Concept: Refugee

Introduction

This concept describes how Refugees are defined and operationalized for immigration-related research at MCHP. The concept includes the following sections:


• a brief definition,
  
• a list of Data Sources where the data comes from,
  
• a description of the Methods employed,
  
• links to Research Findings reported in MCHP publications,
  
• any Cautions / Limitations found during development of this concept, and
  
• relevant SAS® code examples in the SAS code and formats section.

Definition: Refugee claimants (or asylum seekers) are admitted on humanitarian grounds. Refugees can be admitted as protected persons in Canada, as dependents abroad, or as resettled refugees. Refugee claimants are those who seek refugee protection at an inland office or at a port of entry and who fear persecution or would be in danger if they had to leave Canada. Resettled refugees can be admitted to Canada through several streams, such as through the Government Assisted Refugee (GAR) program, the Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) program, and Blended Visa Office-Referred (BVOR) refugee programs.

Data Sources

The data used to operationalize this concept came from the following Repository databases:


• Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) – Registry Database Permanent Resident data

In addition, SAS® formats were developed to classify refugees into four different categories: Protected persons, Government-assisted refugees, Privately sponsored refugees and Blended visa office-referred refugees, as described below.

Methods

In the deliverable The Diversity of Immigrants to Manitoba, Migration Dynamics and Basic Healthcare Service Use by Urquia et al. (2020), Refugee category was operationalized by classifying the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Registry Database Permanent Resident (IRCC-PR) data's Refugee-related "immigration admission category" codes into one of the four Refugee categories:


1. Protected persons - these are individuals who seek refugee protection at an inland office or at a port of entry and who fear persecution or would be in danger if they had to leave Canada. They are granted temporary residence and considered for potential admission as permanent residents following the processing of their application claim. Refugee claimants obtain protected person status after a successful hearing at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. Only those whose claims are successful are granted permanent residency and are included in the Permanent Resident Database.
   
   
2. Government Assisted Refugees - these are individuals who are living outside of their home country or country of residence and are referred by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHRC) or other referral organisations for resettlement to Canada. They are selected on the basis of a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in particular social group or political opinion if they return to their country.
   
   
3. Privately Sponsored Refugees - these are individuals who were privately sponsored abroad while outside their home country or country of residence, by organisations, groups of Canadian citizens and/or permanent residents, or had the funds to support themselves and any dependants after they arrived in Canada. Private sponsors include incorporated organisations who have signed a formal sponsorship agreement with IRCC, sponsorship groups, community sponsors, and groups of five or more people who are at least 18 years old and live in the expected community of settlement. The private sponsor provides the cost of food, accommodation, and general settlement assistance such as school enrollment, and registration with health services, for twelve months, or until the refugee become self-sufficient, whichever is sooner. However, sponsorship may be extended to a maximum of 36 months in exceptional circumstances if the refugee requires more time to become established in Canada.
   
   
4. Blended Visa Office-Referred (BVOR) Refugees - these are individuals who receive resettlement assistance from both the federal government and private sponsors, who are selected while living outside of their home country or country of residence and who have been granted permanent resident status on the basis of a well-founded fear of returning to that country. The first immigrants admitted under a BVOR program landed in Canada in 2013. They are first assessed for eligibility for the GAR program, and once eligibility is confirmed, are then further assessed to determine whether they may be a potential candidate for the BVOR program. After admissibility to Canada is established, the application is reviewed by the Refugee Sponsorship Training Program, which comprises groups who wish to sponsor a refugee under the BVOR program. When a potential sponsor selects such a case, the sponsor must submit an application to determine whether or not they have the ability to provide adequate financial, emotional and settlement support as required by their sponsorship undertaking. A refugee may be eligible for the BVOR provision where both the Government of Canada and a private sponsor provide financial support, with the sponsor providing additional settlement support for the year after the refugee arrives in Canada.

NOTE: The Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) – Permanent Residence Database in the Repository has two files containing immigration data that cover different time periods, with different variables containing different values / codes for classifying refugee categories:


• the LEGACY LANDING file contains the variable Immigration Category Code (IMMIGRATION_CATEGORY_SHORT_ENG in 2023 and later data, IMMIGRATION_CATEGORY_CD or IMMIGRATION_CATEGORY_SHORT_ENG_D in 2019 data); and
  
• the (current) LANDING file contains the variable Application Category (APPLICATION_CATEGORY_ID).
  
  Two SAS® formats, IRCC_IMM_CAT_SHORT_to_APPL_CAT and IRCC_IMM_CAT_to_APPL_CAT, convert the LEGACY LANDING file variables IMMIGRATION_CATEGORY_SHORT_ENG(_D) and IMMIGRATION_CATEGORY_CD values into equivalent values of the LANDING file variable APPLICATION_CATEGORY_ID. A third SAS® format, IRCC_APPLICATION_REFUGEE_CLASS, converts all of these values into the appropriate refugee classification / category.

The following describes the basic algorithm in developing the methodology for this concept. It summarizes the SAS® code example that is provided in the SAS code and formats section below.


1. create a landing file containing the combined data from the two IRCC LEGACY LANDING and [current] LANDING files;
   
2. copy the category code from APPLICATION_CATEGORY_ID variable in the [current] LANDING file; OR convert the IMMIGRATION_CATEGORY_SHORT_ENG or IMMIGRATION_CATEGORY_CD variable from the LEGACY LANDING file using the IRCC_IMM_CAT_SHORT_to_APPL_CAT or IRCC_IMM_CAT_to_APPL_CAT format into one of the newer application category codes;
   
3. convert this application category code to refugee class using the IRCC_APPLICATION_REFUGEE_CLASS format.

Updated SAS® code is available for doing the same processing on the 2023 and later versions of the data, as well as the older 2019 data.

Research Findings

In the deliverable The Diversity of Immigrants to Manitoba, Migration Dynamics and Basic Healthcare Service Use by Urquia et al. (2020) they investigated refugees and reported on this information.

Please see the following information from the on-line deliverable:


• Provincial Nominee Programs and Refugee Settlement Program
  
• Figure 3.14: Refugees in Manitoba by Refugee [Category] and Landing Year, 1985-2017

Cautions / Limitations

The following cautions were identified during development of this concept:


• The determination of refugee status involves several subtypes that may be time-dependent and respond to the needs of a wave of humanitarian intake during a limited period (e.g., Syrian refugees).
  
• The methodology for determining the four refugee categories can only be applied to application or immigration category codes in Permanent Resident data. A different approach would be required for Temporary Resident data.

Identifying Refugees as Temporary Residents

While the Temporary Resident Permit data (IRCC-TRP) does not allow us to determine the four refugee classes above, refugees can be identified by processing the permit classification and special program variables in the TRP data:


• If the legacy permit classification level 2 or 4 description contains the word "refugee", or the non-legacy classification code is 134, 135 or 181 (or the corresponding ID is 174, 175 or 220, in the 2024 data coming soon), then the person is likely to be a refugee.
  
• If the special program name (at level 2 in legacy data, or expanded from the ID in non-legacy data) contains the word "refugee", but not "refused refugee", then the person is also likely to be a refugee.

While both methods will not yield the same results, it is reasonable to assume that the person is a refugee if either of the two tests above is positive. For some more specialized analyses, you may want to focus on only one or the other of these tests, or develop a methodology to further classify refugee types based on categories of permit classifications or program types. A SAS® macro is under development which implements the tests above.