Dictionary, Census of Population, 2021
Pre-admission experience

Definition

Pre-admission experience refers to the category under which an immigrant was authorized to enter Canada for temporary residence purposes before admission as a landed immigrant or permanent resident.

In the 2021 Census of Population, data on pre‑admission experience are available for immigrants who were admitted to Canada between January 1, 1980, and May 11, 2021.

Statistical unit(s)

• Immigrant

Classification(s)

• Pre-admission experience of immigrant

Reported in

2021 (25% sample).

Reported for

Persons in private households who are, or who have ever been, landed immigrants or permanent residents since 1980.

Question number(s)

Data on pre-admission experience were obtained from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's (IRCC) administrative records.

Responses

The standard classification for pre-admission experience is "With asylum claim before admission," "With work permit(s) only before admission," "With study permit(s) only before admission," "With work and study permit(s) before admission," "With other permit(s) before admission" and "Without pre‑admission experience."

Remarks

New for 2021, information on pre‑admission experience was integrated into the census for immigrants who have been admitted since 1980.

Pre-admission experience indicates whether the immigrant held a work and/or study permit or claimed refugee status (asylum claimant) prior to admission as a permanent resident. These variables allow us to further understand the socioeconomic outcomes of immigrants with pre‑admission experience in Canada and how they differ from those of immigrants without pre‑admission experience.

To better understand the relationship between the concepts of immigration and place of birth, please refer to Figure 2.5.

To better understand the relationship between the concepts of immigration and citizenship, please refer to Figure 2.6.

For more information on immigration variables, including information on their data quality and their comparability with other sources of data, please refer to the Place of Birth, Generation Status, Citizenship and Immigration Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2021.

Related 2021 data products

• Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population (98-316-X2021001)
• Admission category by period of immigration and pre-admission experience: Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations with parts (98-10-0318-01)
• Period of immigration by first official language spoken, place of birth, admission category, and pre-admission experience: Canada, provinces and territories and census metropolitan areas with parts (98-10-0372-01)