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Immigrants make up a growing percentage of Metro Vancouver’s workforce, but their participation rates sharply vary by ethnic background.

Immigrants account for 43 per cent of all workers in Metro Vancouver, with 586,000 in the labour force, one of the highest proportions in the world, according to new census figures.

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One of the few major global cities with a stronger percentage of immigrants in the labour force is Greater Toronto, where half of all workers are immigrants.

However, the census figures released Wednesday shows the participation rate of immigrants in the workforce differs widely by ethnicity.

Filipino, White and Latin American recent immigrants are the most likely to participate in the labour force. These three groups also had the highest rates of employment in Metro Vancouver.

Arab, West Asian (mostly Iranian) and Chinese recent immigrants were the least likely to try to enter the workforce in both Canada and Vancouver.