In a significant shift to its citizenship framework, Canada has amended its Citizenship Act to allow Canadian citizens to pass their nationality to children even if those children are born or adopted outside the country, provided certain conditions are met, officials said. The new law, known as Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025), came into effect on December 15, 2025, after receiving royal assent and replacing outdated provisions that had restricted citizenship transmission to only the first generation of Canadians born abroad.
Under the previous rules, a child born outside Canada could automatically claim Canadian citizenship by descent only if their Canadian parent was either born in Canada or naturalized before the child’s birth. This so-called “first-generation limit,” first introduced in 2009, prevented foreign-born Canadian citizens from passing citizenship to their children born outside Canada if the parent had themselves been born abroad. This legislative restriction left many families in limbo and created a group of would-be nationals frequently referred to as “Lost Canadians.”
The updated law removes that first-generation restriction while introducing a “substantial connection” requirement to ensure citizenship by descent reflects meaningful ties to Canada. Going forward, Canadian parents — whether born in Canada or abroad — can pass citizenship to children born or adopted overseas if they demonstrate that they have spent at least 1,095 days, or three cumulative years, physically in Canada prior to the child’s birth or adoption. Time spent in Canada as part of education, work, or residency counts toward this three-year threshold.
According to the official announcement from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the change aims to align citizenship policy with contemporary family structures and the realities of global mobility while reinforcing the principle that citizenship should be coupled with a demonstrated connection to the country. The government emphasized that Canadians today often live, study, work, or start families abroad due to personal or professional commitments, and the law needed to reflect these lived experiences.
The reform also addresses inequalities inherent in the old system by allowing people born before December 15, 2025, who would have automatically been Canadian citizens but for the first-generation limit or other obsolete rules, to apply for proof of citizenship. This retroactive aspect is intended to restore rights to those historically excluded. Individuals who were barred under the earlier provisions can now seek citizenship certificates confirming their status.
In practical terms, this means thousands of families around the world stand to benefit from clearer, more inclusive citizenship pathways. Canadian parents living overseas — including expatriates, professionals on international assignments, and long-term migrants — can secure citizenship for their children without navigating complex immigration routes that were previously necessary. The law also modernizes the approach to adopted children born abroad, treating them the same as biological children in terms of eligibility for citizenship through a Canadian parent.
The government’s step has been welcomed by advocates who had long criticized the earlier generational limits as unfair and out of touch with the realities of a globally mobile population. While the three-year presence requirement ensures that parents maintain substantial links to Canada, the overall reform has been lauded for broadening opportunities for families to maintain legal and emotional ties to the country.
The implementation of Bill C-3 represents one of the most significant changes to Canadian citizenship law in recent years, reflecting Ottawa’s efforts to modernize immigration and nationality policy in a manner that balances inclusivity with meaningful connection to the nation.
