New law gives thousands of Bay Staters claim to Canadian passports

A new law has opened the door to the Canadian passport for hundreds of thousands of Bay Staters.

U.S. citizens with family ties to Massachusetts are among those most likely to be able to obtain Canadian passports, now that changes to Canada’s Citizenship Act have eliminated the generational limit for inheriting Canadian citizenship for Americans born prior to December 15, 2025.

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About 10% of today’s residents of Massachusetts are estimated to have Canadian ancestry,* due to the mass migration to New England of 900,000 French-speaking Canadians between 1840 and 1930, based on research by Patrick White and data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Current citizenship rules allow U.S. citizens with even just one Canadian ancestor (no matter how many generations removed) to qualify for U.S.-Canadian dual citizenship. Those who qualify can apply for a proof of Canadian citizenship certificate, and with that in hand, can apply for a Canadian passport.

Given their high levels of Canadian ancestry, residents of Massachusetts are positioned at the forefront of today's gold rush for Canadian citizenship certificates, as thousands of U.S. citizens across the country are submitting applications.

The lion’s share of these U.S.-Canadian dual citizens by descent have no immediate plans to move to Canada. Many are well-off, retired professionals, whose families have lived in the United States for four or more generations. They simply want the passport as a backup plan.

Getting proof of Canadian citizenship and a Canadian passport

For most Americans with Canadian ancestry, applying for proof of Canadian citizenship simply requires submitting a paper application to Canada’s citizenship department, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

Proof of citizenship applications must enclose copies of official documents, vital records such as birth certificates or marriage licenses, and baptismal records, proving their continuous line of descent from at least one Canadian ancestor.

Eligible applicants are not applying for Canadian citizenship; they already have it.

They’re applying to obtain an official certificate from the Canadian citizenship department proving that they are, in fact, U.S.-Canadian dual citizens under Canadian law, based on their ancestry.

Having obtained their proof of Canadian citizenship certificates, they can then apply for Canadian passports.

Eligible Americans can handle their applications themselves, or they can hire representatives legally authorized by the Canadian government—Canadian immigration lawyers or licensed Canadian immigration consultants—to handle the application on their behalf.

For many, the greatest hurdle to obtaining proof of Canadian citizenship isn’t the application itself, but rather getting copies of the required official documents proving their ancestry.

Because the bulk of French-speaking Canadian immigrants to New England came from the province of Quebec, many Americans will need to request documents from Quebec’s registry for vital records, the Directeur de l'état civil (DEC), which will refuse any request not meeting its exacting standards for justifying interest.

Even if successful in requesting vital records, US-Canadian citizens by descent may face significant bottlenecks while awaiting processing. There’s been a 3000% increase in requests received by Quebec’s national archives, the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ), the only source from which prospective applicants can get copies of Quebec records over 100 years old, which are often required for U.S.-Canadian citizens by descent of four or more generations.

Get a Free Consultation on Applying for Proof of Canadian Citizenship

Americans may wish to consider hiring Quebec-based licensed representatives to jump the line to acquire these documents, as the BAnQ prioritizes requests made by Quebec-based residents, according to statements made by BAnQ archivist Sarah Hanahem, as reported by CBC News, Canada’s flagship government-funded independent newspaper.

There is no way to jump the line for proof of citizenship certificates, however, for which the current processing time stands at 10 months, up from 5 months as of July 2025.

While professional representatives can assist in ensuring the accuracy and completeness of proof of citizenship applications, and thereby reduce the risk of refusal, they have no special power to accelerate the Canadian citizenship department’s processing of submitted applications.

Once a U.S.-Canadian dual citizen has received their proof of Canadian citizenship certificate, getting a Canadian passport is much faster.

As of the time of writing, the processing time for Canadian passports is 10–20 days, and the Canadian government provides a 30-day money-back guarantee on processing time.

Those with dual US and Canadian citizenship are afforded the full rights and privileges of citizenship in both nations.

U.S.-Canadian dual citizens have the right to enter and reside in Canada, to work without restriction, the right to vote, and, if they establish residency in Canada, the same access to healthcare and government social services as citizens born in Canada.

Americans gain no additional tax obligations

U.S.- Canadian dual citizens do not become subject to any additional tax obligations by obtaining their proof of Canadian citizenship or Canadian passport.

Unlike the United States, Canada does not apply a worldwide tax on its citizens.

Canadian citizens and passport holders, including those with dual U.S.–Canadian citizenship, only become subject to Canadian income tax if they actually establish residency in Canada, or establish financial ties to Canada, for example through ownership of Canadian real estate, corporations, or other assets domiciled within Canada.

Unlike the United States, Canada does not impose any gift tax or estate tax.

Get a Free Consultation on Applying for Proof of Canadian Citizenship

* In his 2020 presentation to the Rhode Island Historical Society, Patrick White estimated 20% French-Canadian ancestry for New England as a whole. In Vermont, genealogist Ed McGuire estimates it to be 30%. We’ve arrived at a 10% estimate for Massachusetts through adjusting these two figures downward relative to the proportion of self-reported Canadian ancestry among residents of each state according to the U.S. Census Bureau 2024 5-year estimates, which provide the figure of 3.4% for Massachusetts, versus 7% for Maine, 7.59% for Vermont, 8.06% for New Hampshire, 4.05% for Rhode Island, and 2.5% for Connecticut.