Canada to amend citizenship law; likely to benefit Indian-origin families

Canada has advanced toward modernising its citizenship-by-descent rules as Bill C-3 receives royal assent. The reform will restore or grant citizenship to those excluded by the first-generation limit, significantly helping Indian-origin families and ensuring fairer rules for future generations born abroad

Ottawa: Canada has moved closer toward modernising citizenship-by-descent law, after a bill to amend the act received royal assent, in a move that is likely to affect thousands of Indian-origin families.

Bill C-3, an Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025), has received royal assent. This represents an important milestone in making the Citizenship Act more inclusive, while maintaining the value of Canadian citizenship, said a news release issued by the Canadian government on Friday.

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“Once the new law comes into force, Canadian citizenship will be provided to people born before the bill comes into force, who would have been citizens if not for the first-generation limit or other outdated rules of past legislation”, the news release said.

The first-generation limit to Canadian citizenship by descent was introduced in 2009. It means that a child born or adopted outside Canada is not a Canadian citizen by descent if their Canadian parent was also born or adopted outside Canada.

This limit caused problems for many Indian-origin Canadians whose children were born out of the country, people who know the matter say.

The new law will also allow a Canadian parent born or adopted abroad to pass citizenship on to their child born or adopted outside Canada on or after the date the bill comes into force, provided they have a substantial connection to Canada, the release said.

“Bill C-3 will fix long-standing issues in our citizenship laws and bring fairness to families with children born or adopted abroad. It will provide citizenship to people who were excluded by previous laws, and it will set clear rules for the future that reflect how modern families live. These changes will strengthen and protect Canadian citizenship,” Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Lena Metlege Diab said.

On December 19, 2023, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice declared that key parts of the Citizenship Act relating to the first-generation limit to citizenship by descent were unconstitutional.

The Government of Canada did not appeal the ruling, as it agreed the law had unacceptable outcomes for children of Canadians who were born outside the country.

“By updating the Citizenship Act to reflect the global mobility of modern Canadian families, the federal government has made access to citizenship more fair and reasonable,” said Don Chapman, Founder of the Lost Canadians.

The bill will come into force on a date set by order in council, which will be communicated publicly. Until then, the interim measure remains in place for people impacted by the first generation limit, the release said.