She is a Canadian citizen.
Lena Metlege Diab Liberal
This bill has received Royal Assent and is, or will soon become, law.
This is from the published bill. The Library of Parliament has also written a full legislative summary of the bill.
This enactment amends the Citizenship Act to, among other things,
(a) ensure that citizenship by descent is conferred on all persons who were born outside Canada before the coming into force of this enactment to a parent who was a citizen;
(b) confer citizenship by descent on persons born outside Canada after the first generation, on or after the coming into force of this enactment, to a parent who is a citizen and who had a substantial connection to Canada before the person’s birth;
(c) allow citizenship to be granted under section 5.1 of that Act to all persons born outside Canada who were adopted before the coming into force of this enactment by a parent who was a citizen;
(d) allow citizenship to be granted under section 5.1 of that Act to persons born outside Canada who are adopted on or after the coming into force of this enactment by a parent who is a citizen and who had a substantial connection to Canada before the person’s adoption;
(e) restore citizenship to persons who lost their citizenship because they did not make an application to retain it under the former section 8 of that Act or because they made an application under that section that was not approved; and
(f) allow certain persons who become citizens as a result of the coming into force of this enactment to access a simplified process to renounce their citizenship.
All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.
Bill numbers are reused for different bills each new session. Perhaps you were looking for one of these other C-3s:
This is a computer-generated summary of the speeches below. Usually it’s accurate, but every now and then it’ll contain inaccuracies or total fabrications.
Bill C-3 amends the Citizenship Act to address inconsistencies regarding citizenship by descent for Canadians born abroad, requiring a substantial connection to Canada.
Liberal
Conservative
Bloc
Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB
Mr. Speaker, the member is saying she is a Canadian citizen, but if she was born in Germany, there would be a process for her to establish Canadian citizenship. If she is a Canadian citizen and has children while she is still in Germany, she too can pass it on. That is all currently—
Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB
Mr. Speaker, if someone is a Canadian citizen, they are capable of passing it on. This bill, as far as I understand, is about the third generation and people who were missed.
Citizenship ActGovernment Orders
An hon. member
No, it's the second.
Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB
Mr. Speaker, I was wondering if the Liberals could please explain to me where I am wrong on that.
Michael Coteau Liberal Scarborough—Woburn, ON
Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, the member has to go back and check the notes he was provided. It sounds like his question was not very precise and to the point and does not reflect the proposed legislation.
Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB
Mr. Speaker, hypothetically, if my daughter Cindy was born in Germany, she would have to have a substantial connection to Canada before she gives birth so that her child, my future potential grandchild, would be deemed a Canadian citizen. That is what the legislation would do.
Julie Dzerowicz Liberal Davenport, ON
Mr. Speaker, it is a real pleasure, as always, to speak on behalf of the residents of my amazing constituency of Davenport on the third reading of Bill C-3, an act to amend the Citizenship Act.
Before I go further, I would like to acknowledge that we are gathered on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.
I will spend the next nine minutes or so reminding members about why it is important for us to be passing Bill C-3, which, again, is in third reading. Soon we will be having a vote on it. This will be a nice refresher, because sometimes we go through a lot of things in this House and we can forget about the importance of the bill and why we are moving forward on it.
I am grateful there is broad, cross-party support for the key part of Bill C-3, which is fixing the status for the remaining lost Canadians. The bill would remedy the status of people who, were it not for the first-generation limit imposed in 2009, would have been Canadian citizens by descent from birth. This is largely a cohort of children 16 and under, and also includes the descendants of previously remedied lost Canadians. It would also address a small historical cohort who lost citizenship under outdated provisions of the 1977 Citizenship Act. Only 35 to 40 people came forward annually at first, and numbers have declined in recent years.
I have the privilege of being able to chair the committee, and I want to thank the committee members and witnesses for the collegial work that brought us to this point of consensus. During the committee study, members proposed and adopted several amendments to Bill C-3. The government carefully reviewed each one and appreciates the intent behind them. However, after our review, we remain confident that the original design of Bill C-3 achieves fairness and transparency in the citizenship system and upholds the value of Canadian citizenship.
The framework set out in this bill for citizenship by descent is straightforward. Once enacted, a Canadian parent born abroad may pass on their citizenship to a child also born or adopted abroad only if that parent has at least 1,095 days of physical presence in Canada before the child's birth or adoption. Each generation after the first one must demonstrate their connection to Canada. If a parent does not, citizenship by descent stops with them.
Let me be clear on what this bill is not. It is not about creating a new way to immigrate to Canada nor about passing on Canadian citizenship in perpetuity while living abroad. It is about allowing the children of Canadians who have a strong connection to our country to access citizenship by descent regardless of where they happen to be born or adopted. It is about protecting the value of Canadian citizenship by requiring these parents to show they have spent meaningful time in Canada, before starting a family, reaffirming their connection to our great country.
The question, then, is how best to measure that connection. For people who move to Canada and seek to become part of its story, we already have a clear way to assess whether they have a substantial connection to this country. Under the Citizenship Act, permanent residents must accumulate at least 1,095 days of physical presence in Canada within a five-year period before they are eligible to apply for naturalization. However, citizenship by descent, which is what this bill is about, is different. It is not about granting citizenship to someone seeking to join Canada but about confirming citizenship at birth based on a parent's connection to Canada prior to their child's birth or adoption. For that reason, the test for connection must be applied differently.
Bill C-3 is built on a cumulative model. For Canadian parents born outside of Canada, this model counts every day they have spent here before starting a family regardless of when those days occurred. This approach recognizes the many ways Canadians maintain deep ties to their country, even when work, study or family responsibilities take them abroad.
Consider a Canadian child born overseas whose family relocates every two years for work. That child could live nearly a decade in Canada before age 18 without ever spending three consecutive years here within a five-year period. When that child grows up, they may start a family abroad or choose to adopt internationally. Under a fixed three-years-in-five time frame, their genuine life experience in Canada may not qualify their child to access citizenship.
However, the cumulative model allows Canadians whose lives span borders to demonstrate their connection to Canada from birth right up until they start a family, rather than expecting them to compress their presence into a narrow window. The 1,095-day cumulative requirement is therefore the fairest and most practical way to uphold the value of Canadian citizenship. Importing the naturalization requirements into citizenship by descent would conflate two distinct policy purposes and risk excluding the children of Canadians whose ties to Canada were built over time.
The integrity of Canadian citizenship depends on applying the right standards in the right context. For people who move to Canada, the naturalization process assesses their readiness to join the Canadian family. It requires—
Andréanne Larouche Bloc Shefford, QC
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order out of respect for the interpreters and to avoid a problem.
They are telling us that a telephone seems to be interfering with the audio.
Citizenship ActGovernment Orders
The Assistant Deputy Speaker John Nater
I thank the hon. member for her intervention.
The hon. member for Davenport.
Julie Dzerowicz Liberal Davenport, ON
Mr. Speaker, I will start from maintaining integrity and fairness.
The integrity of Canadian citizenship depends on applying the right standards in the right context. For people who move to Canada, the naturalization process assesses their readiness to join the Canadian family. It requires establishing a substantial connection to this country through recent residence, knowledge of Canada and knowledge of one of our official languages, tests that confirm they are ready to become part of our shared civic life.
Citizenship by descent, again, is different. It is not an immigration pathway. It does not confer membership in Canada on someone new. It recognizes citizenship that already exists from birth, through a Canadian parent who has a real connection to Canada either because they were born here or because they have met the statutory test of physical presence in Canada.
Introducing additional requirements, such as language proficiency, knowledge testing or security screening, for Canadians who are citizens at birth would blur the line between immigration and citizenship by descent. It would impose a process meant for newcomers—
Andréanne Larouche Bloc Shefford, QC
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order.
The interpreters are again saying that there is a telephone ringing near a microphone.