago

For Third World and European immigrants of both sexes, incomes decrease with recency of arrival.