The Canadian government has loosened citizenship conditions, with a C71 legislation that would extend citizenship by descent beyond the first generation in a way that is inclusive and protects the value of Canadian citizenship.
This legislation would automatically confer Canadian citizenship to persons born abroad to a Canadian parent who is also born abroad prior to the coming into force of this legislation. It would also extend access to a direct grant of citizenship to children born abroad and adopted by a Canadian parent beyond the first generation. Following the coming into force of the legislation, parents born abroad who have or adopt children also born outside Canada will need to have spent at least 1,095 cumulative days of physical presence in Canada prior to the birth or adoption of their child to pass on citizenship.
The current rules generally restrict citizenship by descent to the first generation, excluding some people who have a genuine connection to Canada. This has unacceptable consequences for families and impacts life choices, such as where individuals may choose to live, work, study, or even where to have children and raise a family.
– Immigration Minister Marc Miller,
On December 19, 2023, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice declared that the first-generation limit is unconstitutional, which generally limited citizenship by descent to persons who are born to a Canadian parent abroad in the first generation (with some exceptions).
Bill C-71, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2024), would also restore citizenship to “Lost Canadians”—individuals who lost or never acquired citizenship as a result of outdated provisions of previous citizenship legislation. Bill C-71 would also provide citizenship to the descendants of “Lost Canadians” and to anyone born abroad to a Canadian parent in the second or subsequent generations, before the legislation comes into force.
“If the bill passes in Parliament and receives royal assent, we will work as quickly as possible to implement these changes”, said the Government.
