Did your Canadian-born ancestor become American? The government’s own training example says you may have a claim to Canadian citizenship by descent
If your grandparent was born in Canada and later became an American, you may be a Canadian citizen by descent. You may have been one since the day you were born.
Canada’s immigration department used a family like yours to train its own officers on these cases. In December 2025, according to internal IRCC training materials released through an access to information request, officers studied the case of “Clifford.” He’s a hypothetical American, born in 1998.
Under Canada’s new citizenship law, Clifford is Canadian. His citizenship counts from his date of birth.
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Clifford’s family at a glance
IRCC’s example runs across three generations.
| Generation | Born | Status before December 15, 2025 | Status today |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grandparent | Canada, 1938 | Moved to the U.S. and lost Canadian citizenship on becoming American; restored in 2009 | Canadian |
| Parent | Outside Canada | Canadian, as the first generation born abroad | Canadian |
| Clifford | United States, 1998 | Not a citizen, because of the first-generation limit | Canadian |
What is the first-generation limit?
From 2009 until December 2025, Canadian citizenship could pass down to only one generation born outside Canada.
Clifford’s parent was the first generation born outside Canada, so the parent counted. Clifford was the second, so he didn’t. Bill C-3 removed the limit for everyone born before December 15, 2025.
How four laws shaped Clifford’s family
Four laws over 78 years shaped Clifford’s family. A fifth, in 2015, covered people who lost their status before 1947.
| Year | What changed | What it meant for families like Clifford’s |
|---|---|---|
| 1947 | Canada’s first citizenship law took effect. It didn’t allow dual citizenship. | Canadians who took another country’s citizenship lost their Canadian citizenship in most cases. |
| 1977 | A new Citizenship Act allowed dual citizenship from February 15, 1977. | Canadians who became Americans from that date on kept their citizenship. Parliament didn’t reverse earlier losses. |
| 2009 and 2015 | Two laws restored most “Lost Canadians” and their children born abroad: 2009 for losses from 1947 on, and 2015 for those who lost their status before 1947. The 2009 law also limited citizenship by descent to one generation born abroad. | The grandparent and parent became Canadian. Grandchildren like Clifford didn’t. |
| 2025 | Bill C-3 removed that limit for anyone born before December 15, 2025. | Clifford became Canadian, back to his date of birth. |
IRCC’s public instruction guide for proof of citizenship applications confirms the rule. It says any person born outside Canada to a Canadian parent before December 15, 2025, “is automatically a Canadian citizen.” That includes people born “to a person who became a citizen as a result of amendments to the Citizenship Act in 2009, 2015 or 2025.”
“Lost Canadians” is the name for people who lost, or never got, Canadian citizenship under old rules that have since been fixed. Clifford’s grandparent was one. Clifford is a descendant of one.
Does this match your family?
These clues point to Clifford’s pattern:
- A grandparent or earlier ancestor was born in Canada
- That ancestor later became a citizen of the U.S. or another country
- Your parent was born outside Canada
- You were born before December 15, 2025
A few details trip people up.
Becoming American isn’t the same as renouncing. The restorations didn’t cover people who renounced their citizenship with the Canadian government, or lost it through fraud. Taking U.S. citizenship doesn’t count as renouncing.
Timing doesn’t break the chain. Clifford’s grandparent regained citizenship in 2009, decades after Clifford’s parent was born. That still counts. IRCC says you may be a citizen if your parent “became a citizen because of these changes (even after your birth).”
A birth year before 1947 doesn’t rule out a claim on its own. Clifford’s grandparent was born in 1938, and IRCC still treats Clifford as Canadian.
Which route applies depends on a date. Parliament restored Lost Canadians in two rounds: 2009 for losses from 1947 on, and 2015 for those who lost their status before 1947. You may not know which law applies to your family, but you may know when your ancestor became American.
| Your Canadian ancestor became a U.S. citizen | Route |
|---|---|
| Before January 1, 1947 | 2015 restoration |
| January 1, 1947 to February 14, 1977 | 2009 restoration (Clifford’s pattern) |
| February 15, 1977 or later | They may never have lost Canadian citizenship |
If your grandparent became American on or after February 15, 1977, they may never have lost Canadian citizenship at all. Your parent may have been Canadian at birth, and you may be too.
Your claim may also run through an older ancestor. If you have more than one Canadian ancestor, the closest one isn’t always the best choice.
Proving a claim takes time. As of September 2026, IRCC’s posted processing time for proof of citizenship was 33 months, with about 136,000 people in the queue. Processing times are subject to change, so check IRCC’s processing times page for the latest estimate. Some applicants qualify for urgent processing.
The records that prove it
You don’t apply to become Canadian. If Clifford’s pattern fits, you already are. What you apply for is a citizenship certificate, the document that proves it.
That application has to connect each generation with official records. For a family like Clifford’s, that means:
- Your grandparent’s Canadian birth record, issued by the province where they were born
- Proof of when your grandparent became a U.S. citizen, such as a naturalization certificate. American records can play a role
- Birth certificates for each generation, each naming the parent in the line
- Any Canadian certificate on file. IRCC offers a search of citizenship records to check what it holds.
IRCC ranks documents into primary and secondary tiers. Older records can be hard to find. A letter of explanation can account for gaps, and so can a no-record letter from the office that should have held them.
One Clifford can mean several
Your siblings share your parent and grandparent, so they may qualify too. So may your cousins on that side, and anyone else descended from the same Canadian grandparent. Once one relative tracks down the grandparent’s records, the rest of the family can use copies of the same documents in their own applications. Families can apply separately or together, and each option carries trade-offs.
Your own children may qualify as well. Your children born abroad before December 15, 2025, can claim through you. For children born on or after that date, a different rule applies: you’d need to have spent at least 1,095 days in Canada before their birth. Here’s how IRCC counts those days.
A familiar family tree
Clifford doesn’t exist. IRCC invented him to teach its officers how the new law works.
But his family tree is a common one in the United States. A grandparent moved south and took U.S. citizenship. Parliament restored that grandparent’s status in 2009, and Bill C-3 extended it to the grandchildren in 2025.
Check whether your family fits. Use CanadaVisa’s citizenship by descent eligibility checker.
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- Do you need Canadian immigration assistance? Contact the Contact Cohen Immigration Law firm by completing our form
- Send us your feedback or your non-legal assistance questions by emailing us at media@canadavisa.com
