Census learning centre
Introduction to place of birth, citizenship and immigration

Release date: November 9, 2022 Updated on: November 30, 2022

Catalogue number: 982000032021025

Hello and welcome to the "Introduction to place of birth, citizenship and immigration" video.

This video is designed to give you a basic understanding of the Place of birth, Citizenship and Immigration concepts as well as the importance of collecting data on these topics. You will also learn about other derived concepts such as generation status, immigration status, admissions category, applicant type, year of immigration, age at immigration, year of arrival, pre-admission experience and province or territory of intended destination. Data on these are used to evaluate policies and programs and compare social and economic conditions of immigrants over time.

Subject
Place of birth, Citizenship, Immigration
Length
00:08:10
Cost
Free
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Concept video: Introduction to place of birth, citizenship and immigration - Transcription

(The Statistics Canada symbol and "Canada" wordmark appear on screen with the title: "Concept video: Introduction to place of birth, citizenship and immigration".)

Welcome to the “Introduction to place of birth, citizenship and immigration” video.

This video is designed to give you a basic understanding of the concepts as well as why data are gathered on these topics.

Let’s start with place of birth.

Place of birth refers to the name of the geographic location where the person was born. The geographic location is specified according to the geographic boundaries current at the time of data collection, not the geographic boundaries at the time of birth.

The place of birth question helps to determine the Canadian province or territory of birth if the person was born in Canada or the country of birth if the person was born outside of Canada.

(Image of question 19 of the 2021 Census questionnaire appears on the screen.)

It provides information on:

  • Diversity of the Canadian population
  • Population movements within Canada

  • Population movements from other countries to Canada.

The question on place of birth of parents is used to determine the country in which each of the person’s parents was born.

(Image of question 20 of the 2021 Census questionnaire appears on the screen.)

When used in combination with the question on the place of birth of person, it helps to derive the generation status and thereby establish whether the person falls in the "first", "second", or "third generation or more" category.

Generation status is used to provide information on the diversity of Canada’s population and makes it possible to study how the children of immigrants (that is, persons included in the second generation category) are integrating into Canadian society. This information also helps us understand how Canada’s immigration history has shaped the different generations of Canadians who make up today’s population.

Next, we will look at citizenship.

Citizenship refers to the country where a person has citizenship. A person may have more than one citizenship. A person may be stateless, that is, they may have no citizenship. Citizenship can be by birth or naturalization.

Naturalization refers to the process by which an immigrant is granted citizenship in Canada under the Citizenship Act.

The citizenship question provides information on the legal citizenship status of Canada's population.

(Image of question 21 of the 2021 Census questionnaire appears on the screen.)

This information is used to:

  • Estimate the number of potential voters
  • Plan citizenship classes and programs.

This question also provides information on:

  • The population with multiple citizenship
  • The countries of citizenship outside Canada
  • The number of immigrants in Canada who acquired Canadian citizenship.

New for the 2021 Census, questions on immigrant status and year of immigration were no longer asked on the questionnaire. This information was obtained from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s administrative records.

These data were integrated with the census to derive immigrant status, admission category, applicant type, year of immigration, age at immigration, year of arrival, pre-admission experience and province or territory of intended destination.

Immigrant status refers to whether the person is a non-immigrant, an immigrant or a non-permanent resident.

The immigrant status variable provides information on the number of non-immigrants, immigrants and non-permanent residents with a usual place of residence in Canada at the time of the census.

A non-immigrant refers to a person who is a Canadian citizen by birth.

An immigrant refers to a person who is, or who has ever been, a landed immigrant or permanent resident. Such a person has been granted the right to live in Canada permanently by immigration authorities.

Immigrants who have obtained Canadian citizenship by naturalization are included in this group.

Non-permanent resident refers to a person from another country with a usual place of residence in Canada and who has a work or study permit or who has claimed refugee status (asylum claimant).

Family members living with work or study permit holders are also included, unless these family members are already Canadian citizens or landed immigrants or permanent residents.

Admission category refers to the name of the immigration program or group of programs under which an immigrant has been granted for the first time the right to live in Canada permanently by immigration authorities.

Here are the four main immigrant admission categories:

  • Economic immigrant
  • Immigrant sponsored by family
  • Refugee
  • Other immigrant.

(A figure providing an overview of the admission category classification for the 2021 Census of Population appears on the screen.)

(The admission category classification is broken down into four major categories: economic immigrant, immigrant sponsored by family, refugee, and other immigrant.)

('Economic immigrant' is broken down into worker programs, business programs, and the Provincial Nominee Program. Worker programs are broken down into five categories: skilled workers, skilled trade workers, Canadian experience class, caregivers and Atlantic Immigration Program. 'Skilled workers' is broken down into federal and Quebec skilled workers. Business programs are broken down into entrepreneurs, investors, and self employed. Each of those is split into the federal and Quebec streams.)

('Immigrant sponsored by family' is broken down into six categories: sponsored spouse or partner, sponsored parent or grandparent, sponsored child, sponsored intercountry adopted child, public policy or humanitarian and compassionate grounds sponsored by family, and immigrant sponsored by family, not included elsewhere.)

('Refugee' is broken down into two categories: protected persons in Canada or dependants abroad and resettled refugees. The former is broken down into protected persons in Canada and dependants abroad of a protected person in Canada, while the latter is broken down into government assisted refugees, privately sponsored refugees, and blended visa office referred refugees.)

('Other immigrant' is broken down into two categories: public policy or humanitarian and compassionate grounds and other immigrants, not included elsewhere. The former is broken down into humanitarian and compassionate grounds and public policy.)

(Source: Statistics Canada, Census of Population, 2021.)

For more information on these categories, please consult the 2021 Census Dictionary.

Applicant type refers to whether an immigrant was identified as the principal applicant, the spouse or the dependant on the application for permanent residence. This information is most often used in combination with admission category, particularly with the economic immigrant categories.

Data on year of immigration provide information on the year in which the immigrant first obtained landed immigrant or permanent resident status.

Single years of immigration can be collapsed to derive period of immigration, which allows us to identify recent immigrants.

Information on the age at immigration is derived from the immigrant’s date of birth and year of immigration.

Data on year of arrival provide information on the year in which the person first arrived in Canada to live.

Year of arrival can be different from the year of immigration. For example, the year of arrival is different from the year of immigration for persons who first arrived as a non-permanent resident in Canada and obtained their permanent residence or landed immigrant status later.

For persons who entered Canada for the first time as a permanent resident or landed immigrant, their year of arrival is the same as their year of immigration.

The pre-admission experience variable indicates whether the immigrant held a work or study permit or claimed refugee status (asylum claimant) before admission as a permanent resident.

These new variables allow us to further understand the socioeconomic outcomes of immigrants with pre-admission experience and how they differ from those of immigrants without pre-admission experience.

Province or territory of intended destination indicates the province or territory where the immigrant intends to live for the first time in Canada at the time of their admission.

The variable is used to evaluate the migration patterns of the immigrant population within Canada.

Data on place of birth, citizenship and immigration are used to compare the social and economic conditions of immigrants over time; to evaluate employment and immigration policies and programs; and to plan education, health care and other services.

This information is required by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, as well as by provincial and territorial immigration departments, to develop and monitor immigration policies and programs.

It is also used in support of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Citizenship Act, the Canadian Human Rights Act, and the Canadian Multiculturalism Act.

(The words, "Thank you for watching the “Introduction to place of birth, citizenship and immigration” video", appear on screen.)

This concludes the introductory video on place of birth, citizenship and immigration.

(The census logo appears with a link, which is also available to view here: Census of Population.)

For more detailed information regarding concepts, variables, methodology, historical comparability and other elements, please refer to Statistics Canada's census web pages.

(The "Canada" wordmark appears. ISBN: 978-0-660-45920-2)

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