(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5)
You need to be a registered member to rate this.
Loading...Last Updated On 23 May 2024, 12:14 PM EDT (Toronto Time)
Today, Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced that they are introducing new Canadian citizenship by descent legislation, called Bill c-71.
This bill would expand citizenship by descent beyond the first generation in an inclusive manner that preserves the value of Canadian citizenship.
This bill would immediately provide Canadian citizenship to those born abroad to a Canadian parent who was also born abroad before the Act went into effect.
It would also expand access to a direct grant of citizenship to children born overseas and adopted by Canadian parents beyond the first generation.
Following the legislation’s implementation, parents born abroad who have or adopt children born outside of Canada must have spent at least 1,095 cumulative days of physical presence in Canada prior to their child’s birth or adoption in order to pass down citizenship.
Bill C-71, An Act to Amend the Citizenship Act (2024), would also reinstate citizenship for “Lost Canadians”—people who lost or never obtained citizenship due to antiquated provisions in previous citizenship laws.
Before the Act takes effect, Bill C-71 would also grant citizenship to the descendants of “lost Canadians” and anyone born overseas to a Canadian parent in the second or following generations.
The proposed changes in Bill C-71, An Act to Amend the Citizenship Act (2024), may raise questions for individuals and their families.
Once Parliament passes the law and it receives royal assent, we will promptly implement these changes and provide eligible individuals with more information on our website.
Expected good news for ‘Lost Canadians’
Because of the “first generation limit” in the Citizenship Act, children born abroad to Canadian citizens who are not born in Canada often do not automatically get Canadian citizenship.
However, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled on December 19, 2023, that the first generation restriction for people born abroad is unconstitutional.
Minister of Immigration Marc Miller announced in January 2024 that they will not be appealing the court decision declaring a section of Canada’s Citizenship Act to be unconstitutional.
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted the government until June 19, 2024 to amend the Citizenship Act after ruling that the act unconstitutionally establishes two classes of Canadians.
Canada’s leading news publisher, The Globe and Mail, reported on Saturday that the government had written a new law in response to the court ruling because of dissatisfaction with the slow progress made on Law S-245, which aims to do the same things.
Who are ‘lost Canadians’?
People who get caught up in convoluted provisions of the Citizenship Act because of where and when they were born are known as “lost Canadians”.
The first generation born overseas is not allowed to automatically give their children citizenship if they are also born outside of Canada under the first-generation cut-off regulation.
The Conservative government of the time established it in 2009 in response to criticism over “Canadians of convenience,” which had resulted from a $85 million evacuation of 15,000 Lebanese Canadians who were stuck in Beirut during an Israeli conflict.
According to the regulation, demonstrating a strong link to Canada does not qualify one for citizenship.
Parents of second generation children must sponsor them to enter Canada as permanent residents, and then they can apply for citizenship just like any other immigrant.
Long criticized, it is alleged to have established two categories of Canadian citizenship: one for Canadians born in Canada and another for those born overseas.
Previous Bill S-245 For Canadian Citizenship
Several provisions of Bill S-245, as revised by CIMM, fully address the objective of providing citizenship by descent to people who may have lost it because of the need to petition for citizenship retention before turning 28.
It also seeks to provide relief to the second generation born overseas if they have strong ties to Canada.
Honourable Yonah Martin tabled Bill S-245, An Act to modify the Citizenship Act (giving citizenship to certain Canadians), in the Senate on May 12, 2022. The Senate approved the measure unaltered on May 17, 2022.
As enacted by the Senate, Bill S-245 gave citizenship to a group known as Lost Canadians, or those born overseas to Canadian parents between February 15, 1977, and April 16, 1981.
These people would have been Canadian citizens by birth, but they might not have known that they had to apply to keep their citizenship before turning 28.
On June 15, 2022, Jasraj Singh Hallan, M.P., introduced Bill S-245, which was accorded first reading that same day.
The House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM) was to receive the bill following its second reading on November 16, 2022.
CIMM looked at the bill from March 20, 2023, until June 5, 2023.
CIMM learned throughout its investigation that the amendments were problematic as they were written and that a number of revisions would be required to fix specific problems.
Click here for full legislative summary of Bill S-245
What is legislation?
A legislation refers to a set of laws or rules enacted by a governing body.
Jump Back to Top
Loading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
