SOCI – CIMM 66.1 – Statistics on Renunciation Requests – December 5, 2024

IRCC’s response to a request for information made by the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration on May 15, 2023

Question

Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner (Calgary Nose Hill, CPC):

With regard to this particular amendment, I've been studying the speech history in the House, and I notice that the Liberal speaker on second reading of this bill raised this particular issue about.... I'm just going to quote from it quickly. I think it relates to what this amendment is suggesting. She said:

In particular, on the issue of lost Canadians, history has shown us that making hasty changes can lead to the creation of new cohorts of people who may subsequently consider themselves lost Canadians. ...we should ensure that legislation addresses the [bigger] problem and does not create a bigger issue than the one we are...trying to solve.

She speaks about how “bestowing citizenship on individuals who live in another country descended from a Canadian and who never sought to be a Canadian may create unintended” consequences and how the bill creates “a simplified renunciation process as a result”.

In the context of this particular amendment, can you give us a sense of the scope of how many people might be using this renunciation process? It's something I wasn't quite clear on during the initial testimony on the bill, as well.

Ms. Nicole Girard:

I'll just clarify that this particular amendment is not dealing with a renunciation issue, although we will come to that.

With regard to estimating the number of applications for renunciation that we could receive as a result of the bill, that's not something the department's in a position to estimate, because we have no way to foresee who may not be happy to be automatically accorded Canadian citizenship and to be remedied. That's a matter of individual choice, depending on circumstances. Nevertheless, as it stands, from time to time the department does receive renunciation applications. We could endeavour, in response to the member's request, to obtain those statistics and provide them to this committee, because I understood that this was what the member was asking for.

Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner:

Again, this amendment is dealing with those who are given ministerial grants and would become citizens under the new clauses of the bill and is confirming that their citizenship is valid.

I think where I was going in trying to pull this together was that in the speech, there was commentary that there already exist some provisions to deal with certain classes of lost Canadians through a ministerial permitting process. By adding all of these extra amendments, to the speaker's point—I think it was MP Ya'ara Saks—there seems to be a cascade effect here that continues to happen. If this amendments goes through, is there anything else that we would need to correct further on with subsequent amendments?

Ms. Nicole Girard: Yes, the member is correct that there is a cascading effect, especially when citizenship is granted automatically. The effect is particularly on the descendants of those persons who are receiving citizenship automatically through a bill such as this one, as indeed was the case with the remedies passed in 2009 and 2015. This is why this transition provision that's under discussion is so important. One of the key features of it is that it's confirming that when there's a cascading effect, any who are citizens already on the day of coming into force of this bill, should it pass, will remain Canadian citizens.

Response

Between 2018 and 2022, the Department processed a total of 1,362 applications to renounce Canadian citizenship. Of this total, 1,262 applications were approved, nine refused and 91 withdrawn.

The yearly breakdown of renunciation applications processed are as follows:

• In 2018, a total of 308 renunciation applications were processed. Of these, 289 were approved, zero refused and 19 withdrawn.
• In 2019, a total of 234 renunciation applications were processed. Of these, 217 were approved, two refused and 15 withdrawn.
• In 2020, a total of 99 renunciation applications were processed. Of these, 91 were approved, two refused and six withdrawn.
• In 2021, a total of 328 renunciation applications were processed. Of these, 306 were approved, four refused and 18 withdrawn.
• In 2022, a total of 393 renunciation applications were processed. Of these, 359 were approved, one refused and 33 withdrawn.

Under the Citizenship Act, certain requirements have to be met in order for a person to be able to renounce their Canadian citizenship. If those requirements are not met, the application to renounce can be refused. The requirements are as follows:

• A citizen may, on application, renounce his citizenship if he
  1. is a citizen of a country other than Canada or, if his application is accepted, will become a citizen of a country other than Canada;
  2. is not the subject of a declaration by the Governor in Council made pursuant to section 20 (security threat);
  3. is not a minor;
  4. is not prevented from understanding the significance of renouncing citizenship by reason of the person having a mental disability; and
  5. does not reside in Canada.
• The Minister may, in the Minister’s discretion, waive on compassionate grounds the requirements of paragraph (1)(d) or (e).