What I am really having a hard time wrapping my head around is the recent change to citizenship by descent in Canada as a result of Bill C-3, which went into effect just a couple weeks ago.
For people born after December 15, 2025, it’s clear enough: there is a new 3-year presence rule for before a Canadian citizen can pass citizenship on to a child by descent to a child born abroad. Not unlike US law (although we require more than 3 years).
It’s the implication for pre-December 15, 2025 that has me furrowing my brows. AIUI, it implements the holding of Bjorkquist et al. v. Attorney General of Canada, 2023 by recognizing that it was unjustifiably discriminatory to require Canadian citizens born abroad to meet a physical presence requirement (in Canada) before they could pass citizenship on to a child also born abroad. That said, most of the discussion I see talks about how this impacts second-generation born abroad Canadians (that is, their grandparent was born in Canada, but their parent was not, making the parent the first generation born abroad a Canadian citizen under the old scheme, and now essentially declaring the second generation born abroad is also a citizen if they were born prior to December 15, 2025).
But what about the third generation born abroad, if born prior to December 15, 2025? If the second generation born abroad has now been declared, retroactively, a citizen by descent all along, then would that carry forward to the third generation?
I feel like I’d need to talk to a Canadian immigration attorney to be sure. I tried reading the law itself, as amended, but it is, like US immigration law, a lot of gibberish with so many ifs/thens/buts/excepts/etcs, and as a layperson with respect to Canadian law, I am not equipped to analyze it.
Anyway, for those who want to get a aense of what I am talking about, see this summary:
And this is a government summary:
…with the confusing/intriguing part being:
If you were born outside of Canada before December 15, 2025 , you’re likely a Canadian citizen if your parent was also a Canadian citizen when you were born.
I mean, okay, so suppose great-grandma was born in Canada and lived there for many years prior to 1947 (thus a Canadian citizen by the act of 1946), grandma was born in the US (first generation born abroad and thus a Canadian citizen by descent), mother was also born in the US prior to 2025 (so, by this new rule, also a citizen by descent?)… but what about daughter, also born in the US prior to 2025? Since dad is now considered a Canadian citizen by descent (right?) doesn’t that mean daughter was born to a Canadian citizen? And this a citizen herself since she was born prior to December 15, 2025???
There is also this, but it seems to ignore the distinction between births prior to December 15, 2025 and births on or after that date if there is in fact such a distinction and I am not just grossly misinterpreting the secondary sources):