Source: 2006 Census and administrative data.  

Immigrant Women

The population trend of immigrant women mirrors that of the total immigrant population. In 2006, the total immigrant population also made up about one-fifth (19.8%) of the total population, the highest proportion since 1931.

From 2001 to 2006, Canada’s population of immigrant women grew by 14%; this growth rate was four times faster than that for Canadian-born women, which increased by 3.4%.

Canada’s female population grew by 840,000 from 2001 to 2006. During that period, about 579,800 women immigrated to Canada, accounting for 69% of the growth of the female population.

If Canada’s current immigration trend continues, by 2031, the country could have about 11.1 million immigrants. Slightly over one half of them (52.3%, or 5.8 million) would be women, who would then make up 27.4% of Canada’s total female population, according to Statistics Canada’s population projections.
Source: Statistics Canada, censuses of population, 1911 to 2006; Projections of the Diversity of the Canadian Population, 2006 to 2031; The Longitudinal Immigration Database; and the Labour Force Survey.

The income of immigrants who pursue postsecondary education in Canada

What motivates immigrants to invest time and money, and sometimes even to go into debt, to pursue post secondary education in Canada? While the motives differ from one individual to another, they are often not unrelated to problems associated with recent immigrants’ integration into the labour market: partial or no recognition of experience and credentials acquired abroad, lack of local experience, language barrier, weak social networks and differences in the quality of education depending on country of origin.

Source: Longitudinal Administrative Databank (LAD) and the Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB).      

My Answer:
Immigrant come with old values of the old country - that education is the key to success and sometimes it is but a lot of time education does not do it.  You might have a lot of degrees and still cannot find that job or you find a job and you get into the workplace and people treat you like dirt,
Immigrants must start thinking outside of the box to succeed in North America - starting businesses, being your own boss is one way and many immigrants do this as a sign of failed attempt to get into the paid workforce rather than an intentional attempt, real estate, use the skills you have to create opportunities for yourselves.
A university education costs a lot of money and you go into heavy debt to repay it  and sometimes you can't because you end up with low paying jobs that does not allow you to repay the loan.
     Education can pay big dividends in the professions e.g. doctor, lawyer, engineers, accountants etc. but not everyone has the stamina nor the intellectual capacity for such things.
     Lucrative jobs also includes jobs in crafts such as carpentry, masonry, electrical technicians - once you graduate from such programs you are assure a job or you can create your own. Many immigrant see jobs like these as low call and beneath them - well these are the jobs that pays - pushing paper don't pay much these days so think about that.