As droves of Americans apply for proof of Canadian citizenship, processing times have doubled

Four months ago, millions of Americans became Canadian citizens. Today, those applying for their proof of citizenship certificates are waiting twice as long as they would have a year ago.

The reason isn't bureaucratic slowdown or staffing cuts. It's a law that passed in December 2025, and the millions of U.S. citizens who suddenly realized it might apply to them.

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Today, eligible U.S.-Canadian dual citizens are rushing to submit their applications to get in line. Because, as Canada has seen in the past, processing times can quadruple within months.

What changed, and why so many Americans qualify

Last December, Canada eliminated the generation limit to inheriting Canadian citizenship.

Now, anyone born prior to December 15, 2025, who can trace an unbroken line of descent to a Canadian ancestor — a grandparent, a great-grandparent, some-number-of-greats-grandparent — is now a Canadian citizen and can apply for proof of Canadian citizenship.

The reason so many U.S. citizens are eligible goes back to a great migration that took place over a hundred years ago.

Between 1840 and 1930, roughly 900,000 Canadians, predominantly from Quebec, left Canada for the mill towns and factory floors of New England and the industrial Midwest. This mass departure, known as the great hemorrhage, reshaped communities on both sides of the border.

The French-Canadian legacy of this migration to the Northeastern United States has been revived by Canada's new citizenship law: roughly one in four New England residents may qualify. Take this, plus generations of migration to the rest of the country, and the total number of eligible U.S. citizens runs into the millions.

And more are taking notice. According to recent data, January 2026 saw “higher than average” number of U.S. citizens apply for Canadian citizenship by descent. Many have no immediate plans to move, nor are they desperate. Instead, they are seizing an additional opportunity.

They know that dual U.S.-Canadian citizenship is all upside, no downside. Both governments officially recognize it: holding Canadian citizenship creates no new tax obligations and does not affect their U.S. status in any way. What it does add is the unconditional right to live and work in Canada along with a Canadian passport that currently outranks the U.S. passport on the Henley Passport Index.

A retired technology CIO planning travel to Montreal. A California winemaker eyeing Montreal real estate and Commonwealth access to Australia and New Zealand. A North Carolina retiree whose daughter wants to live in Toronto. For many such families, a door has opened.

Why processing times are growing

In Canada, the federal government's processing time for proof of Canadian citizenship certificates is forward-looking. That means it's calculated based on how many applications are already in the queue, how many staff are processing them, and how many new applications the department expects to receive. The figure is updated monthly, and can rise quickly.

Take the example of the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP), a pathway for skilled workers, which also has a forward-looking processing time. At the start of 2025, AIP processing times sat at around nine months. By October 2025, they had jumped to 37 months.

The processing time for a Canadian citizenship certificate has followed a more gradual, but now accelerating, path. In July 2024, it was three months. By July 2025, five months. Today, ten.

At ten months, the current wait is still reasonable for a status that carries no expiry date. But if the AIP's trajectory tells us anything, it's that the current figure is not a ceiling. There is no gate limiting how many proof of citizenship applications can be submitted. With millions potentially eligible, a surge in application inventory could send processing times down the same road the AIP travelled: from months to years.

For those with a grandparent or great-grandparent born in Canada, the difference between applying now, and waiting could mean the difference between a new citizenship certificate... and years stuck in processing limbo.

To check whether you may be eligible for Canadian citizenship by descent, visit CanadaVisa's citizenship by descent calculator.

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