Term: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Registry Data

Glossary Definition

Last Updated: 2025-07-18

Definition:

The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Registry data contains a registry of immigrants to Canada who become either permanent or temporary residents, or who come to Canada on a study or work permit for a specific amount of time. The data comes from the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) information system maintained by the federal government. The types of data in the Registry files includes: demographic data (e.g. birth date, sex, marital status, language spoken); country of birth, country of citizenship and country of residence data; education level; occupation data; admission category (derived from existing variables); and landing date / age at landing. A de-identified crosswalk file identifies immigrants who reside in Manitoba through linkage to the Manitoba Health Insurance Registry (MHIR) data.

The data contains three types of files:

• the LEGACY LANDING and temporary residents files (including work and study permits) - data from January 1, 1985 to December 31, 1999 for permanent residents, Jan. 1980-Dec. 1999 for temporary, study, and work permits.
  
• the CURRENT LANDING and temporary residents files (including work and study permits) - data from January 1, 2000 to the most current acquisition.
  
• a de-identified crosswalk file that links to the Manitoba Health Insurance Registry that identifies immigrants who reside in Manitoba

• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Registry Data Description that contains a brief summary of the content of the data set and information on the Source Agency, Purpose, Years, Type, Size, Data Level, Components, Scope, Data Collection Method, Data Highlights, Data Cautions, Access Requirements, More Information, and Last Updated date;
  
  
• MCHP Metadata Repository - Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Registry Data - (Internal Access Only) - for technical and programming related information, including an Overview, Data Model, Data Quality, Data Dictionary, Documents and Reports, and Blog.

Related concepts 

• Immigration / Migration Overview - Links to Immigration / Migration Data and Related Concepts and Glossary Terms
• Immigration Admission Category

Related terms 

• Arrival Date
• Country of Birth
• Country of Citizenship
• Country of Last Permanent Residence
• Immigration Admission Category
• Intended Destination
• Landing Date
• Migrant / Migration
• Provincial Nominee

Links 

• MCHP Data Repository - Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Registry Data Description

References 

• 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)

Term used in 

• 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)