Madam Chair, as I commented during my previous appearance, the department can't speculate on how many persons who could benefit from these provisions will come forward in the future.
However, it's fair to say.... As a frame of reference, we could refer to the current number of Canadians born abroad applying to the department for what we call a “proof of Canadian citizenship”, which tends to be between 40,000 to 60,000 such Canadians per year. It would be reasonable to assume there could potentially be thousands of applicants coming forward should these changes be passed by Parliament.
Thank you.