Americans set a record for Irish citizenship in 2025. Demand for Canadian citizenship could be next, and far greater

American demand for second citizenships is surging, and Canada is at the center of it.

Last year, U.S. citizens' applications for Irish citizenship based on ancestry jumped 63%, a record. Even so, only a small proportion of Americans qualify under Irish law.

In contrast, Canada’s change to its citizenship law in December 2025 made millions of Americans eligible, and this year, they've been applying for proof of Canadian citizenship in droves.

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What changed in 2025?

According to data shared by Ireland’s Foreign Birth Register – a citizenship route for those with Irish parents or grandparents – the number of applications from U.S. citizens skyrocketed in 2025.

It went from 11,601 in 2024 to 18,910 in 2025 – the highest figure since digital records began in 2013.

There are many reasons behind the surge, from an increasingly divided political climate in the US to rise in cost of living, to the ease of global mobility and remote work. As a matter of fact, in 2025, for the first time, the number of Americans moving to Ireland exceeded the number of Irish nationals moving to the U.S.

While Americans were scrambling for “plan B passports” from Ireland, Canada changed its citizenship laws. In December 2025, Canada passed Bill C-3, removing the first-generation limit on inheriting Canadian citizenship. Now, anyone born before December 15, 2025 who can trace their lineage to a Canadian ancestor, no matter how many generations back, can legally claim Canadian citizenship by descent.

Overnight, millions of Americans became U.S.-Canadian dual citizens under Canadian law, as many are today's descendants of the estimated 900,000 French Canadians who settled in the northeastern U.S. between 1840 and 1930.

In contrast, citizenship by descent in Ireland is mostly limited to having a parent or grandparent born in Ireland; those who have a great-grandparent (or other generations further along) do not generally qualify.

With far more Americans eligible for Canadian citizenship, it’s no wonder that Google Trends data shows American searches for "Canadian citizenship by descent" averaged more than three times the interest of searches for “Irish citizenship by descent” between January and late April 2026.

Applying for Canadian citizenship

For many Americans eyeing an eventual move, Canada’s change in citizenship law removes the immigration queue entirely.

Those who are unsure whether they have family ties can start by looking through their family tree, speaking to relatives, and looking for family records.

To apply for a proof of Canadian citizenship certificate, an American needs documentation proving their ancestry. This could be through documents such as birth or death records, marriage or baptismal records.

For many Americans, finding this documentation proves to be the biggest roadblock. Many are also hiring professional representatives based in Canada, since some Canadian archives, such as the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, prioritize requests from local requestors over those made by Americans.

After a U.S.-Canadian dual citizen has their documentation ready, they can submit a paper application to Canada’s citizenship department. As of time of writing, the processing time is 10 months.

Once they receive their certificate, they have all the benefits that come with being a Canadian citizen. They have the right to enter Canada at will, to live and work anywhere in Canada, purchase residential real estate, and even access the country's publicly funded healthcare system if they take up residence.

They can also apply for a Canadian passport, which currently outranks the U.S. passport, offering visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 182 countries.

Few Americans have the needed ancestry to obtain Irish passports. Millions have the ancestry needed to obtain Canada's.

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