If you were born outside Canada before 15 December 2025 and one of your parents was a Canadian citizen at the time, you may now be a Canadian citizen, even if your parent was also born outside Canada. Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025), became law on 15 December 2025 and removed the “first-generation limit” that had blocked citizenship from passing to a second generation born abroad. For most people born before that date, the change applies automatically. What you need is proof.
Key Takeaways
- Bill C-3 came into force on 15 December 2025 and removed the first-generation limit on citizenship by descent.
- For people born abroad before that date to a Canadian parent, citizenship in most cases extends automatically, including where the parent became a citizen because of Bill C-3.
- Automatic does not mean documented. You apply for a citizenship certificate to prove it.
- Applications already in process are assessed under the new rules.
- A different rule, the 1,095-day “substantial connection” test, applies to children born or adopted abroad on or after 15 December 2025.
What was the first-generation limit?
Since 2009, the Citizenship Act limited citizenship by descent to the first generation born outside Canada. A child born abroad to a Canadian parent was a citizen only if that parent was born in Canada or naturalized. If the Canadian parent had also been born abroad, citizenship generally stopped there.
That rule was challenged in Bjorkquist, a Charter application brought in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice by seven families on behalf of a much larger affected group. The court found the second-generation cut-off unconstitutional in December 2023, and Bill C-3 is Parliament’s legislative response.
Who is affected if born before 15 December 2025?
The core change is simple to state. According to the summary presented at the 2026 LPEN update on programs and policy, in most cases Canadian citizenship now extends automatically to a person who was:
- born before 15 December 2025,
- outside Canada,
- to a Canadian parent.
The same applies where the parent became a citizen because of Bill C-3 itself. In other words, a grandparent’s citizenship can now flow through a parent who was born abroad, to a child who was also born abroad, where both births occurred before the new law took effect.
Adopted people who were born and adopted outside Canada in the second generation or later before 15 December 2025 are likely eligible to apply for citizenship through the direct grant for adopted persons, rather than automatically.
The Citizenship Act also contains limits that survive the reform. The restoration provisions for “Lost Canadians” do not restore citizenship to people who voluntarily renounced it, or whose citizenship was revoked for fraud or misrepresentation.
“Lost Canadians” and the older historical categories
Bill C-3 is the latest in a long line of amendments aimed at people who lost citizenship, or never received it, because of rules now considered unfair. The current s. 3(1) of the Act includes, among others:
- people who ceased to be citizens under the old Acts for reasons other than voluntary renunciation or fraud (s. 3(1)(f));
- people born abroad between 1 January 1947 and 14 February 1977 to a Canadian parent who were never recognized, often because citizenship did not pass through the mother under the 1947 Act (s. 3(1)(g));
- people born or naturalized in Canada who lost British subject status before 1 January 1947, and the Newfoundland equivalent before 1 April 1949 (s. 3(1)(k) and (l));
- British subjects who were ordinarily resident in Canada on 1 January 1947, or in Newfoundland on 1 April 1949, without being born or naturalized there (s. 3(1)(m) and (n)), and certain of their children born abroad before those dates.
These categories matter because citizenship recognized under one of them can now be passed on through the generations in a way that was blocked before 2025.
The 2026 CBA Immigration Law Conference panel on Bill C-3 illustrated this with fact patterns of the kind we increasingly see: a grandparent born in Nova Scotia in 1911 who was a British subject until 1947; a mother born in Alberta whose children were born in the United States in the 1960s; and a grandparent from Hong Kong who took refuge in Vancouver between 1941 and 1949 during the Japanese occupation. Whether any of these families holds Canadian citizenship today turns on precise dates, on which statutory paragraph applies to each generation, and on documents. None of them can be answered from a family story alone.
Does citizenship start on the date of birth?
Not necessarily. The Act contains deeming rules in s. 3(7) that set the date from which a restored or newly recognized citizen is treated as a citizen, and those dates vary by category (for example 1 January 1947 or 1 April 1949 for some historical categories).
Section 3(8) then limits the reach of those rules. For any period before the deeming rule first takes effect for a person, it does not confer rights or impose obligations under other federal Acts or other law, and no damages claim can be brought against the Crown for that earlier period. Recognition of citizenship is therefore not a route to retroactive benefits.
How do you prove citizenship under Bill C-3?
Because recognition is usually automatic, the practical step is to apply to IRCC for a citizenship certificate (proof of citizenship). You will generally need to document each link in the chain:
- Your own birth record showing your parents.
- Your Canadian parent’s birth record and, if they were born abroad, proof of their own citizenship or of the grandparent’s citizenship at the relevant time.
- Evidence of the grandparent’s Canadian birth, naturalization, or British subject status and residence in Canada, for the older historical categories.
- Name-change, marriage, and adoption records that connect the documents to each other.
Applications that were already in process when Bill C-3 came into force are processed under the new rules. Check the current IRCC application guide and form versions before you file, as they have been updated for the new law.
Can you refuse citizenship you did not ask for?
Yes. People affected by Bill C-3 can renounce Canadian citizenship. This matters for anyone who holds another nationality whose law does not permit dual nationality, or where Canadian citizenship could have tax, military service, or other consequences in another country. Some countries, including China, do not recognize dual nationality. The analysis under foreign law is outside Canadian citizenship law, and you should get advice in that country before you act. We have discussed related issues for families in our page on child nationality conflicts between Canada and China.
What about children born on or after 15 December 2025?
The new law replaced the first-generation limit with a different test for future births. A child born abroad on or after 15 December 2025 to a Canadian parent who was also born abroad is a citizen by descent only if a Canadian parent spent at least 1,095 days in Canada before the child’s birth. We explain that test separately in our article on the 1,095-day substantial connection test.
FAQ
Do I need to apply to become a citizen under Bill C-3?
In most cases no. If you were born abroad before 15 December 2025 to a Canadian parent, citizenship generally extends automatically. You apply for a citizenship certificate to prove it, which you will need for a Canadian passport.
My parent was born outside Canada. Does that still block me?
Not if you were born before 15 December 2025. Removing that block is the main effect of Bill C-3 for existing families. The 1,095-day test applies only to births and adoptions on or after that date.
I was adopted abroad. Am I automatically a citizen?
Not automatically. Adopted people in the second generation or later are likely eligible to apply for citizenship through the direct grant for adopted persons, which has its own requirements.
Will I receive benefits for the years before my citizenship was recognized?
No. Section 3(8) of the Act provides that recognition does not create rights or obligations under other laws for the period before it takes effect, and bars damages claims for that period.
I already have a pending proof of citizenship application. Do I need to reapply?
Applications in process are assessed under the new rules. Check whether IRCC has asked for anything further before submitting a new application.
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Disclaimer: This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Immigration law and IRCC/ESDC policy change frequently, and every case turns on its own facts. Reading this article does not create a lawyer–client relationship. Obtain advice tailored to your situation before you act.
Talk to a Canadian immigration lawyer. BridgePoint Law advises individuals and businesses across Canada — and on Canada–US–China cross-border matters — on Canadian citizenship and proof of citizenship. Book a consultation with our team in Toronto and Kingston. We work in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese.