Bill C-3 and Canadian Citizenship: Ending the First-Generation Limit and Restoring Lost Canadians
In December 2023, the Ontario Superior Court ruled that Canada’s first-generation limit on citizenship by descent—introduced in 2009—was unconstitutional. The Court ordered the federal government to amend the Citizenship Act to bring it into compliance with the Charter.
Two years later, that remedy arrived.
In 2025, Bill C-3, An Act to Amend the Citizenship Act, received Royal Assent and came into force. The legislation eliminates the first-generation limit on Canadian citizenship by descent and resolves one of the longest-standing issues in Canadian citizenship law: the status of the “Lost Canadians.”
As Senator Mary Coyle emphasized during debate on the bill, “Bill C-3 is about citizenship. It is not an immigration law.” At its core, the legislation recognizes that citizenship is not merely a bureaucratic status, but a reflection of identity, belonging, and connection—often across generations and borders.
In practical terms, Bill C-3 has made hundreds of thousands (possibly far more) people Canadian citizens by operation of law.
A Brief History of Citizenship by Descent in Canada
Canada’s Citizenship Act has changed significantly since it first came into force in 1947. Earlier versions of the Act removed or restricted citizenship based on factors that would now be considered discriminatory, including:
Gender and marital status
Country of residence
Country of birth
Failure to take steps to “retain” citizenship
These provisions created generations of individuals who were Canadian in all but law.
Amendments in 2009 and 2015 attempted to correct some of these injustices by restoring citizenship to certain groups and recognizing others for the first time. However, those same amendments introduced a strict rule: citizenship by descent would be limited to the first generation born abroad, subject to only narrow exceptions.
While administratively simple, the first-generation limit excluded many individuals with genuine and longstanding connections to Canada—and left others without any pathway to recognition at all.
What Bill C-3 Changed in the Citizenship Act
Bill C-3 fundamentally reshapes Canadian citizenship by descent by introducing different rules based on date of birth or adoption.
Citizenship by Descent for Those Born Before December 15, 2025
For individuals born or adopted outside Canada before December 15, 2025, Bill C-3 removes the first-generation limit entirely.
This change restores citizenship to people who were previously excluded solely because their Canadian parent was also born abroad. It also resolves the status of many individuals affected by earlier legislative gaps.
Citizenship by Descent for Those Born On or After December 15, 2025
For those born or adopted outside Canada on or after December 15, 2025, citizenship by descent remains available—but only if the Canadian parent can demonstrate a substantial connection to Canada.
That connection is defined as 1,095 days (three years) of cumulative physical presence in Canada at any time before the child’s birth or adoption.
This requirement has attracted criticism, particularly due to the evidentiary burden it places on families. Proving physical presence over many years may require extensive documentation, including travel records, employment history, tax filings, or school records.
However, the most significant impact of Bill C-3 lies not in this new requirement, but in how it addresses the Lost Canadians.
Who Are the “Lost Canadians”?
The term “Lost Canadians” refers to individuals who lost—or never acquired—Canadian citizenship because of technical or discriminatory provisions in earlier versions of the Citizenship Act.
One of the most significant affected groups is known as Section 8 Lost Canadians.
Under the 1977 Citizenship Act, second- and subsequent-generation Canadians born abroad were recognized as citizens—but only on the condition that they apply to retain their citizenship before their 28th birthday. Many were unaware of this requirement and lost their citizenship automatically.
Neither the 2009 nor the 2015 amendments fixed this problem.
Bill C-3 does.
For the first time, Section 8 Lost Canadians—and in many cases, their descendants—are fully restored as Canadian citizens.
Why Americans Are Likely the Largest Group of New Canadian Citizens
In theory, Bill C-3 could apply to individuals with Canadian ancestry going back several generations. In practice, Americans are likely to be the largest beneficiaries.
Canada and the United States share centuries of cross-border migration, including:
The forced relocation of Acadians from Atlantic Canada to Louisiana in the 1750s
Large-scale migration of French Canadians to New England in the 19th century
Canadian settlement in New York, Michigan, and the Midwest during periods of industrial growth
Many descendants of these communities are now Canadian citizens as a matter of law.
The key challenge will be proof of lineage. Citizenship claims depend on documenting a Canadian ancestor’s birth in Canada or naturalization as a Canadian citizen. Where that ancestry can be traced and documented, the claim is often viable.
While there will also be newly recognized citizens in Europe, Asia, and Australia, historical migration patterns suggest the largest number will be American.
What Bill C-3 Means for Canada
In the short term, the impact may be limited. Many new citizens may apply for proof of Canadian citizenship, obtain a passport, or visit Canada occasionally.
Others may take a more active approach. Canadian citizenship allows individuals to:
Live and work in Canada without immigration authorization
Avoid international student tuition fees
Bypass lengthy and competitive immigration pathways
This could be particularly attractive to younger Americans considering post-secondary education or relocation.
There may also be operational impacts. A surge in citizenship certificate applications could place strain on IRCC’s Sydney, Nova Scotia office, as well as Service Canada and Passport Canada. Longer-term effects could include increased pressure—or productivity gains—in housing and labour markets, depending on how many new citizens choose to settle in Canada and what skills they bring.
What We Still Don’t Know
The greatest uncertainty surrounding Bill C-3 is scale.
There is no reliable estimate of how many people qualify as Canadian citizens under the amended Citizenship Act, nor how many will take steps to confirm or exercise that status. Awareness of the changes is likely to spread slowly, especially among families whose Canadian ancestry dates back several generations.
As awareness grows, genealogists and immigration professionals are likely to see increased demand for assistance tracing lineage and assembling documentation to support citizenship claims.
Bill C-3 closes one of the most complex chapters in Canadian citizenship law—but its full impact is only beginning to emerge.