Canadian citizenship by descent: common questions

Often, yes. Bill C-3 recognizes people born abroad before December 15, 2025 who would have been citizens but for the first-generation limit or other outdated rules. You don’t apply to become a citizen, but you need proof of citizenship to get a passport.

People who lost, or never got, Canadian citizenship because of older rules that have since changed. IRCC says changes in 2009 and 2015 restored or gave citizenship to most of them, and about 20,000 people came forward for proof of citizenship as a result. Bill C-3 covers most remaining cases and their descendants.

They’re added up over the Canadian parent’s life before the child’s birth or adoption, and needn’t be in a row. The rule applies only to children born or adopted abroad on or after December 15, 2025 whose Canadian parent was also born abroad.

No. IRCC says those applications are processed under the new rules, so you don’t need to send a new one.

Yes. People who became citizens automatically under the new law, and were never granted citizenship before, can apply to renounce it.

Yes, but you don’t apply for a certificate directly. If you were adopted abroad before December 15, 2025 by a Canadian parent born abroad, you apply for citizenship for an adopted person.

Yes. Canadian citizens abroad can register with Elections Canada to vote in federal elections, however long they’ve been away, but only if they have lived in Canada at some point in their life. Descendants who have never lived in Canada can’t vote from abroad.

Canada taxes people on where they live rather than on citizenship, so becoming Canadian doesn’t by itself make you owe Canadian tax. The Canada Revenue Agency explains the residency rules.

No. The only residence rule is the 1,095-day test for children born abroad since December 2025 to a Canadian parent who was also born abroad.