Are immigrants who choose to become Canadian citizens committed to staying in Canada?

The Canadian passport consistently ranks among the strongest globally, granting visa free or visa on arrival in over 180 countries around the world.

A recent Statistics Canada study found that immigrants who choose to become Canadian citizens generally have a greater commitment to Canada and often plan to live here long term, compared with their counterparts who do not become citizens.

For example, almost all (93%) immigrants who entered Canada from 2008 to 2012 and became citizens had an active presence in Canada—that is, filed a tax return—10 years after admission, compared with just over two-thirds (67%) of those who did not become citizens.

By country of birth, immigrants from developed countries tend to have lower citizenship rates than immigrants from developing countries. This is related to the fact that, compared with their existing passport, getting a Canadian passport is not a significant advantage for immigrants from developed countries.

For example, the citizenship rate among immigrants from developed countries ranged from 35% (United States) to 54% (South Korea) 10 years after admission. In contrast, immigrants from developing countries, such as Colombia, the Philippines, Pakistan and Iran, had citizenship rates ranging from 74% to 82% a decade after admission.

Immigrants to Canada leave the country for all sorts of reasons, ranging from missing family, friends or improved conditions “back home,” to economic opportunities elsewhere in the world. Immigrants who do not become citizens are much more likely to have moved home or moved on (become inactive) 10 years after admission than those who became citizens.

For example, 10 years after admission, over one in four (28%) inactive immigrants had Canadian citizenship, while the remainder did not. There were some notable exceptions, however.

For instance, half (50%) of inactive immigrants from Iran were Canadian citizens, followed by 39% of inactive immigrants from Pakistan and 36% from Colombia. In contrast, 14% of inactive immigrants from the United States were Canadian citizens.

These variations suggest that immigrants from some developing countries are more likely to acquire Canadian citizenship before becoming inactive—maintaining the option of returning to Canada—compared with those from developed countries.

By class of admission, almost half (49%) of inactive refugees held Canadian citizenship, compared with 24% to 31% of people in other immigration classes.

Overall, the study found that a very small proportion (about 1 in 100) of immigrants shifted from an active to an inactive presence in Canada one year after becoming a citizen.

For most immigrants, naturalization had little effect on their active presence status, suggesting that those who choose to become Canadian citizens are highly committed to remaining in Canada.

For more information, see the full study: “Citizenship Acquisition and Active Presence of Immigrants in Canada.”