Vancouver To immigrate to Canada these days is one of the surest ways to enter the ranks of poverty. Compared with peer countries, Canada takes in a lot of legal immigrants - a quarter of a million new citizens enter the country each year. This liberal immigration stance is something most Canadians take pride in. There is an estimated backlog of 1 million applicants waiting around the world. But problems with the system are mounting. New data shows that the median wage gap between immigrants and native-born Canadians is widening. This is happening at a time when all political parties acknowledge the increasing reliance on immigrants to bolster an ageing workforce. In a period of unprecedented economic expansion in Canada, new Canadians have been largely left behind. The unemployment rate among immigrants is higher than for Canadian-born workers, and those who do find work end up mainly in the service sector, where benefits are few and wages low. The white-collar finance and insurance sectors, public administration and scientific research remain impenetrable for many immigrants. Tung Chan, chief executive of SUCCESS, an immigrant services group, says the latest census data paints a grim picture. According to the recent Statistics Canada report, one of the largest discrepancies occurs in the information and communication technologies sector. On the one hand, there were more computer-science degrees or diplomas issued to recent immigrants than to Canadian-born students in the five-year period ending in 2005. But the median wage of an immigrant with such a qualification fell by nearly 30 per cent in the same period. Similarly, immigrants with engineering degrees saw a fall of 20 per cent in their median earnings. What has become clear is that there is an economic divide along racial lines, says Rudyard Griffiths, of the Dominion Institute, an organisation that promotes active citizenship through an appreciation of Canadian history. There are stark discrepancies between the economic performance of newcomers, most of whom are visible minorities, and the Canadian-born population, which remains predominantly white, Mr Griffths says. 'So many people in Canada are now talking about the racialisation of poverty, and for Canadians this is a real shock because we see ourselves as a multicultural success story.' From policymakers to employers, Mr Griffiths says, there needs to be a better understanding of the deficiencies in the immigration system, particularly regarding the clear inability to match the skills of immigrants with the demands of the labour market. And so Canada ends up with a pool of overqualified immigrants with computer science degrees - who end up as part of the pool of cheap labour. Worryingly, the Canadian economy is slowing after five years of growth. Even when Canada was booming, immigrants were lagging. If the economy slows further, the prospects for the newest Canadians may get even worse.