SOCI – Minister's Opening Statement – December 5, 2024

Thank you, Chair.

I want to start by acknowledging that we are meeting on the traditional, unceded territories of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg People.

Thank you for the opportunity to discuss Bill C-71 and the critical amendments to the Citizenship Act it introduces, and for dedicating time to its pre-study.

This legislation provides a clear framework for citizenship by descent, with the immediate goal of restoring and conferring citizenship to “Lost Canadians.”

It builds and improves on the work done on Bill S-245.

The amendments made to the Citizenship Act in 2009 and then again in 2015 remedied the majority of these Lost Canadian cases by providing or restoring citizenship, and removing the need for anyone to file to retain their citizenship by their 28th birthday. Since 2009, approximately 20,000 Lost Canadians came forward to claim their citizenship because of these legislative amendments.

However, a small cohort remains affected—those born abroad to Canadian parents in the second or subsequent generations, particularly between 1977 and 1981. These individuals lost their citizenship before the 2009 amendments came into effect, and they’ve been left without a clear path to regain it.

Bill C-71 establishes a revised framework governing citizenship by descent and restores citizenship to Lost Canadians and their descendants. It also addresses issues raised by the recent Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruling by providing a pathway to citizenship for those born or adopted abroad beyond the first generation.

The Bill will expand access to citizenship by descent in a more comprehensive and inclusive way, and will restore citizenship to the remaining Lost Canadians. It also proposes that all individuals born outside of Canada to a Canadian parent before this legislation comes into force will be citizens by descent, including those previously excluded by the first-generation limit.

After this legislation comes into force, children born or adopted abroad to Canadian parents—who themselves were born outside Canada—will be able to access citizenship if their parent can demonstrate a substantial connection to Canada, proven by having spent a cumulative total of three years here before the child’s birth or adoption.

C-71 also addresses the Ontario Superior Court of Justice’s ruling that key provisions of the first-generation limit on citizenship by descent are considered unconstitutional and infringe on both equality and mobility rights.

The Court recognized that this limit is too restrictive and does not account for the significant connections to Canada that many descendants of Canadians maintain.

With Bill C-71, we aim to address the Court’s concerns by replacing the first-generation limit with the substantial connection test going forward, to ensure those with strong ties to Canada can pass on their citizenship to future generations.

Another important aspect of this legislation is that it continues to minimize the differences between children born to or adopted by Canadian parents outside of Canada. Once the law is in force, children adopted abroad in the second generation and beyond after the Bill’s coming into force will have access to the direct grant of citizenship for adoptees, provided their adoptive parent meets the same substantial connection test.

Finally, Bill C-71 will offer access to the existing simplified renunciation process for individuals who automatically become citizens under the new rules but do not wish to hold it. This is particularly important for those working in countries where dual citizenship is not permitted, or where holding another citizenship could create legal or professional complications.

I am proud to have introduced Bill C-71. I believe the legislation, as it stands, is inclusive and protects the value of Canadian citizenship.

Thank you. I am happy to take your questions.