A communication method and a communications apparatus, where the method includes: first determining, by a terminal, a first radio access technology for establishing a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection; and then determining, by the terminal based on access information, a first cause value for establishing the RRC connection, where the first cause value is a cause value of the first radio access technology, and the access information includes at least one of an access identity (AI), an access category (AC), or a second cause value of a second radio access technology. After the terminal determines the first cause value, the terminal sends a first message used to establish the RRC connection, and uses the first message to carry the first cause value.