Differences in disability duration: Recent and established immigrants compared to Canadian-born injured workers, BC, 1995-2012
In brief
- Immigrant workers, particularly recent immigrants who may have lower English proficiency and a lack of familiarity with Canadian social programs, face particular challenges after a work injury.
- We compared disability durations for compensated work injuries in BC for recent immigrants (less than 10 years in Canada), established immigrants (more than 10 years in Canada), and Canadian-born workers, by linking accepted workers’ compensation claims in BC to permanent resident data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
- Both recent and established immigrants had longer work disability durations than Canadian-born workers, after adjusting for demographic and occupational characteristics.
- The relationship between immigration status and disability duration was greater for younger immigrant workers than for older immigrant workers and for immigrant men than for immigrant women.
Related publications
Impact of COVID-19 on employment and financial security of immigrant workers compared to Canadian-born workers
Research brief based on analysis of the Statistics Canada Canadian Perspectives Survey, Series 1, addressing the impacts of COVID-19. June 2020.
Immigration Status and Work Disability Duration in British Columbia
Thesis
Saffari N.
Vancouver: The University of British Columbia; 2016.
Immigration Status and Work Disability Duration in British Columbia, Canada
Research poster [192 KB]
Saffari N, Koehoorn M, McLeod C. Epidemiology in Occupational Health Conference (EPICOH). Barcelona, Spain: Sept. 5-8, 2016.
