Becoming Canadian Citizens:
Intent, process and outcome
Kelly Tran, Tina Chui: Statistics Canada
Stan Kustec, Martha Justus:
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Prepared for the annual meetings of the
Canadian Population Society
June 5, 2004
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Citizenship and Naturalization
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extent or quality of participation in society
formal status of belonging to a society
final stage of the migration process
measure of the willingness by the immigrant to
integrate
benefits
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voting rights
access to certain jobs and occupations
hold a Canadian passport
protection from deportation
Becoming Canadian citizens
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18 years of age or older
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permanent resident of Canada
have lived in Canada for at least three of the four
years before applying
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time spent in Canada before becoming a permanent
resident may be counted towards residency requirement
be able to communicate in either English or French
know about Canada and about the rights and
responsibilities of citizenship
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parents can apply for citizenship on behalf of their children
families can apply for citizenship together
citizenship test for those age 18 to 59 years
appear before a citizenship judge to be officially
recognized as a Canadian citizen
Canada has high citizenship take-up rates
compared with other countries
Proportion of foreign-born and citizenship take-up rates among the eligible, Canada, the
United States, Australia and the United Kingdom
25%
Foreign-born
100%
Naturalized citizens
84%
20%
80%
75%
15%
60%
56%
10%
40%
40%
5%
20%
0%
0%
Canada
United States
Australia
United Kingdom
Source: Statistics Canada, United States Census Bureau, Australian Bureau of Statistics, United Kingdom Home Office
Citizenship intentions were high early in the
migration process
Citizenship intentions of immigrants to Canada 6 months after landing, 2001
Total immigrants (N=)
Men
W omen
Age
15 - 24 years
25 - 64 years
65 years and older
Place of birth
Morocco
Romania
Pakistan
Iran
Sri Lanka
Russia Federation
China
India
Philippines
South Korea
Admission class
Family class
Economic class
Economic class (PA)
Economic class (S/D)
Refugees
Other Immigrants Abroad
Settlement intentions
Settle in Canada
Live in Canada and other country
Live in Canada then return home
Move to another country or not sure
Source: Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC) Wave 1, 2001
Intend to become
Canadian citizens
149,229
%
91.9
91.2
93.3
91.6
82.9
99.0
98.2
97.3
96.2
95.2
94.6
91.2
89.2
88.3
80.4
90.1
91.5
91.4
91.7
98.9
88.4
94.0
76.2
59.8
67.2
Recent immigrants taking up citizenship earlier
and at a faster rate than earlier immigrants
%
Citizenship by naturalization for immigrants to Canada by length of residence
100
1981 Census
1991 Census
2001 Census
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
At least 3 years
4-5 years
6-10 years
11-20 years
Length of residence
Source: Statistics Canada, 1981,1991, 2001 Census
21-30 years
30 years or more
Immigrants from Africa and Asia have highest
take-up rates
%
120.0
Naturalization rates by period of immigration and region of birth for Canada, 2001
100.0
80.0
60.0
United States
Central, South America and the
Caribbean
Northern and Western Europe
40.0
Southern and Eastern Europe
Africa
20.0
Asia
Oceania and other
0.0
4-5 years
6-10 years
11-20 years
21-30 years
31-40 years
Number of years in Canada
Source: Statistics Canada 2001 Census
41-50 years
50+ years
Younger migrants take-up citizenship more
than older migrants
%
Citizenship rates showing age at immigration, 1981, 1991 and 2001
90
80
All eligible immigrants (at least
3 years of residence
70
60
50
40
Newly eligible immigrants (4-5
years of residence)
30
1981
20
Total
Immigrants
0-9 years
1991
10-19 years
2001
20-29 years
30-39 years
40-49 years
Age at immigration
Source: Statistics Canada, 1981,1991, 2001 Census
50-59 years
60-69 years
70+ years
What the Census can reveal
Advantages
 Vast array of demographic, ethno-cultural and economic
variables
 Large sample size and detailed geography
 Comparison group – Canadian by birth
 Historical data available
Limitations
 Does not reveal when citizenship was obtained
 No information on landing characteristics
 Self reported citizenship characteristics
Administrative records
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A new administrative database obtained from 2
sources
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The Permanent Resident Data System (PRDS)
The Citizenship Registry System (CRS)
PRDS data contains detailed information on
immigrant landings, including category of entry,
country of birth, country of last permanent residence,
country of citizenship, as well as many others
CRS contains information relevant to the citizenship
process including the date of the citizenship
application, whether or not citizenship was awarded
and when
The two datasets linked by individual identifiers then
merged to evaluate citizenship take-up rates by
landing characteristics
Refugees have highest naturalization rates
Citizenship take-up rates for immigrants by admission category showing period of landing cohorts
%
100.0
90.0
landed between 1991-95
landed between 1996-97
80.0
70.0
70.0
68.2
69.4
65.0
61.2
59.6
60.0
49.1
50.0
40.0
86.2
84.2
39.1
38.8
30.3
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
All Immigrants
Family
Economic
Government Assisted
Refugee & Privately
Sponsored Refugees
Admission class
Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada, PRDS-CDS
Asylum Refugees
Other Immigrants
Refugees take up citizenship earliest and family class
immigrants take longer to obtain citizenship
%
Citizenship take-up rates for 1991 cohort by admission
class
100.0
90.0
90.0
80.0
80.0
70.0
70.0
60.0
60.0
50.0
50.0
40.0
All Immigrants
40.0
Citizenship take-up rates for the 1996 cohort by
admission class
%
100.0
Family
30.0
All Immigrants
30.0
Economic
Family
Government Assisted Refugee &
Privately Sponsored Refugees
Asylum Refugees
20.0
10.0
Economic
20.0
Government Assisted Refugee &
Privately Sponsored Refugees
Asylum Refugees
10.0
Other
Other
0.0
0.0
3
4
5
6
7
8
Years Since Landing
9
10
Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada, PRDS-CDS
11
3
4
5
Years since landing
6
Immigrants from China and Lebanon take-up
citizenship earlier on than those from other
countries
100.0
Citizenship take-up rates for the 1996 cohort by
selected country
%
Citizenship take-up rates of 1991 cohort for
selected countries
%
100.0
China
90.0
90.0
Lebanon
80.0
Lebanon
80.0
All
Immigrants
70.0
China
70.0
All Immigrants
India
60.0
60.0
50.0
50.0
India
UK
40.0
Jamaica
40.0
UK
30.0
30.0
Jamaica
United States
20.0
20.0
10.0
United States
10.0
0.0
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Years Since Landing
Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada, PRDS-CDS
11
0.0
3
4
5
Years since landing
6
Most immigrants take-up citizenship after 4
years of residence
Citizenship take-up after landing for selected years of immigration
%
50%
46.8%
41.3%
Less than 3 years
During the 3rd year
During the 4th year
Greater than 4 years
40%
41.5%
37.1%
35.3%
30.0%
30%
27.6%
25.5%
21.5%
21.0%
21.3%
20%
15.9%
15.7%
9.2%
10%
5.7%
4.5%
0%
1990
1992
1994
Selected year of immigration
Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada, PRDS-CDS
1996
Administrative records
Advantages
 Provides key “process” of citizenship information
 Allows for examination of landing characteristics and
citizenship acquisition
 Contains all immigrants and all citizenship applicants
 Trajectory from landing to citizenship can be
examined
Limitations
 Data available only since 1991
 Can not tell whether these immigrants are still in
Canada
 No information on multiple citizenships
Research potential
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New data initiative of combining landing records and citizenship
registry information provides a more complete picture of the
citizenship process
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The PRDS-CDS allows more policy based research due to the
information on landing characteristics, especially admission
categories
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Citizenship information from the Census can examine the
outcome of integration, i.e. labour market performance and
educational attainment
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Information from the LSIC can assess the citizenship process
during the initial 4 years in Canada and how the other aspects of
integration impacts the citizenship decision
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Administrative records facilitate verification of self-reported
census data