Today, Minister Marc Miller announced the tabling of Bill C-71 that seeks to amend the Citizenship Act.
CILA welcomes the changes announced by the Minister and empathizes with the families negatively impacted by the Citizenship Act changes made in 2009. CILA also wishes to celebrate that Bill C-71 looks to provide women with the same rights as men in passing down Canadian citizenship.
The announcement is in the wake of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision, Bjorkquist et al. v. Attorney General of Canada, that came out on December 19, 2023, that declared the “second-generation cut-off” rule for passing citizenship unconstitutional.
The Court however suspended the declaration of invalidity for a period of six months to allow the Federal Government to make changes to the laws that would be compliant with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Following the release of the Ontario SCJ decision, the Federal Government followed suit by stating its intentions to not appeal the decision.
Certainly, the Bill will undergo Parliamentary scrutiny in the course of its regular business. As always, CILA remains steadfast in its participation in proceedings as fundamental such as this. CILA believes that there is a need for broad consultation in the passage of important and fundamental legislation such as those that underpin Canadian democracy.
CILA looks forward to providing insight throughout the coming consultative process and also acknowledges and thanks Sujit Choudhry, counsel for the applicants in the Bjorkquist case.
Background information
In 2009, the federal government made legislative changes to amend the Citizenship Act to add a first-generation limit by descent. This means a Canadian citizen parent can pass on citizenship to a child born abroad if they were either born in Canada or a naturalized Canadian before the birth of the child. As a result, Canadian citizens who were born abroad cannot pass on citizenship to their child born outside Canada and cannot apply for a direct grant of citizenship for a child born abroad and adopted.
Today, the federal government introduced legislation that would extend citizenship by descent beyond the first generation.
Bill C-71, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2024) would automatically confer Canadian citizenship to those born abroad to a Canadian parent who is also born abroad prior to the enforcement of this legislation. It would also extend access to citizenship grants to children born abroad and adopted by a Canadian parent beyond the first generation. After the legislation takes effect, parents born abroad who have or adopt children also born abroad will need to have spent at least 1,095 cumulative days of physical presence in Canada prior to the birth or adoption of their child to pass on citizenship.
Bill C-71 would also restore citizenship to “Lost Canadians”, which is defined as those who lost or who never acquired citizenship as a result of the provisions of the previous citizenship legislation. Bill C-71 would also provide citizenship to the descendants of “Lost Canadians” and to anyone born abroad to a Canadian parent in the second or subsequent generations before the legislation comes into force.
Bill C-71 is a function of an Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruling on December 19, 2023 that the first-generation limit is unconstitutional. The federal government did not appeal the ruling because it agrees the law has unacceptable consequences for Canadians whose children were born outside the country.
Media enquiries
Please click here if you are a journalist and wish to speak to CILA.
You can also email us at: research@cila.co
