Abstract. The literature on ethnically based earnings differentials in Canada has focused on differences either between whites and visible minorities or between particular ethnic groups. In this paper we examine both earnings differentials between whites and visible minorities, and earnings differentials within the white and visible-minority groupings. Among both men and women we þnd substantial earnings differentials both between and within the white and visible-minority groupings. Differentials between whites and visible minorities suggest that the visible-minority category is a useful indicator of economic discrimination. Differentials within these groupings, however, suggest that it is only a rough indicator.

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In this study, we estimate earnings differentials for knowledge of thirteen minority languages in Canada's three largest urban area. We find that conditional on knowledge of a majority language, knowledge of a minority language is associated with lower earnings. However, the negative differential diminishes for those languages with large local populations. This suggests a positive human capital effect which is for the most part swamped by a negative factor. We argue that this factor is a reflection of ethnicity operating either through ethnolinguistic labor market enclaves or labor market discrimination against minorities.

This paper compares paths to employment (job-finding) in prosperous cities and economically-stressed rural communities in Canada. Since the pioneering work of Mark Granovetter (1973;1974), sociologists have investigated the role of social capital in job-finding (specifically, the use of strong and weak social ties to find out about employment opportunities). To date, however, there have been few direct comparisons of job-finding in urban and rural settings (see Lindsay et al., 2005;Wahba and Zenou, 2005). Using data from two major surveys and a qualitative interview project, we uncover several important differences in urban and rural paths to employment. First, we find that both strong and weak ties are used more frequently by rural residents to find a job, while city-dwellers rely more often on formal or impersonal means. Second, we find much stronger evidence of differentiation within rural regions. Long-time rural residents are much more likely to use strong and weak ties to find employment than are newcomers. However, rural residents who used weak ties as paths to employment have significantly lower incomes. None of these patterns are evident in the cities. Together, these findings lead us to conclude that job-finding in rural settings is strongly affected by constraints -in the labour market and in social capital resources -that are not present in cities.