University-educated immigrants living in Canada for more than a decade found it increasingly difficult to get work in their areas of expertise between 1991 and 2006, Statistics Canada reported Monday.

The search for work became more challenging not just for recent immigrants — those in Canada less than five years — but also for well-established ones living in the country between 11 and 15 years, the agency reported.

"The proportion of long-term immigrants with a university degree in jobs with low education requirements" rose steadily over the decade and a half surveyed, the report said.

Jobs with low education requirements include clerks, truck drivers, salespeople, cashiers and taxi drivers, Statistics Canada said.

The study also found that long-term female immigrants fared worse than their male counterparts.

Between 1991 and 2006, the proportion of long-term female immigrants with a university degree in jobs with low education requirements increased from 24 per cent to 29 per cent.

Meanwhile, about 12 per cent of long-term male immigrants with a university degree had jobs with low educational requirements in 1991, the agency reported. Fifteen years later, that proportion increased dramatically to 21 per cent.

Numbers higher for recent immigrants

The numbers were even higher for recent immigrants.

Just under 40 per cent of university-educated immigrant women were employed in jobs with low educational requirements, the federal agency reported. Nearly 24 per cent of men, meanwhile, had jobs with low educational requirements.

As for what might be contributing to an increasingly difficult search for work, Statistics Canada suggested possible factors including:

• Language barriers.
• Not enough schooling.
• Credentials not recognized in Canada.
• Age bias.
• Discrimination against visible minorities.