Canada’s New Citizenship Bill C-3 Aims to Restore Rights and Expand Access
Bill C-3: Major Overhaul to Make Canadian Citizenship More Inclusive
New Citizenship Bill C-3 to Simplify Process for Canadians Born Abroad
Canada Moves to Broaden Citizenship Access with Bill C-3
Bill C-3 Set to Ease Citizenship Rules for ‘Lost Canadians’ and Children Born Abroa
Bill C-3 Introduced to Amend Citizenship Act, Restore Rights of “Lost Canadians” and Expand Access to Citizenship by Descent
By Baljit Balli
Ottawa, Canada/ Chandigarh | June 5, 2025:
In a landmark move to ensure greater fairness and inclusivity in Canadian citizenship law, the Government of Canada has introduced Bill C-3: An Act to Amend the Citizenship Act (2025). The bill aims to address long-standing issues caused by the controversial first-generation limit on citizenship by descent, particularly affecting children born abroad to Canadian parents.
Announced by the Honourable Lena Metlege Diab, Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, this bill seeks to eliminate barriers for Canadians born abroad.
Under the current provisions of the Citizenship Act, Canadian citizens born outside Canada can only pass on their citizenship to children born abroad if they themselves were either born or naturalized in Canada before the child’s birth. Adopted children are subject to similar restrictions. This has disproportionately impacted Canadians born overseas, rendering their children ineligible for citizenship and, in many cases, separating families by legal status.
The situation was further highlighted when, on December 19, 2023, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that key elements of the first-generation limit were unconstitutional. The federal government chose not to appeal, acknowledging the law’s “unacceptable consequences” for many Canadians.
What Bill C-3 Proposes
Bill C-3 seeks to correct these inequities through several major reforms:
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Automatic restoration of citizenship to individuals who would currently be Canadian citizens if not for the first-generation limit or outdated provisions of earlier citizenship laws.
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A new framework for granting citizenship by descent beyond the first generation, based on a “substantial connection” test.
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Eligibility for children adopted abroad by Canadian parents born outside the country—provided the parents meet the substantial connection criteria.
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To demonstrate a substantial connection to Canada, a Canadian parent born abroad must prove a cumulative 1,095 days (three years) of physical presence in Canada prior to the child’s birth or adoption.
Addressing the Issue of “Lost Canadians”
The legislation also revisits the issue of “Lost Canadians”—individuals who either lost or were denied Canadian citizenship due to outdated legal provisions. While prior legislative changes in 2009 and 2015 resolved many such cases, Bill C-3 extends coverage to remaining “Lost Canadians” and their descendants, including those impacted by former section 8 of the Act.
These updates aim to restore citizenship to those who lost it due to technicalities and to affirm Canada’s commitment to upholding equal rights for all its citizens, regardless of where they were born.
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This change addresses a significant gap in the current system, where adoptive parents born abroad through descent were unable to secure citizenship for their children without navigating complex immigration pathways. Restoring Citizenship for “Lost Canadians”: The term “Lost Canadians” refers to individuals who lost or never acquired citizenship due to outdated provisions in Canada’s citizenship laws, particularly those in effect before 2009. While amendments in 2009 and 2015 resolved many cases, some individuals and their descendants remained excluded. Bill C-3 aims to close these gaps, restoring citizenship to remaining “Lost Canadians” and their families, including those impacted by the former section 8, which required certain individuals to apply to retain citizenship by age 28 or risk losing it.
In the interim, a temporary measure remains in place to assist individuals currently affected by the first-generation limit. Details of this measure are available on the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) website.
With this bold legislative step, the federal government signals a renewed commitment to ensuring that Canadian identity is rooted not only in geography but in genuine connection, equity, and belonging.