As Canada works to solve its immigration issues, the Mark Carney-led government have introduced a new bill which will bring in a limit on citizenship provided by descent. The citizenship amendment – C-3 – announced on Thursday, will effectively restore citizenship to lost Canadians. Canada's new citizenship bill aims to expand the criteria for descent-based citizenship.
(Pixabay/Representational) Introduced by Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab, the C-3 will be focus on fixing "injustices" against Canadian-born citizens outside of Canada. What injustices will the new citizenship bill fix? As per the Canadian government, ill C-3 will – Establish a new framework for citizenship by descent to allow access to citizenship beyond the first generation, "based on a Canadian parent’s substantial connection to Canada demonstrated by at least 1,095 cumulative days of physical presence" before their child's birth.
Automatically give citizenship to any person "who would be a citizen today were it not for the first-generation limit or certain outdated provisions of previous citizenship legislation." The current rules state that if a Canadian citizen was born outside of Canada, they will not be pass on their citizenship to their child born abroad. Furthermore, this rule, introduced in 2009, restricted citizenship via descent only to first generation born Canadians.
"The current first-generation limit to citizenship no longer reflects how Canadian families live today—here at home and around the world—and the values that define our country," said Immigration minister Diab while introducing the new C-3 bill. This amendment to the citizenship bill also comes after the Ontario Superior Court of Justice deemed the existing version of the rule "unconstitutional" in December 2023. How will this bill impact Indians?
This bill is expected to benefit the Indian diaspora and other immigrants in Canada as the C-3 bill will "allow a Canadian parent born abroad who has a substantial connection to Canada to pass on citizenship to their child born abroad beyond the first generation." "It would also provide them with access to the direct grant of citizenship for their child adopted abroad beyond the first generation," IRCC added further. Which means, a persons born in India to Canadian citizens or ancestors will now be eligible for Canadian citizenship based on the C-3 bill.
This bill also comes at a time when US President Donald Trump has ended birthright citizenship, impacting several immigrants in the United States. The C-3 bill is currently under legislative review and needed to be passed by both houses of Parliament to become a law. "If the bill passes both Houses of Parliament and receives Royal Assent, we will work as quickly as possible to bring the changes into effect," said IRCC in its official statement.
In the Canadian parliament, a bill must pass three readings before the two Houses cast their vote. After the houses cast their votes, the bill is then passed to the Governor General for Royal Assent.
