Dictionary, Census of Population, 2021
Year of immigration

Definition

Year of immigration refers to the year in which the immigrant first obtained landed immigrant or permanent resident status.

Statistical unit(s)

• Immigrant

Classification(s)

• Not applicable

Reported in

2021 and 2016 (25% sample); 2011^{Footnote 1} (30% sample); 2006, 2001, 1996, 1991, 1986 and 1981 (20% sample). For availability prior to 1981, please refer to Appendix 2.1.

Reported for

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

Question number(s)

Data on year of immigration were obtained from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's (IRCC) administrative records.

Responses

Single years, from the earliest year on the file to the reference year.

Typically, single years of immigration are collapsed to form larger categories of five or ten years to derive the variable period of immigration.

Remarks

New for the 2021 Census, data on year of immigration were obtained from IRCC administrative records. Before 2021, year of immigration was asked on the census questionnaire.

In the 2021 Census of Population, "year of immigration" includes immigrants who were admitted to Canada on or prior to May 11, 2021.

For persons who obtained their landed immigrant or permanent resident status while living in Canada, their year of immigration is the year landed immigrant or permanent resident status was obtained.

For persons who immigrated to Canada more than once, their year of immigration is the year in which landed immigrant or permanent resident status was first obtained.

To better understand the relationship between the concepts of immigration, place of birth and generation status, 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 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.

Note(s)