Canada Extends Deadline for Amendments to First-Generation Limit Citizenship Rule

On December 18, 2024, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice announced an extension of the deadline for amending Canada’s first-generation limit (FGL) by an additional three months, setting March 19, 2025, as the new target. The FGL, which poses restrictions on Canadian citizens born abroad from passing citizenship to their children also born outside Canada, has been declared “unconstitutional” by the court. This is the third extension granted, highlighting the need for substantial changes to the Canadian Citizenship Act.

Introduced earlier in the year, Immigration Minister Marc Miller’s Bill C-71, An Act to Amend the Citizenship Act (2024), seeks to expand citizenship by descent beyond the first generation. Should this bill obtain Royal Assent, it will provide Canadian citizenship automatically to individuals born or adopted abroad by Canadian parents also born outside Canada. A key component of this proposed legislation is the “substantial connection requirement,” mandating Canadian parents born abroad to accumulate a minimum of 1,095 days (approximately three years) physically present in Canada before the birth or adoption of their child. Passing this bill would retroactively restore citizenship status to “Lost Canadians,” a term referring to individuals born abroad to Canadian parents who could not claim citizenship due to the current FGL restrictions. The bill would also benefit descendants of these Lost Canadians and subsequent generations born abroad before the new law is enacted. According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s December 19 report, this legislation could potentially add around 115,000 new citizens over the next five years.

In anticipation of these changes, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has rolled out interim measures to offer a discretionary grant of citizenship in specific scenarios. The first applies to applicants who have submitted a proof of citizenship application and requested urgent processing due to the FGL rule change. The second applies to those with a proof of citizenship application already in process, where the application has been impacted by the FGL rule, and applicants have since requested urgent processing.

Canada’s move to further extend the deadline reflects ongoing challenges in addressing the first-generation limit, which has been a contentious issue affecting countless individuals with Canadian lineage outside the country. As the legislative process continues, many are hopeful for fairer paths to citizenship.

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