Last year, millions lost their right to Italian citizenship after Italy significantly tightened its citizenship by descent rules, while Canada went in the opposite direction.
Since March 2025, Italian citizenship by descent is limited to just two generations. Prior to the change, Italian citizenship extended to anyone descended from a post-1861 Italian citizen.
In December of 2025, Canada passed Bill C-3, which abolished the first-generation limit (FGL) to citizenship by descent and retroactively restored citizenship to millions of lost Canadians.
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Now, anyone born prior to December 15, 2025 can qualify for Canadian citizenship if they can demonstrate descent from a Canadian ancestor, even several generations removed (e.g., a great-great-great grandparent)—and this includes millions of Americans, with especially high concentrations in New England.
Canadian citizenship confers the right to enter Canada, the right to live and work in Canada permanently, the right to vote in elections, and the ability to sponsor family members for Canadian permanent residence.
How to get a Canadian passport
With the passing of Bill C-3, these new Canadian citizens by descent can go on to obtain Canadian passports—a popular move for many Americans amid the recent rising tensions in the US.
You can use an online tool to check whether your situation qualifies for Canadian citizenship by descent under the recent legal changes.
If you believe you may be eligible for Canadian citizenship following the passing of Bill C-3, you will want to apply to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for a proof of citizenship certificate.
Documentation proving your parent’s citizenship (e.g., birth certificates), along with additional records confirming your lineage, will prove beneficial for this process.
Citizenship by descent applicants will often have to submit paper applications.
Citizenship certificate processing times are currently 10 months, as of the time of this writing.
With the certificate in hand, you can then apply for a Canadian passport.
Americans are capable of holding dual citizenship with Canada.
Prior to applying for proof of Canadian citizenship, non-US nationals may wish to confirm whether their country of origin permits dual citizenship, as some countries require individuals to renounce their original nationality upon acquiring another.
The passing of Bill C-3 and its significance
The Canadian government passed Bill C-3, An Act to Amend the Citizenship Act, on December 15 of last year.
The bill abolished the former first-generation limit (FGL) to citizenship by descent, which had prevented Canadian citizens by descent from passing citizenship on to their own children born abroad, who were often referred to as lost Canadians.
As of December 15, 2025, Canada’s new citizenship bill changed previous restrictions by
- Allowing those born abroad to a Canadian parent, prior to that date, to inherit citizenship by descent past the first generation if they can prove an ancestral connection to a Canadian citizen; and
- Allowing born on or after that date to inherit citizenship by descent if their Canadian parent—also born abroad—spent a minimum of 1,095 days in Canada prior to their birth or adoption.
Those who applied under the former interim measures for lost Canadians need not submit a separate proof of citizenship application; these applications will be reviewed under the new framework.
This new legislation responds to a 2023 Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision that found the earlier form of the FGL unconstitutional, which the federal government chose not to appeal.
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