.. Table 4 Occupational groups of Canadians residing in the United States, by emigration period, 2006
In 2006, the largest number of Canadians residing in the United States and in the labour market, worked in management (67,000). A smaller proportion were working in this field among Canadians who emigrated to the United States before the 1990s (13.8%) than among Canadians who emigrated in the 1990s (17.9%) or later (18.0%).
However, more than for any other occupational group, it was the emigration of physicians and health specialists that was most publicized and controversial in the 1990s. The fear of a doctor shortage in Canada and the increase in emigration of Canadian doctors certainly contributed, in part, to this phenomenon.20,21 The ACS data reflect this increase in the number of emigrating health care professionals.22 Although they only represented 8.5% of those who emigrated from Canada to the United States prior to 1990, Canadians residing in the United States and working in the health field accounted for 13.3% of those who emigrated in the 1990s. The ACS data show, however, that the increased emigration of health professionals did not persist between 2000 and 2006.23
Nonetheless, health professionals are over-represented in the population of Canadians residing in the United States.
In 2006, approximately 43,000 were working in a health occupation, respresenting, one-tenth of all Canadians living in the United States with a job (Table 4). In comparison, in 2006, 4.3% of Canadian workers worked in a health occupation. The contrast is even greater if technician jobs are excluded from the health field group.24 While they averaged only about 2.9% of the entire Canadian workforce in 2006, doctors and other health specialists, made up 8.2% of all Canadians residing in the United States with a job.25
There were also differences in the industries that recent emigrants from Canada worked in compared to the industrial breakdown of workers in Canada. For example, in 2006, the highest proportion of Canadians having recently immigrated to the United States was in the professional, scientific and technical service sector (14%).
In comparison, the proportion in the total Canadian population, based on the 2006 Census, was 6.7% (Table 5).
Canadians who were recent emigrants to the United States were also significantly over-represented in the education sector.
.. Table 5 Industry sectors of Canadians residing in the United States, by emigration period, 2006Table 5 Industry sectors of Canadians residing in the United States, by emigration period, 2006
.. Summary
The United States remains the most important destination for Canadian emigrants.
However, the most recent data available show a decrease in migratory flows. Indeed, the number of migrants from Canada decreased between 2000 and 2006, and the annual growth in the number of Canadian-born persons in the United States declined.
This outcome was perhaps predictable considering the relative prosperity Canada enjoyed over the study period.
Emigration tends to decrease in Canada when the economy is strong.26,27 Policies encouraging skilled workers to stay in the country likely contributed to this phenomenon.28
Recently, much of the flow of Canadian-born individuals to the United States has been made up of young, highly educated individuals who work in areas with high skill requirements. Indeed, the ACS data show that 53% of emigrants from Canada between the ages of 25 and 64 had a university degree.
While the increasing emigration of health professionals was of great concern in the 1990s, the ACS data indicate that the rise in the emigration of health professionals, has not persisted since 2000,
although emigration for this group of professionals remains relatively high. ..
