This study examines the earnings advantage of economic immigrants who initially arrived as temporary foreign workers (TFWs) over immigrants who were directly selected from abroad. Using the Longitudinal Immigration Database, this study finds that skilled versus non‐skilled prior Canadian work experience matters significantly to after‐immigration earnings. Former skilled TFWs had much higher initial earnings than immigrants who first arrived in Canada as landed immigrants. This earnings gap narrowed in the first 10 years but did not disappear. In comparison, former non‐skilled TFWs had significantly lower initial earnings and slower earnings growth than immigrants without prior Canadian experience.