C-3
Royal assent received
House Government Bill
An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025)
Sponsor: Lena Metlege Diab, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (Halifax West—Peggy's Cove)
Proposed changes
On 5 June 2025, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship introduced Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025) and it was given first reading.
Bill C-3 amends the Citizenship Act to, among other things,
- 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;
- 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;
- 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;
- 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;
- 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
- 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.