Canada extends deadline for changes to first-generation limit for citizenship by descent

On December 18, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice extended the deadline for changes to Canada’s first generation limit (FGL) by three more months.

The new deadline is March 19, 2025.

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Canada’s FGL restricts the ability of Canadian citizens born abroad to pass on Canadian citizenship to children also born outside Canada.

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice had previously ordered the federal government to amend the FGL rule within the Canadian Citizenship Act, calling it “unconstitutional” as it creates “a lesser class of citizenship.”

This marks the third time the deadline has been extended.

What is Bill C-71?

Earlier this year, Immigration Minister Marc Miller introduced Bill C-71, An Act to Amend the Citizenship Act (2024).

The bill aims at expanding citizenship by descent beyond the first generation.

If it receives Royal Assent, it will automatically confer Canadian citizenship to those born abroad – or adopted from abroad – to a Canadian parent who was also born abroad.

The proposed legislation includes a “substantial connection requirement”: to pass on citizenship to their child if the bill becomes law in its current form, the Canadian parent born abroad must have accumulated at least 1,095 days (or about three years) of physical presence in Canada before the birth or adoption of their child.

If passed, the bill will restore citizenship status retroactively to some “Lost Canadians”: people born to Canadian parents born abroad, who have not had the opportunity to acquire citizenship because of the FGL provision under current citizenship legislation.

The bill also applies to descendants of Lost Canadians, and anyone born abroad to a Canadian parent in the second or subsequent generations, before the legislation comes into force.

According to a report by the Parliamentary Budget Officer on December 19, this bill could create approximately 115,000 new citizens over the next five years.

Interim measures

IRCC has implemented some interim measures granting some eligible individuals a “discretionary grant of citizenship.”

These measures apply in two specific scenarios.

Scenario one: The applicant has submitted a proof of citizenship application that would be subject to the FGL rule change, and has requested urgent processing in accordance with urgent processing criteria; or

Scenario two: The applicant has a proof of citizenship application in process and IRCC has identified that the application is impacted by the FGL rule. The application had previously been de-prioritized until new rules come into effect, but the applicant has since requested urgent processing.

To learn more about these interim measures, click here.

Previous extensions

This anticipated change to Canada’s first-generation limit was first delayed until August of 2024.

In August, the court granted an extension, with a deadline set to December 19, 2024.

The latest extension comes “reluctantly” according to reports, with the court unhappy with “incomplete and inaccurate evidence” submitted that “failed to fix the legislation.”

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