An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025)

Sponsor

Status

This bill has received Royal Assent and is, or will soon become, law.

Summary

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.

Similar bills

C-71 (44th Parliament, 1st session) An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2024)
S-245 (44th Parliament, 1st session) An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (granting citizenship to certain Canadians)
S-230 (43rd Parliament, 2nd session) An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (granting citizenship to certain Canadians)

Elsewhere

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:

C-3 (2021) Law An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Canada Labour Code
C-3 (2020) Law An Act to amend the Judges Act and the Criminal Code
C-3 (2020) An Act to amend the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act and the Canada Border Services Agency Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts
C-3 (2015) Law Appropriation Act No. 4, 2015-16

Votes

Nov. 5, 2025 Passed 3rd reading and adoption of Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025)
Nov. 3, 2025 Passed Concurrence at report stage of Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025)
Nov. 3, 2025 Passed Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025) (report stage amendment)
Sept. 22, 2025 Passed 2nd reading of Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025)

Citizenship and Immigration Committee, on Oct. 2, 2025

  • Lena Metlege Diab, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
  • Scott, Assistant Deputy Minister, Settlement and Citizens, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
  • Schneidereit, Counsel, Legal Services, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
  • Hoang, Director General, Citizenship Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
  • Bonner, Senior Fellow, Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy, As an Individual
  • Chapman, M.S.C., Lost Canadians
  • Jacques, Interim Parliamentary Budget Officer, Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer
  • Perrault, Director, Economic Analysis, Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer

Citizenship and Immigration Committee, on Oct. 7, 2025

  • Hoang, Director General, Citizenship Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
  • Laurencelle, Team Manager and Senior Counsel, Legal Services Unit, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
  • Jay-Tosh, Acting Senior Director, Citizenship Legislative Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
  • Dewan, Senior Policy Analyst, Department of Citizenship and Immigration