Am I an Immigrant?
September 7, 2015 8:16 AM   Subscribe

I grew up in the UK, but have been a dual UK-Canadian citizen since birth (both my parents were Canadian citizens). I now live in Canada. Am I an immigrant?

I'm filling out a government form that asks whether or not I am a "Newcomer or Immigrant" to Canada. Most of the information on Government of Canada websites regarding immigration focuses on citizenship/legal status, so I assume I don't count as an immigrant, because I've been technically Canadian since birth and didn't go through any sort of immigration process. But I can't find an official definition of the term.
posted by Prunesquallor to Law & Government (10 answers total)
 
I would say yes, as you would be counted as part of "net migration".
posted by SpacemanRed at 8:24 AM on September 7, 2015 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Migration and immigrant aren't the same. A person born and raised in Canada who lived in Canada for 70 years and then retired to Mexico and move back at 75 would be considered part of net migration, but no one would call them an immigrant.

I would say you are not an immigrant. You don't say what the form is, but presumably it is asking for purposes of either A) Determining your eligibility for services (as an immigrant there are some services you might be offered that citizens wouldn't get, and some services that would be initially provided by the federal government until you qualified for provincial programs) or B) Statistical purposes, which would be based on the legal status definitions.

Anyway, if you aren't sure and this is a federal form then you should call 1-800-O-Canada and ask them. They are the knowers of all things federal.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:31 AM on September 7, 2015 [4 favorites]


I think if you are a citizen since birth then there is no way you are an immigrant for any purpose the government would care about, unless you need and intend to avail yourself of services for immigrants. But of course if there is an info line to call, call it to be sure, and to understand the implications of the term.
posted by fingersandtoes at 8:42 AM on September 7, 2015 [4 favorites]


What is the purpose of the form?
posted by jacquilynne at 9:02 AM on September 7, 2015 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: it's a self-identification section of a Canada Council for the Arts grant application
posted by Prunesquallor at 9:49 AM on September 7, 2015


Best answer: No, for the purposes of this application, you are not an immigrant. If you are a born Canadian Citizen, you can't also officially be classified as an immigrant (someone who came to Canada under another citizenship).
posted by scrute at 10:13 AM on September 7, 2015 [1 favorite]


Call them and ask. It may be that there are separate grant pools for newcomers, in which case there is probably a specific definition, or it could be they are looking for general diversity etc. in which case they actually do care how you think of yourself, not about legal definitions.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 10:14 AM on September 7, 2015


I'd say this is a call them and ask situation, as IOIHAPenguin suggests, because they're probably not looking strictly for legal information here or they would have asked using the legal terms (permanent resident, naturalized citizen, etc). An organization like Canada Council for the Arts may have organizational diversity goals they're trying to meet, so they may have more liberal ideas of what they're trying to capture in asking those questions. You aren't a naturalized citizen, but depending on how long you've been here, you might be a newcomer, for example.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:21 AM on September 7, 2015


Do you have a Canadian passport?
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 2:00 PM on September 7, 2015


Do you have a Canadian passport?

That's irrelevant.

If you were born with Canadian citizenship, then no, you are not an immigrant. Full stop.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 7:07 PM on September 7, 2015


« Older Contact APIs   |   Strange symptoms after longer runs Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.