The Colour of Poverty: A Study of the Poverty of Ethnic and Immigrant Groups in Canada

Research on immigrants' socio‐economic performances in Canada has produced mixed results. One reason for this has been the fact that many studies have used measures that rely on average performance of immigrants, and also treat immigrants as a homogeneous group. Also, some measures of economic performance are unnecessarily complicated. The present article argues that this practice masks the diversity of experiences that exist among immigrants. In particular, it is argued that indices based on average income do not adequately reveal the status of low income immigrants. Using poverty status as an indicator of economic performance, the study xamines and compares different groups of immigrants, in terms of their ethnic origin, period of immigration, age at immigration, and their geo‐graphical location in Canada.