Bill C-3 Canada Citizenship: What the New Descent Rules Mean for You

On December 15, 2025, Bill C-3 — formally An Act to Amend the Citizenship Act — came into effect. It's the most significant change to Canadian citizenship law in over a decade, and it directly affects hundreds of thousands of people who previously had no path to Canadian citizenship despite having Canadian parents or grandparents.

What the Problem Was

Since 2009, Canada applied a "first-generation limit" on citizenship by descent. The rule: if you were a Canadian citizen born outside Canada, your children born outside Canada were not automatically Canadian citizens. Citizenship could only pass through one generation born abroad.

This created a class of people commonly called "Lost Canadians" — individuals with deep family ties to Canada, Canadian parents, and sometimes entire childhoods spent in Canada, who were nonetheless denied citizenship because of when and where they were born.

A 2023 court ruling found the first-generation limit unconstitutional, and Bill C-3 was the legislative response.

What Bill C-3 Changed

Bill C-3 effectively removes the first-generation limit. Canadian citizenship can now pass through multiple generations born outside Canada, provided certain requirements are met.

For people born outside Canada before December 15, 2025: If you were born outside Canada to a Canadian parent who was also born outside Canada, you are now retroactively a Canadian citizen under Bill C-3. This is automatic — you don't need to naturalize. You can apply for a citizenship certificate to confirm and document your status.

For people born outside Canada on or after December 15, 2025: The new "Substantial Connection" test applies. You are a Canadian citizen from birth if your Canadian parent (who was also born outside Canada) was physically present in Canada for a cumulative total of at least 1,095 days at any point before your birth.

The 1,095-Day Substantial Connection Test

This is the critical new requirement for second-generation-or-beyond Canadians born after December 15, 2025. The parent who is themselves a citizen born abroad must demonstrate 1,095 days of physical presence in Canada — at any time in their life, not necessarily in the five years before the child's birth.

The 1,095 days do not need to be consecutive. Summers in Canada as a child, years working in Canada as an adult, extended visits — all of it counts.

Documenting the Substantial Connection

This is where things get complicated for many families. Proving 1,095 days of physical presence — accumulated over a lifetime, possibly decades ago — requires assembling records that most people haven't kept.

Acceptable evidence of physical presence includes:

• School records — transcripts, report cards, enrollment letters showing you attended Canadian schools
• Tax filing records — T1 returns and Notices of Assessment from the CRA showing Canadian residency
• Employment records — T4 slips, ROEs, employment letters from Canadian employers
• Medical records — records from Canadian health services during the period
• Lease agreements and utility bills — proof of Canadian address
• Immigration records — study permits, work permits, PR cards, landing records
• Childhood vaccination records — if they show a Canadian clinic address

Official records are more compelling than statutory declarations. IRCC's guidance on "Substantial Connection" documentation is still developing, but the standard for proof is similar to what's required in a residency questionnaire — granular, dated evidence.

Who Should Act Now

If you are a Canadian living abroad with children: If you've spent at least 1,095 days in Canada at any point in your life, your children born outside Canada may be Canadian citizens. Document your Canadian presence now, before memories fade and records become harder to retrieve. Order CBSA and CRA records through ATIP requests.

If you believe you're a Lost Canadian under the pre-2025 rule: You may now be retroactively entitled to Canadian citizenship. You can apply for a citizenship certificate (proof of citizenship) without going through the standard naturalization process. The application form is CIT 0001 for proof of citizenship under Section 3 of the Citizenship Act.

If you have a grandparent who was Canadian: The route now potentially exists. Trace the family line: your grandparent was Canadian, your parent was born abroad, you were born abroad. Under Bill C-3, your parent may be retroactively Canadian (if born before December 15, 2025), which makes you potentially Canadian as well — subject to the generational chain holding and documentation being available.

What Bill C-3 Doesn't Change

Bill C-3 only addresses citizenship by descent. It does not affect the standard naturalization process (physically present in Canada as a PR for 1,095 days). Those rules remain the same.

If you are a permanent resident in Canada following the normal immigration pathway, your citizenship application follows the standard process described elsewhere. Bill C-3 is specifically for people claiming citizenship through parentage or ancestry without going through the immigration stream.

Why This Matters for Americans

A notable dimension of Bill C-3 is the American angle. Millions of Americans have Canadian parents or grandparents. Some were born in Canada, some weren't. With Canada's and the US's shared border, cross-national families are common, and the first-generation limit had cut off many of these ties.

With Bill C-3 in effect, some American citizens may now have a path to Canadian citizenship through descent — not as immigrants, but as Canadians by birth. This has received attention in Canada and the US, particularly given recent shifts in political environments in both countries.

Getting a Citizenship Certificate Under Bill C-3

If you believe you're entitled to Canadian citizenship by descent under Bill C-3, the process is:

1. Apply using form CIT 0001 (Application for a Citizenship Certificate — Proof of Citizenship under Section 3)
2. Gather evidence of the generational chain — your birth certificate, your parent's birth certificate, evidence of your parent's Canadian citizenship, and (for post-December 15, 2025 births) evidence of the 1,095-day substantial connection
3. Submit to IRCC either by mail (there is no online portal for Section 3 applications) or through a Canadian consulate if you're outside Canada

Processing times for citizenship certificates vary. Complex descent cases can take considerably longer than straightforward ones.

The Canada Citizenship Guide covers both the standard naturalization pathway and the Bill C-3 descent pathway, with a checklist for documenting the substantial connection requirement.

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