Americans are dominating Canadian citizenship by descent applications, new data reveals

Americans are applying for Canadian citizenship in droves after a new law opened access to it.

According to data reported by The Canadian Press, US citizens accounted for the largest share of citizenship by descent applications in January 2026 – ten times the number of applications submitted by the UK, the second-highest country on the list.

In January 2026, nearly 2,500 Americans filed applications for Canadian citizenship. In comparison, the UK filed just 290.

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The number of applications from US citizens in January 2026 outnumbered the sum of those filed by all other top nine source countries: the UK, France, China, Hong Kong, India, Australia, the Philippines, the UAE, and Germany in the same month.

The surge in applications came on the heels of new legislation that removed the generational limit to inheriting Canadian citizenship, creating millions of US-Canadian dual citizens at the stroke of a pen.

To get Canadian passports, newly-minted U.S.-Canadian dual citizens by descent need only apply for proof. And thousands have been doing precisely that, just in case.

Why are Americans applying now?

There are many factors that have contributed to what the report is calling a “higher-than average number of American citizenship by descent applications” in January 2026.

For many Americans like Scott, a serial entrepreneur from Upstate South Carolina, it is about having options during politically volatile times.

Like many others living in America, Scott had always known that his grandmother was a Canadian citizen. But had never thought about what this could mean for him or for his young family.

Then, on December 15, 2025, when Canada removed the first-generation limit on Canadian citizenship, Scott realized he had claim to Canadian citizenship through his grandmother. No language test, citizenship exam, or oath of allegiance required.

Scott himself has no immediate plans to leave the America. "I'd rather stay in South Carolina where it's warm," he says.

However, his increasing concerns with the US’ current political administration in particular “the erosion of civil liberties, due process” – coincided with the timing of the passing of the new bill in Canada.

It was all enough to make him reach out to an immigration lawyer. “A lot of what I see is not the country that I grew up in,” he stated.

Today, millions of American citizens like Scott are discovering that they are eligible to claim dual citizenship with Canada, due to Canadian ancestry they did not think much about or in some cases even know about.

It doesn’t matter if neither they nor their parents were born in the US – eligibility extends back multiple generations, with no limit on how far back the Canadian connection can go.

This is especially relevant in regions such as New England, where mass migration from Quebec to the northeastern US between the years 1840 and 1930, led to a one-in-four chance of a resident being Canadian.

Meanwhile, many, like Scott, have no immediate plans of moving to Canada either. Instead, they are applying to gain that second citizenship and the Canadian passport that is accessible through it.

The law passed in December. The rush is only beginning

Bill C-3 had been on the books for less than three weeks when January began. Many Americans were still learning the law existed. Word was spreading through family group chats, genealogy forums, and casual chatbot searches.

Yet, between December 15 and the end of January, Canada received over 12,000 citizenship by descent applications, with Americans leading the charge by a wide margin.

Notably, American interest in Canadian citizenship was already significant before Bill C-3 was passed. In all of 2025, Canada received 24,500 citizenship by descent applications from U.S. citizens — nearly 30% of the global total.

Many Americans are only now discovering their Canadian ancestry. For some, the discovery is being driven by a growing sense of political alienation at home. With Bill C-3 now in effect, curiosity is turning into action.

And if January's numbers are any indication, this may be just the tip of the iceberg.

You can check your eligibility for Canadian citizenship through CanadaVisa's citizenship by descent calculator.

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