In December 2025, Canada implemented a law that expanded Canadian citizenship eligibility in specific situations.
“Bill C-3, An Act to Amend the Citizenship Act (2025)” went into effect December 15, 2025. Welcoming “lost” Canadians, the law establishes that Canada will no longer enforce its previously upheld “first-generation” limit in some situations, which impacted eligibility for citizenship by descent. The change does not apply universally and eligibility still depends on individual circumstances.
Following Bill C-3’s implementation, those eligible for citizenship by descent are not only limited to first generation persons born outside of Canada to a Canadian parent. Those who may be Canadian under the law now include individuals born outside of Canada to a Canadian parent who may have also been born outside of Canada.
In December 2023, the Ontario Superior Court ruled that parts of Canada’s generational limit on citizenship by descent were unconstitutional. Lawmakers had introduced the first-generation limit in 2009. Bill C-3 grants citizenship to those whom the generational limit on citizenship by descent previously affected. A major aspect of the citizenship law update, Bill C-3 expands eligibility for some second-generation or later individuals born outside Canada, depending on when they were born and their parent’s ties to Canada.
What Else Is There To Know About The Recently Enforced Bill C-3?
Bill C-3’s implementation broadens eligibility for those seeking Canadian citizenship. It particularly provides a potential citizenship pathway for biological or adopted children born abroad to Canadians. Applicants must prove their Canadian lineage and meet all eligibility requirements outlined under the amended law, in addition to paying any applicable fees. After obtaining their proof of citizenship, also known as a citizenship certificate, that person can then apply for a Canadian passport.
People born or adopted on or after December 15, 2025, may be eligible if they can show “their parent was also born or adopted outside Canada to a Canadian citizen (meaning the grandparent was Canadian).” Additionally, that parent would have needed to have spent “at least 1,095 days (three years) in Canada” before the applicant’s birth.
Those born or adopted before December 15, 2025, outside of Canada to a Canadian parent may, in most cases, automatically be considered Canadian under the new law.
Amid political tensions in the United States and the increasing desire for greater international mobility, interest in expat life and backup citizenship is rising. Worth considering, Americans eligible for Canada’s citizenship by descent would, if granted, be able to maintain dual citizenship.
Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the federal department responsible for handling those matters, notes that, depending on the type of citizenship application, processing times can take several months.
