Laws on citizenship by descent may be tightened

Children of many Canadians will not acquire citizenship if the latest amendments to a federal bill are passed by parliament.

Children by descent in this article are understood as children born to or adopted by Canadian citizens.

Detailed article on the Canadian citizenship.

Details of the bill and the changes

In the latest amendments to Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act, citizenship by descent beyond the first generation will be further restricted for children born or adopted on or after the new law takes effect, compared to the previous version of the bill.

Children born or adopted before the new law takes effect are exempt from these restrictions and will qualify for Canadian citizenship if the bill becomes law in its current form.

Under the latest amendments, children born abroad or adopted by Canadian citizens by descent will hold citizenship at birth or adoption only if their Canadian parent has spent at least 3 years physically present in Canada within any 5-year period prior to the child’s birth or adoption.

Under the previous version of the bill, the 3 years of physical presence in Canada by the Canadian parent, known as the “substantial connection to Canada test”, did not need to fall within a 5-year period.

The amendments also introduce additional restrictions with no equivalent in the previous version of the bill:

• Security screening: Even if a child’s parent meets the substantial connection to Canada test, individuals aged 18 or older when applying for proof of citizenship must undergo screening regarding concerns related to national security, human rights violations, criminality, and economic sanctions.
• Language and cultural knowledge: Individuals aged 18 to 55 when applying for proof of citizenship must also demonstrate adequate knowledge of English or French, and adequate knowledge of Canada and of the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship.

Under citizenship by descent, children born outside Canada can inherit Canadian citizenship from a Canadian parent at the time of birth or adoption.

The current version of the Citizenship Act, last updated in 2009, introduced the “first-generation limit’ (FGL) to citizenship by descent, under which children of naturalised Canadians and Canadians born in Canada can acquire citizenship by descent, but children of citizens by descent (their grandchildren) cannot receive citizenship.

The current version of the FGL was declared unconstitutional by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in December 2023.

Bill C-3 is the federal government’s latest attempt to amend the Citizenship Act with a narrower version of the FGL.

The amendments in the latest version of the bill also include a requirement for the Minister of Immigration to table an annual report in Parliament on persons who have become citizens due to the law taking effect, and a report on exemptions from security screening.

The latest deadline to amend the FGL in the Citizenship Act is November 20, 2025.

To become law, Bill C-3 must pass third-reading votes in both houses of Parliament and receive royal assent.

Temporary measures for affected Canadians

Under current temporary measures, individuals affected by the FGL may apply for discretionary citizenship grants.

To apply for a discretionary citizenship grant, they must submit an application for proof of citizenship online, along with the necessary documents. IRCC will then review the application to determine eligibility.

Current processing times for citizenship grant applications are approximately eight months. Individuals facing hardship may apply for urgent processing.

Which amendments were not passed?

Following a vote, the committee rejected an amendment proposed by Conservative MP Rempel Garner to abolish birthright citizenship in Canada.

Under this proposed amendment, which was not introduced, children born in Canada would acquire citizenship only if they have at least one parent who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident at the time of birth.

Birthright citizenship, currently enshrined in the Act, grants all children born in Canada citizenship at birth regardless of their parents’ citizenship status – with a few exceptions, such as the children of foreign diplomats.

Birthright citizenship is common only in the Americas; many countries elsewhere in the world have citizenship restrictions similar to those in the amendment proposed by Garner.