6 months ago
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Canada has moved person toward modernising citizenship-by-descent law, aft a measure to amend the enactment received royal assent, successful a determination that is apt to impact 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 successful making the Citizenship Act much inclusive, portion maintaining the worth of Canadian citizenship, said a quality merchandise issued by the Canadian authorities connected Friday (November 21, 2025).
"Once the caller instrumentality comes into force, Canadian citizenship volition beryllium provided to radical calved earlier the measure comes into force, who would person been citizens if not for the first-generation bounds oregon different outdated rules of past legislation”, the quality merchandise said.
The first-generation bounds to Canadian citizenship by descent was introduced successful 2009. It means that a kid calved oregon adopted extracurricular Canada is not a Canadian national by descent if their Canadian genitor was besides calved oregon adopted extracurricular Canada.
This bounds caused problems for galore Indian-origin Canadians whose children were calved retired of the country, radical who cognize the substance say.
The caller instrumentality volition besides let a Canadian genitor calved oregon adopted overseas to walk citizenship connected to their kid calved oregon adopted extracurricular Canada connected oregon aft the day the measure comes into force, provided they person a important transportation to Canada, the merchandise said.
“Bill C-3 volition hole long-standing issues successful our citizenship laws and bring fairness to families with children calved oregon adopted abroad. It volition supply citizenship to radical who were excluded by erstwhile laws, and it volition acceptable wide rules for the aboriginal that bespeak however modern families live. These changes volition fortify and support 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 cardinal parts of the Citizenship Act relating to the first-generation bounds to citizenship by descent were unconstitutional.
The Government of Canada did not entreaty the ruling, arsenic it agreed the instrumentality had unacceptable outcomes for children of Canadians who were calved extracurricular the country.
“By updating the Citizenship Act to bespeak the planetary mobility of modern Canadian families, the national authorities has made entree to citizenship much just and reasonable,” said Don Chapman, Founder of the Lost Canadians.
The measure volition travel into unit connected a day acceptable by bid successful council, which volition beryllium communicated publicly. Until then, the interim measurement remains successful spot for radical impacted by the archetypal procreation limit, the merchandise said.
