Bill C-3: Amendments to 2025 Citizenship Act
Canada’s Citizenship Act contains a first-generation limit to citizenship by descent for individuals born abroad, which generally means that a Canadian citizen parent can only pass on citizenship to a child born outside Canada if the parent was either born or naturalized in Canada before the birth of the child. Canadians born or naturalized in Canada before adopting a child abroad can apply for a direct grant of citizenship for the adopted child.
As a result of the first-generation limit, in general, Canadian citizens who were born outside Canada and obtained their citizenship through descent cannot pass on citizenship to their child born outside Canada, and cannot apply for a direct grant of citizenship for a child adopted outside Canada.
On December 19, 2023, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice declared that key provisions of the first-generation limit for those born abroad are unconstitutional. The Government of Canada did not appeal the ruling because we agree that the current law has unacceptable consequences for Canadians whose children were born outside the country.
The government is introducing legislation to make the citizenship process as fair and transparent as possible. Bill C-3 would
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2025/06/bill-c-3-an-act-to-amend-the-citizenship-act-2025.html