Demographic Contribution of International Immigration in the Census Metropolitan Area [CMA] of Montreal, 1976-1996

This study assesses the total net demographic contribution of international immigrants in the census metropolitan area (CMA) of Montreal in 1996. Most work on this topic uses the "place of birth" criterion implied by the concept of a "native born" population. However, this limits the "immigrant population," by inappropriately assigning births to immigrants to the non-immigrant or "native born" sub-population. This has a direct effect on the levels of observed indicators of both groups, such as the proportion of the immigrant population, the mean age, the median age, etc. In addition to the total number of surviving migrants (direct contribution), the estimate here also includes children born to the immigrants during the period (1976-1996) & surviving in Montreal at the end of the period (indirect contribution). Montreal's total population in 1996 can therefore be broken down into the "extended immigrant population" (EIP) & the "restricted native population" (RNP). One of the main consequences of this new approach is a marked change in the age structure for each restructured sub-group. For instance, once the births to immigrants during the period under study are included in the EIP instead of the "native population," the median age of immigrants drops from 43.9 years to 38.2 years, a reduction of almost six years, bringing it much closer to that age in the population as a whole (36.2 years). 12 Tables, 1 Graph, 1 Appendix, 31 References. Adapted from the source document.