Social Capital and Economic Integration of Visible Minority Immigrants in Canada

On the basis of the 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey, we study the role of human and social capital in explaining the personal earnings of foreign born persons working full-time, aged 25–64 years. The income differences associated with given visible minority categories are reduced after controls for human and social capital, but the differences remain significant, especially for men and for all but the Chinese category. Among the human capital factors, education and speaking English or French at home are positively related with earnings, while having the highest degree or diploma from outside of Canada is negative for all groups, although not statistically significant. Among the social capital considerations, trust was associated with higher income, while lack of participation in community organizations was an earnings disadvantage. Counter to expectations, individualization, or weak bonding and weak bridging ties, was associated with higher income, for men and for the other/multiple visible minorities and white immigrants.