Born outside Canada with a Canadian grandparent? Applying for a discretionary grant of Canadian citizenship under the current interim measures

If you were born outside Canada and one of your grandparents was Canadian, you may be eligible to apply for a discretionary grant of Canadian citizenship.

Under interim measures introduced by the federal government in March of 2025, if you are affected by Canada’s first-generation limit (FGL) to citizenship by descent, you can submit an online application for proof of citizenship.

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Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will then review your application and confirm whether you are affected, and if so, invite you to apply for your discretionary grant.

IRCC has an online questionnaire you can complete to see if you may be impacted by the FGL.

Learn more about how to construct an application for proof of citizenship, and how to apply for urgent processing if you are eligible.

Why are these measures in place?

Under citizenship by descent, children born to Canadian parents outside Canada can inherit Canadian citizenship at birth.

The FGL, first introduced to the Citizenship Act in 2009, limited citizenship by descent to the first generation, making children born outside Canada to Canadian citizens by descent unable to inherit Canadian citizenship.

In December of 2023, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled the current version of the FGL unconstitutional and instructed the federal government to amend the legislation prior to the end of a grace period.

Despite having received several extensions to the deadline, the federal government never passed its proposed fix to the FGL, and in March 2025, put in place interim measures to support those affected by the FGL while the unconstitutional legislation remains in place.

The latest extension of the grace period runs to November 20, 2025.

The government’s most recent proposed fix, Bill C-3, an act to amend the Citizenship Act, has entered its report stage in the House of Commons, having incorporated several significant amendments by the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration.

If the bill becomes law in its current form, the Citizenship Act will provide an exception to the FGL in cases where the Canadian parent meets a substantial connection to Canada test, defined as having spent at least 1,095 days in Canada during any five-year period prior to the birth or adoption of their child.

The proposed changes would also require citizenship applicants by descent aged 18 years and older to undergo a security check.

To become law, the bill must proceed through three readings in each house of Parliament and receive royal assent.

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Law Firm