Last Updated On 23 January 2024, 9:40 AM EST (Toronto Time)
The Canadian government won’t appeal a court ruling that found a portion of Canada’s Citizenship Act to be unconstitutional.
The federal government’s “second-generation cut-off” law, which denies automatic citizenship to children born overseas if their Canadian parents were also born abroad, was deemed to be a violation of Charter rights last month by an Ontario Superior Court judge.
The current version of this law has unacceptably negative effects on Canadians whose children were born abroad. We will not appeal the decision because of this, Immigration Minister Marc Miller released an official statement.
He said that there’s little doubt that those who could be affected by this will be curious about what it means for them and their families.
Marc further added that for this reason, they will keep evaluating how the decision will affect the laws already in place, and will give more information and confirm the next steps as soon as they can.
Attorney Sujit Choudhry stated federal government authorities told him last week there would be no appeal in an interview with CBC News on Sunday before the government’s decision was made public.
Ottawa had 30 days to file an appeal of the decision. Thursday was the last day of that deadline.
“My clients feel comforted. It’s been a protracted and difficult battle, “Chaudhry, who is defending families impacted by the law, said.
In December 2021, Choudhry launched a constitutional lawsuit against the federal government, claiming that his clients were not allowed to pass on their citizenship to their children born abroad.
For a long time, opponents of the law have claimed that it separates Canadians into two levels based on whether or not they were born outside of the country.
Justice Jasmine Akbarali of the Ontario Superior Court concurred in her December decision, stating that Canadians who were born outside of the country had “a lesser class of citizenship because, unlike Canadian-born citizens, they are unable to pass on Canadian citizenship by descent to their children born abroad.”
Up to 200,000 “lost Canadians”—people who are not regarded as citizens due to ambiguities or differing interpretations of citizenship law—view the decision as a victory.
In 2009, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government implemented the second-generation cut-off as part of a campaign against Canadian nationals who permanently reside outside of the nation.
The action was a reaction to the $85 million evacuation of 15,000 Canadian-Lebanese citizens who were left stranded in Beirut during the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Minister of Immigration Marc Miller’s Official Statement
“The Citizenship Act currently includes a ‘first generation limit’ to citizenship by descent, which means that children born abroad to Canadian citizens beyond the first generation generally do not acquire Canadian citizenship automatically at birth. On December 19, 2023, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice declared that the first generation limit for those born abroad is unconstitutional.
“This law, as it currently stands, has had unacceptable consequences for Canadians whose children were born outside the country. For this reason, we will not appeal the ruling.
“People who may be impacted by this situation will no doubt have questions about what this means for them and their families. That is why we will continue to assess the impacts of the decision on existing legislation and will provide more information and confirm next steps as quickly as possible.
“Canadian citizenship is highly valued around the world and, as Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, I’m committed to making the citizenship process as fair and transparent as possible.”
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