CIMM – Bill C-3, An Act to Amend the Citizenship Act – October 2, 2025

Key Messages

• The current first-generation limit to citizenship no longer reflects how Canadian families live today and the values that define our country.
• The government introduced Bill C-3 to extend citizenship by descent in a way that balances fair access and protects the value of Canadian citizenship.
• Going forward, Bill C-3 would allow the child of a Canadian parent born or adopted abroad with substantial connection to Canada to:
  • acquire citizenship if the child is born abroad
  • access the direct grant of citizenship if the child is adopted abroad
• The Bill also addresses the long-standing issue of “Lost Canadians,” those who lost or never acquired citizenship under former citizenship laws. It restores citizenship to the remaining “Lost Canadians” and provides access to citizenship for their descendants.

Bill C-3 Objectives in Detail

Objective 1: Remedy Citizenship Status for those who were Affected by the 2009 Law

• Looking back, the Bill will give citizenship to those subject to the first-generation limit introduced in 2009. This includes descendants of Lost Canadians. The Bill will also give citizenship to section 8 Lost Canadians.
• This provides fair access to citizenship for people born to Canadians abroad who could not access citizenship by descent due to the first-generation limit.
• For those born abroad before the legislation becomes law, Bill C-3 will:
  • Restore and give citizenship to people born abroad to a Canadian parent who was also born abroad. This includes:
    • those subject to the first-generation limit;
    • the section 8 “Lost Canadians,” born between February 15, 1977, and April 16, 1981, who had already lost their citizenship before the section 8 rules were repealed in 2009; and
    • the descendants of “Lost Canadians.”
• Those who become citizens automatically under Bill C-3 can apply for proof of citizenship to confirm their citizenship status.

Objective 2: Establish a Revised Framework for Citizenship by Descent Going Forward

• On a go-forward basis, the Bill will establish a revised framework for citizenship by descent so that children born to Canadian parents who were themselves born outside of Canada can acquire citizenship if their parent maintained their connection to Canada.
• The Canadian parent will need to show that they were physically present in Canada for a period of 1,095 cumulative days prior to the birth of their child abroad.
• For those born abroad on or after the legislation becomes law, Bill C-3 will:
  • Provide citizenship from birth if their Canadian parent (who was also born abroad) had three years of physical presence in Canada before giving birth.
    • Physical presence evidence could include:
      • border entry/exit information
      • school enrollment records or transcripts
      • proof of residence
• Those who are born abroad can apply for proof of citizenship to confirm their citizenship status.

Objective 3: Comparable Treatment of Adopted Children

• The Bill also ensures that Canadians who were born abroad and then adopted abroad have access to the direct citizenship grant for adoptees.
• If someone is adopted abroad by a Canadian before the Bill becomes law, they will have access to the direct adoptions grant of citizenship.
• If someone is adopted abroad after the Bill becomes law by a Canadian who was born or adopted abroad, their Canadian parent will need to meet the substantial connection requirement of 1 095 cumulative days of physical presence in Canada for their child to access the direct adoptions grant of citizenship.
• For those adopted abroad by a Canadian citizen before the legislation becomes law, Bill C-3 will:
  • Provide access to the direct adoptions grant of citizenship.
• For those adopted abroad on or after the legislation becomes law, Bill C-3 will:
  • Provide access to the direct adoptions grant of citizenship if their Canadian parent had three years of physical presence in Canada before adopting.
    • Physical presence = being in Canada for 1,095 cumulative days.

Objective 4: Clarify Citizenship Legislation

• Bill C-3 will recognize those who become automatic citizens as citizens by descent, even if they previously had a grant of citizenship or if their Canadian parent died before the legislation comes into force.
• It will simplify the renunciation process for those who become automatic citizens if they do not wish to be.
• It won’t take away citizenship from anyone who is already a citizen.

Bill C-3 Implications

Security and Language

• Bill C-3 does not include any requirements for individuals who will become citizens by descent to pass security checks or provide police certificates, or pass a language or knowledge assessment.
• Canadians who are currently born citizens by descent are not required to undergo security or criminality screenings in order to be or remain citizens.
• Further, most of those currently excluded from citizenship because of the first-generation limit are those born after 2009 when it came into force, which means that this cohort is largely minors 16 and under in 2025, who are generally deemed lower risk for security or criminality purposes.
• Citizens born abroad after the Bill becomes law will be newborn babies or young children when their parents apply for proof of citizenship. These babies or young children do not pose a security risk in becoming citizens.
• Similarly, Canadians who are born citizens by descent are not required to demonstrate their official language capacity or knowledge of Canada, so on principle, this cohort of citizens by descent should not be subject to such requirements either.

Substantial Connection

• Substantial connection is demonstrated by being in Canada for 1,095 cumulative days. This requirement is similar to the physical presence requirement that applicants for citizenship through naturalization must demonstrate.
• Counting the 1,095 days in Canada as cumulative rather than consecutive acknowledges that people demonstrate connectedness to Canada in different ways. It recognizes that Canadians born abroad may have an established and continued connection to Canada even though they have lived abroad.
• The physical presence test will only apply on or after Bill C-3 becomes law, and only for those citizens who were born or adopted outside of Canada who then have or adopt their own children outside of Canada. This rule places reasonable limits on automatic citizenship by descent going forward while upholding the value of Canadian citizenship.
• The approach aims, as much as possible, to be clear and transparent for those impacted. It avoids imposing new requirements retroactively, on people who couldn’t have known about them when they would have needed to. Otherwise, the legislation could risk creating new cohorts of “Lost Canadians.”

Volumes

• The Parliamentary Budget Officer report, which was published in December 2024, estimates that around 115,000 people will be affected by the legislative amendments beginning in 2025–2026. The report acknowledges its estimates on Canadians living abroad and the projected total number of individuals that would be affected by the Bill are subject to uncertainty.
• Given this directly relates to the target population for Bill C-3, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) did not use this report to determine its volume estimates.
• While the government has not tracked births abroad since 1977, here is what we do know:
  • From January 2024 until the end of July 2025, IRCC has received just over 4,200 applications from individuals impacted by the first-generation limit who were eligible to be offered consideration for a discretionary grant of citizenship under the interim measure.
  • This includes (1) those born after 2009 when the first-generation limit came into effect, (2) the descendants of Lost Canadians—in other words, the children of Lost Canadians who were remedied in 2009 and 2015; and (3) section 8 Lost Canadians.
• To date, we have not seen a surge of applications.
• Similarly, when we implemented the legislative changes in 2009 and 2015, which restored citizenship to most Lost Canadians, we did not see a surge of applications.
  • Overall, since 2009, a little over 20,000 individuals came forward to seek proof of their citizenship.
  • At the highest point in the first three years following the 2009 changes, the Department received fewer than 2,400 applications per year.
• Based on our experience with previous legislation that addressed cases of Lost Canadians, as well as those impacted by the first-generation limit who have come forward since January 2024, we expect that tens of thousands (and not hundreds of thousands) will likely be impacted by Bill C-3 and that there will not be a surge of applications, as forecasted by the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
• IRCC is prepared to process applications for proof of citizenship within the current capacity of a dedicated citizenship team.
• We can’t predict how many Canadian children will be born abroad on or after the Bill comes into force. However, this cohort will be subject to the new framework which requires substantial connection to Canada for citizenship access by descent beyond the first generation.

Cost Related to New Citizens Accessing Benefits

• Someone who becomes a citizen as a result of Bill C-3 will be entitled, like any other citizen, to access government programs or services for which they are eligible.
• However, it is important to note that each program or service, whether federal or provincial, has its own eligibility criteria. These criteria can include age, income level, legal status in Canada, tax filing, or residency in Canada or a specific province or territory for a specified period of time, and not just citizenship.
• Any applicant to any specific program would need to meet all of the relevant criteria in order to benefit from the program or service.

Bjorkquist Et Al, The First-Generation Limit, and the Interim Measure

• On December 19, 2023, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice declared that key provisions of the first-generation limit are unconstitutional. The Court initially suspended this declaration for six months.
• The Government of Canada did not appeal the ruling because the first-generation limit has had unacceptable consequences for some Canadians whose children were born outside the country.
• The Court has granted a series of extensions of the suspension of the declaration of invalidity; the most recent is until November 20, 2025.
• The government has introduced new legislation that will establish a new framework for citizenship by descent. Without new legislation to protect the value of Canadian citizenship there would be no limit to citizenship by descent for many people born to Canadian citizens abroad.
  • For these people, citizenship could be passed on indefinitely, regardless of generation or connection to Canada.
  • But some, such as children adopted abroad by a Canadian parent, some descendants of “Lost Canadians,” and Section 8 “Lost Canadians” would remain limited by the first-generation limit.
• Therefore, Bill C-3 must be enacted as quickly as possible to allow the Bill to come into force before the Court declaration takes effect.
• Most like-minded countries have some limits to citizenship by descent, so it is not passed on indefinitely.
• IRCC put an interim measure in place to provide a pathway to citizenship for those currently impacted by the first-generation limit. This measure will continue to be available while Parliament considers Bill C-3’s proposed amendments to the Citizenship Act.
• Under the interim measure, those impacted by the first-generation limit may be offered consideration for a discretionary grant of citizenship. IRCC will continue prioritizing those with urgent circumstances and those born or adopted on or after December 19, 2023, whose parent can demonstrate a substantial connection to Canada (three years of physical presence in Canada prior to their birth or adoption).
• Since January 2024 until the end of July 2025, IRCC has received just over 4,200 applications from individuals impacted by the first-generation limit which are eligible to be offered consideration for a discretionary grant of citizenship under the interim measure.