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Millions of Americans can now claim Canadian citizenship by descent. But they have to prove it. (www.cbc.ca)

submitted 1 day ago by StillPaisleyCat@startrek.website to c/canada@lemmy.ca

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Bill C-3, which came into effect Dec. 15, removes the first-generation limit to citizenship

A new piece from CBC on the coming into force of the legislative changes to Canadian citizenship by descent.

A couple of interesting points from further down the article:

Vermette says many Franco-Americans have long felt invisible on both sides of the border.

He believes Bill C-3 presents Quebec with a unique opportunity to repatriate or reclaim those who feel a connection to the province’s culture and language, even amid heightened controversy surrounding immigration and pressures linked to cultural and linguistic preservation.

"The Franco-American population is an untapped natural resource for Quebec," he said. . .

In a statement to CBC, the IRCC said it does not have an exact estimate of how many people might be affected by Bill C-3, but says it expects tens of thousands of requests for Canadian citizenship certificates over time.

According to the IRCC website, at the beginning of March, almost 48,000 people were waiting for a decision pertaining to their certificate application, with an estimated processing time of 11 months.

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[-] StillPaisleyCat@startrek.website 3 points 1 day ago

Having your grandmother’s birth is a great start.

You need to prove a direct line of descent by birth* back to your grandmother — assuming she’s the last generation born or naturalized in Canada.

So, her birth certificate would establish that she was Canadian if it’s from a Canadian province or territory. However, you will also need to demonstrate :

that one of your parents was her child with their long form birth certificate with her name listed as their mother — if your grandmother’s family name changed in marriage, you’ll need a marriage certificate or other proof to show she was the same person;
likewise, you’ll need to demonstrate that parent your parent’s child through your long form birth record and possibly your parents’ marriage certificate if claiming through your mother.

*Adoption unfotunately continues to not have quite the same process:

If you were adopted, and you are claiming citizenship through your adoptive grandmother, this is possible but it’s a two step process where your adoptive parent would need a Confirmation of citizenship first and then you could apply for a grant of citizenship.

If the parent you are claiming citizenship through was adopted by your grandmother, as the Act is now, they would not be able to pass down citizenship to you. They could get a grant of citizenship for themselves but it would only come into effect the day the grant is made and couldn’t only pass it down to their children born after the date of granting.

[-] CandleTiger@programming.dev 1 points 14 hours ago

Where are you going this stuff from about extra steps for adoptive parents? I was just reading the CIC summary of new guidelines and it said adoptive parents count the same as birth parents. You just need to get a certificate of adoption or other proof that the adoption happened and proof that the adoptive parents were Canadian citizens at the time

[-] StillPaisleyCat@startrek.website 2 points 9 hours ago

Concerns about equity for adopted persons were raised by senators when the bill was being studied in committee. They let C-3 go through due to the need to address Bjorkquist but asked the Minister to come back with further amendments in future.

There is a different form and process for adopted persons adopted outside of Canada. Current processing time is about two years.

It involves two steps:

Confirmation of parent’s Canadian citizenship, which when completed provides a digital identifier to be used in step two
Applicant provides the documentation of the adoption and original birth certificate.

The text on the linked IRCC page reads: