Changes in Canada citizenship The laws came into effect after the federal government passed legislation aimed at closing gaps that had led to so-called “Lost Canadians.”
New rules under Bill C-3, which became law last month, will now allow Canadian citizenship to be transferred to people born or adopted abroad beyond the first generation, under certain conditions.
Immigration Minister Lena Diab said Monday that changes to the Citizenship Act “reflect the way Canadian families live today” by allowing Canadians who live, travel or study abroad to ensure their children can become citizens themselves.
Here's what you need to know about the changes.
As of Monday, December 15, people born or adopted abroad to a Canadian parent who was also born or adopted in another country can become citizens.
For a person to qualify, the parent must have spent at least three years (1,095 days) in Canada before the birth or adoption of the child.
Children born outside of Canada before December 15 and who are second generation or later will automatically be granted Canadian citizenship. Those who adopted children before this date can now apply for citizenship and their applications will be processed under the new rules.
In 2009, the Conservative federal government changed the Citizenship Act so that foreign-born Canadians could only transfer their citizenship if their child was born or adopted in Canada.
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This meant that the transfer of citizenship ceased after the first generation if a citizen born in Canada passed it on to a child born or adopted outside the country.
The restriction of the first generation led to the emergence of so-called “lost Canadians” who had family ties to the country but were unable to become citizens themselves.
This restriction was ruled unconstitutional by the Ontario Supreme Court in December 2023.
The Liberal government did not appeal the decision, “recognizing that the law had unacceptable consequences for Canadians whose children were born outside the country,” Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said in a statement Monday.
A previous attempt to amend the Citizenship Act in response to the court decision failed in Parliament when it was dissolved earlier this year to trigger federal elections.
The government has approved a temporary measure to allow people subject to the first-generation restriction to apply for “discretionary citizenship.”
IRCC says people who applied under the temporary measure do not need to reapply if their application is still pending. Now these applications will be considered according to the new rules.
Immigration lawyer Sujit Choudhury argued that Bill C-3, while welcome for “lost Canadians” born outside Canada, is unconstitutional because it places new burdens on international adoptees seeking citizenship.
He says the new rules violate the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, an international treaty signed by Canada, because domestic adoptees do not have to undergo the same bond test.
The Conservatives, meanwhile, sought to amend the legislation to ensure that the cumulative three-year period a Canadian parent must spend in the country is five consecutive years.
The amendment, passed by the House of Commons immigration committee, was withdrawn by Liberal and NDP MPs before the bill was sent to the Senate. The Upper House rejected an attempt to return the changes.
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