combinations of income sources available to elderly immigrants and these combinations are
expected to change from one individual to the next and over time. Additional research is
required to understand the various income strategies employed by elderly immigrants to
sustain their income levels through retirement.
• How are Canadian-born elders faring?
It would be useful to investigate the income situations of Canadian-born individuals 60 years
of age or older. Such an analysis would allow for a comparison of the elderly who were born
in Canada and those who immigrated to Canada. The Canadian-born elderly would have a
larger window for potential labour market activity than those immigrants who arrived in
Canada at age 40 or older. The vast majority of Canadian-born elders would also have
satisfied all eligibility requirements for non-contributory retirement income upon reaching the
age of 65. It is of interest to see how these differences affect average incomes and the income
strategies employed through retirement by Canadian-born elders as compared to their foreignborn
counterparts.
• Does family income matter?
Investigating the income situations of the families and/or households to which elderly
immigrants belong would also be valuable. The income strategies of elderly immigrants are
expected to be different for individuals with different family or household situations. An
elderly immigrant living alone, for example, may bear more of the cost of living than an elder
who lives with his or her children.
• Does sponsorship matter?
Many of the elderly immigrants in this analysis landed in Canada as sponsored Parents and
Grandparents. The sponsor assumes financial responsibility for the sponsored immigrant for
the time period specified in the sponsorship agreement and access to certain retirement
benefits is affected by the sponsorship status. Investigating the income situations of sponsors
and observing how it affects sponsored elderly immigrants would be a useful step in this
research.