Immigrants face ‘thick glass ceiling’ in the workplace

Newcomers trying to advance confront many barriers

Immigrants may have made progress reaching the first rung on their career ladder in Canada, but they are getting nowhere near the C-suites, a new report says.

Among the leading Greater Toronto Area employers across the public, private and nonprofit sectors, only 6 per cent of executives — those at the level of vice-president or above — are immigrants, according to the study, “Building a Corporate Ladder for All,” to be released

Thursday by the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council.

The public and nonprofit sectors are faring slightly better with 6.6 per cent of their executives being immigrants, but just 5 per cent of corporate executives overall in the GTA are newcomers, says the study. Executives were not surveyed directly. Instead, the survey examined third-party public sources, such as LinkedIn, to determine immigrant representation.

Being a visible minority immigrant woman is a triple whammy as they only make up one in 100 corporate executives in the region, the report found, though women overall accounted for 36 per cent of the executive positions.

“Immigrants often have to begin their Canadian careers at more junior, even entry levels. This mid- or late-career ‘restart’ makes it unlikely that they will be able to climb up to the top of the career ladder. Taking a lower level position has the potential to affect an immigrant’s entire career in Canada,” says the report, referring to the limited upward mobility faced by newcomers as the “sticky floor” phenomenon.

“Employer reluctance to hire immigrant talent for management-level positions in particular, plays a significant role in limiting advancement … Cultural differences in management and leadership styles can play a role in this. There are certain cultural expectations in Canada around how a leader should behave,” the report said.

Report author and researcher Yilmaz Ergun Dinc analyzed the profiles of 659 executives from 69 employers through sampling from the 2019 GTA Top Employers listing by Mediacorp Canadaand the Globe and Mail. Only those with headquarters and executive positions in Canada were counted. Data was culled through company websites, annual reports, investor reports, LinkedIn and Bloomberg profiles, as well as other publicly available sources. Individuals were not surveyed directly.

Although the findings are not definitive, the report offers a snapshot of immigrant representation in executive roles in the region.

In the GTA, economic immigrants between the ages of 35 to 44 on average earn about 25 per cent less than people born in Canada. However, by the time they are between the ages of 45 to 54, they earn almost 40 per cent less than their Canadianborn counterparts.

To break the “thick glass ceiling,” the report recommends that employers establish leadership development and mentoring programs, inclusion training for managers and inclusive professional development strategies.