Term: Migrant / Migration

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Glossary Definition

Last Updated: 2022-12-08

Definition:

A migrant is a person who undergoes a migration process, defined as establishing a permanent or temporary residence in a new jurisdiction (e.g., province, country). Changes of residence within the province are usually referred to as residential mobility, not migration. Migrants can be interprovincial migrants (migration between provinces or states within the same country) or international immigrants (migration between countries).

Migrants are referred to as immigrants when the speakers position themselves in the place where the migrants are settling (place of destination) and as emigrants when the point of reference is the place of origin. Emigrants are also referred to as outmigrants, remigrants (if they are migrants who migrate to a new destination) or return migrants (if they are migrants who come back to the place they migrated from).

The migration can be temporary or permanent. International temporary migrants are those who have a time-limited work or study visa and are expected to return to their places of origin upon expiration of the visa. Permanent residents (also known as Landed Immigrants) are those who have been granted a Canadian permanent residency by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Related concepts 

• Immigration / Migration Overview - Links to Immigration / Migration Data and Related Concepts and Glossary Terms
• Immigration Admission Category
• Outmigration or Emigration
• Refugee
• Retention - Immigration / Migration related
• Return Migration

Related terms 

• Cancellation of Healthcare Coverage
• Country of Birth
• Country of Citizenship
• First Generation
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Permanent Resident Database
• Intended Destination
• International migration
• Interprovincial Migration
• Primary Migration
• Provincial Nominee
• Refugee
• Remigration
• Residential Mobility
• Second Generation (and higher)

Term used in 

• Ewesesan R, Chartier MJ, Nickel NC, Wall-Wieler E, Urquia ML. Psychosocial and behavioral health indicators among immigrant and non-immigrant recent mothers. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 2022;22(1):612. [Abstract] (View)
• Urquia M, Walld R, Prior H, Detillieux G, Eze N, Koseva I. The Diversity of Immigrants to Manitoba, Migration Dynamics and Basic Healthcare Service Use. Winnipeg, MB: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, 2020. [Report] [Summary] [Additional Materials] (View)
• Urquia ML, Walld R, Wanigaratne S, Eze ND, Azimaee M, McDonald JT, Guttmann A. Linking national immigration data to provincial repositories: The case of Canada. Int J Popul Data Sci 2021;6(1):1412. [Abstract] (View)