The cast of “Friends” has become more Canadian; if you’re American, you might have too

Following a change in Canada’s citizenship law, Matt LeBlanc has become as Canadian as his Friends co-star Matthew Perry, along with millions of Americans across the country.

Under the new law, which removed the generational limit to inheriting Canadian citizenship, LeBlanc, who starred as Joey Tribbiani in Friends its spin-off Joey, is now recognized as a U.S.-Canadian dual citizen.

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LeBlanc thus joins Matthew Perry, who played Chandler Bing, who was a U.S.-Canadian dual citizen prior to the citizenship law change, having childhood roots in the Canadian province of Ontario.

LeBlanc, who was born in Massachusetts, now holds Canadian citizenship by descent through his father, Paul LeBlanc, who has French-Canadian heritage. Paul’s roots from the Canadian province of New Brunswick are Acadian—the same cultural heritage, in fact, as Louisiana’s “Cajuns,” the ancestors of whom had migrated from the region of present-day New Brunswick to the region of present-day New Orleans before the Louisiana Purchase.

LeBlanc’s paternal grandmother, Genevieve Melanson, was born in New Brunswick.

Matt LeBlanc, whose Canadian ancestral surname is French for “white,” is, according to his IMDb profile, fluent in French, in sharp contrast to Joey, who cannot string together a single French sentence.

But Canada’s new citizenship law is blind to a person’s cultural heritage. The law looks only at ancestry.

Bill C-3, which came into effect on December 15, 2025, removed the "first-generation limit" to citizenship by descent for everyone born before that date.

Today, millions of Americans are now just as Canadian as Matthew Perry and Matt LeBlanc, including many U.S. citizens whose families have lived entirely in the U.S. for four or more generations.

Any American old enough to be reading this as of the time of writing can apply for proof of Canadian citizenship, and obtain a Canadian passport, provided they can trace their lineage back to at least one Canadian ancestor.

Do you have a claim to a U.S.-Canadian dual citizenship?

Millions of Americans across the country have the Canadian ancestry needed to be eligible.

You’ve got higher odds of qualifying if your family tree contains French surnames, and/or if you’ve got ancestral ties to New England.

To find out if you qualify, the first step is to map your genealogy, based on conversations with family members and your own research.

Once you have identified a Canadian ancestor in your family tree – it doesn’t matter how many generations ago – the next step would be to collect proof in the form of documentation. Some examples of documents that are accepted in a proof of Canadian citizenship application are birth certificates, baptismal records, and marriage records.

If you're one of the many Americans whose ancestry stretches back to the French-Canadian province of Quebec, then to support your application you may need to request official copies of documents from Quebec’s registry for vital records, the Directeur de l'état civil (DEC), which requires a satisfactory justification of interest before it will process such requests.

You might also need documents from Quebec’s national archives, the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ), which keeps records older than 100 years, and which has seen demand for certified copies surge significantly since the new law came into force.

Some Americans are hiring professional representatives, such as immigration lawyers, who must be authorized under Canadian law, both to reduce the risk of errors in their applications, and to accelerate the requests for supporting documents, as archives such as the BAnQ prioritize requests from local residents.

Once you have your documentation in order, you can apply to Canada's citizenship department, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)m for a proof of Canadian citizenship certificate. As of the time of writing, the processing time has recently doubled to 10 months.

After receiving your proof of Canadian citizenship certificate, you may apply for a Canadian passport, which currently outranks the U.S. passport on the Henley Passport Index.

Since both countries recognize dual citizenship, U.S.-Canadian dual citizens enjoy the full rights and privileges of both citizenships. Americans who are Canadian citizens by descent have the unconditional right to live and work anywhere in Canada, and even have the same access to publicly funded healthcare as native-born Canadians if they take up residence.

Obtaining proof of Canadian citizenship and a Canadian passport as an American does not result in any additional tax obligations. Unlike the U.S., Canada does not apply a worldwide tax on its citizens.

For Americans with Canadian ancestry, dual citizenship offers all upsides, and no downsides.

Like Chandler Bing himself might have put it: Could this BE any more Canadian?

To check whether you may be eligible for Canadian citizenship by descent, visit CanadaVisa's citizenship by descent calculator. For help with your proof of citizenship application, contact Cohen Immigration Law.

Get a Free Consultation on Applying for Proof of Canadian Citizenship