An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025)
Bill Type: House Government
Bill Sponsor: Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
What is this Bill For?
Bill C-3 rewrites the rules for who qualifies as a Canadian citizen by birth, descent and adoption. It restores citizenship to people who lost it under old rules, extends citizenship to more Canadians born or adopted abroad and introduces a "substantial connection to Canada" test for second-generation births outside Canada.
Status: Royal Assent — November 20, 2025. This Bill is now law. It comes into force by Cabinet order — no date has been set.
How would YOU vote? Scroll down to vote and comment below.
WHO GAINS POWER
- The Governor in Council gains authority to set the date this Act comes into force — meaning the entire citizenship expansion sits on hold until Government decides to activate it, with no deadline required
- Government gains a new gatekeeping tool — the "substantial connection to Canada" test — that determines whether a Canadian citizen living abroad can pass citizenship to their child. The definition of "substantial connection" is not set in the statute; it is left to regulation
- Immigration officials gain expanded record-keeping and reporting obligations for a new category of citizens — those who become citizens as a result of this Act coming into force — tracked separately under the reporting framework
WHO LOSES POWER
- Canadians living abroad lose automatic citizenship transmission to their children after the first generation. A Canadian citizen born outside Canada must now prove a "substantial connection to Canada" — at least 1,095 days of physical presence before their child's birth — or their child does not qualify for citizenship by descent
- Adopted children of Canadians living abroad face the same restriction. If the adoptive parent was born outside Canada and cannot meet the 1,095-day presence requirement, the adoption does not confer citizenship
- People who lost citizenship under the old section 8 retention rules regain citizenship under this Act — but only once Government sets the coming-into-force date
WHO GAINS MONEY
- Immigration lawyers and consultants gain new business as Canadians abroad navigate the "substantial connection" test, presence calculations and the simplified renunciation process
- Government gains a larger citizen registry — and the administrative budget that comes with managing it — as thousands of previously excluded Canadians are added to the citizenship rolls
WHO LOSES MONEY
- Canadians living abroad who cannot meet the 1,095-day presence requirement face the cost of either returning to Canada long enough to qualify or losing the ability to pass citizenship to their children
- Newly restored citizens who want to renounce the citizenship this Act automatically gives them must go through a formal renunciation process — with associated fees and paperwork — even though they never applied for citizenship in the first place
THE CATCH
Bill C-3 expands Canadian citizenship to thousands of people previously excluded — but the most consequential parts of the Bill are not in the expansion. They are in what the Bill leaves undefined and who controls when it takes effect.
The 1,095-day presence requirement determines whether a Canadian living abroad can pass citizenship to their child. The Bill does not define:
- What counts as physical presence — travel, work, study, military service
- How presence is calculated or verified
- What happens if records do not exist for the required period
- Whether exceptions apply for Canadians serving abroad in Government or military roles
All of that is left to regulation — written after the Bill passes, without a Parliamentary vote. This Bill has already passed.
The Accountability Gaps:
- No coming-into-force deadline — the entire citizenship expansion sits on hold until Government sets a date; the Act can remain dormant indefinitely with no Parliamentary check
- No statutory review date — Parliament has no built-in mechanism to assess whether the presence test is working or being applied fairly
- No advance notice for restored citizens — Canadians automatically restored to citizenship have no notification mechanism built into the statute
- Presence determinations are administrative decisions subject only to standard Judicial Review — not an independent appeals Tribunal
⚠️ Definition by Regulation — The "substantial connection to Canada" test is the central eligibility requirement for second-generation citizenship abroad. Its definition is not in the statute. It will be written by regulation after the Bill passes, without a Parliamentary vote.
⚠️ Cabinet Controls the Switch — The entire citizenship expansion comes into force only when Government issues an order. No deadline is required. Parliament cannot compel activation.
⚠️ No Statutory Review — No independent review date is built into the Bill. Once passed, the presence test and its regulatory definition operate without a mandatory Parliamentary reassessment.
⚠️ Silent Restoration — Canadians automatically restored to citizenship under this Act have no advance notice mechanism built into the statute. Restoration happens by operation of Law — with no requirement that affected individuals be informed.
[Source: Bill C-3 — An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025), Royal Assent November 20, 2025, Statutes of Canada 2025, c. 5]