Bill C-71, New Canadian Citizenship By Descent.

A first-generation limit on citizenship by descent was added to the Citizenship Act by legislative changes made in 2009. This implies that parents who are citizens of Canada may grant citizenship to their kid who was born outside of the country if they were naturalized or born in Canada before the child was born.

The first-generation limit prevents Canadian citizens who were born outside of the country from granting citizenship to their adopted kid who was born outside of Canada, as well as from applying for a direct grant of citizenship for a child who was adopted outside of the country.

The Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, the Honorable Marc Miller, tabled legislation today that would preserve the value of citizenship and expand citizenship by descent beyond the first generation in a way that is inclusive.

People born overseas to Canadian parents who were also born abroad when this Act went into effect would automatically be granted Canadian citizenship. Additionally, it would allow children born overseas who are adopted by Canadian parents to apply for a straight citizenship award after the first generation. After the law goes into effect, in order for parents who were born outside of Canada to pass on their citizenship to their adopted children or children born outside of it, they must have physically resided in Canada for a minimum of 1,095 days in total before the kid was born or adopted.

“Lost Canadians”—people who lost or never obtained citizenship as a result of out-of-date elements of earlier citizenship legislation—would also have their citizenship restored under Bill C-71, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2024). Before the law goes into effect, Bill C-71 would also grant citizenship to the offspring of “Lost Canadians” and to anyone born overseas to a Canadian parent in the second or later generations.