Abstract

North America is one of the busiest regions in the world in terms of international migration with different flows coexisting to and from Mexico, the United States, and Canada. This session will bring together academia, statistical agencies, as well as other users and providers of administrative data to reflect on how to be creative on studying international migration flows and migrant populations in North America. First, we will discuss how to measure international migration in Mexico with the 2020 Census and Household Surveys from INEGI, considering new mixed immigrant flows. Second, the U.S. Census Bureau’s International Migration Branch will present the current methodology used to construct the net-international migration component for the national annual population estimates. They will discuss limitations of the methodology and present initial research using administrative data to enhance the creation of foreign-born international migration flows. Third, we will discuss the challenges and benefits of creating longitudinal administrative data, by presenting the Office of Homeland Security Statistics’ Immigrant Benefit Lifecycle database which tracks immigrants from entry to the United States, to either exit, change in status, or eventual naturalization. Finally, we will discuss a method for estimating the number of temporary immigrants in Canada by better modelling temporary permit renewals thanks to a partnership between Statistics Canada and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.