Concepts and definitions to identify the stock of international migrants: the Canadian case study

1. Concepts and definitions to identify the stock of international migrants: the Canadian case study Presentation prepared for Joint ECE/Eurostat Seminar on migration statistics, Geneva, March 21-23, 2005

2. Outline • Definitions and data sources: • Statistics Canada’s Immigration and Ethno-cultural Statistics Program* • Measuring emigration through survey data: • Statistics from the American Community Survey** * Prepared by Kelly Tran and Tina Chui, Statistics Canada ** Prepared by Margaret Michalowski and Doug Norris, Statistics Canada; Kevin Deardorff and Betsy Guzmán, the U.S. Census Bureau

3. Definitions and Data Sources Statistics Canada’s Immigration and Ethno-cultural Statistics Program

4. Landed immigrant status Landed immigrant Non-immigrant Non-permanent resident Citizenship Canadian citizen by birth Canadian citizen by naturalization Not a Canadian citizen Place of birth Inside Canada Outside Canada Generational status First generation Second generation Third generation and beyond Ways to identify target populations for migrant statistics – the concepts

5. What the Census can tell us – Stock data • Size & origins of the immigrant population, children of immigrants, citizenship profile and ethnic groups • Settlement & mobility patterns of immigrants over time • Socio-economic experience of immigrants, adult children of immigrants as reflected by generational status, visible minorities, ethnic groups, citizens

6. Immigrants to Canada are increasingly from Asia and the Middle East Source: Statistics Canada, 2001 Census

7. About 10% of Non-permanent residents were born in the United States Total non-permanent residents 198,645 Source: Statistics Canada, 2001 Census

8. Proportion of first and second generation increased in 2001 % population aged 15 and over by generational status Source: Statistics Canada, 1971 and 2001 Censuses

9. The majority of eligible immigrants are Canadian citizens; naturalization rates varied by length of time lived in Canada Naturalization rates of immigrants by period of immigration Source: Statistics Canada, 2001 Census

10. What is the IMDB? • Administrative database of linked immigration files with taxation files • Designed to address the need for detailed, policy-relevant data on the immigration program • Supported by a federal-provincial consortium, led by the department of Citizenship & Immigration Canada (CIC) • Longitudinal: updated annually • all landed immigrants from 1980-1999 (tracking for 16 years since first filing tax) • tax data from 1980-2000

11. What is the LSIC? • A longitudinal survey designed to study how new immigrants adjust to life in Canada during the initial years • The same immigrants are tracked during the first 4 years of their settlement in Canada to examine which factors help or hinder their adjustment • Survey content includes information on many aspects of the adjustment process including: employment, education, health, housing – all from the immigrant’s perspective

12. What is the EDS? • A survey designed to better understand the ethnic & cultural backgrounds of people in Canada and how these backgrounds relate to their lives today • A post-censal survey using the 2001 Census as a frame for respondent selection • Survey content includes questions on the complex dimensions of ethnic identification, ethnic ancestry, sense of belonging, interaction with society and civic participation

13. Conclusion • Different concepts capture different populations of interest • Related concepts are useful for a comprehensive look at the immigrant population • More detailed information is also available from other data sources • Continually working towards internationally agreed upon or accepted terminology

14. Measuring emigration through survey data The American Community Survey as a case study for Canada

15. National data exchanges as a way to improve emigration statistics • Lack of data on emigration – a major challenge • Work of the North American Migration Working Group • The U.S. Census and the American Community Survey as sources of statistics on Canadian emigrants

16. Looking at American immigrants from the Canadian perspective: stock data

17. Concept (timing) Flow’s “origin” (country) Population (flow) I year of entry country of birth foreign-born by year of entry outside the country x years ago country of residence foreign-country residents by over the x period II Using different concepts to define immigrants’ flows to the United States

18. Advantages of using “outside the country residence”: sending country perspective • More complete coverage of flows originated in the sending country • Possibility of distinguishing between emigration of country-born persons and emigration of country’s immigrants

19. Number (‘000) 113.1 92.5 Non-Canadian 69.9 Non-Canadian 49.6 58.1 Non-Canadian 23.8 Canadian-born 43.2 Canadian-born 42.9 Canadian-born 34.3 2001-2002 2000-2001 1999-2000 Since 2000, emigration from Canada to the United States has been decreasing American Community Survey estimates

20. Non-Canadian born 61.8% Non-Canadian born 53.6% Non-Canadian born 40.9% 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 Emigration Canada the United States … and participation of non-Canadian born residents of Canada was the main reason behind the decrease American Community Survey estimates

21. Conclusions • There are a number of feasible methods to obtain information on emigration from population censuses • Cross-tabulating information on residence outside the country x years ago and place of birth could be the most beneficial to produce statistics • Usefulness of sharing data across countries relies upon the understanding of underlying concepts/terminology