Why was Bill C-3 really passed? The long fight behind the law that made millions of Americans dual citizens

On December 15, 2025 Expense C-3 altered who counts as Canadian.

Considering that it worked, Americans who had actually never ever believed much about their Canadian grandma or great-grandfather ended up being double US-Canadian residents over night. Numerous have actually been looking for birth records considering that and after that looking for Canadian citizenship certificates to totally get their rights as Canadian people.

Costs C-3 is a modification to Canada’s Citizenship Act. It eliminated the first-generation limitation, a guideline that stopped Canadians born abroad from passing citizenship to their own kids born abroad. It likewise included a 1,095-day significant connection requirement for kids born upon or after December 15, 2025.

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What many people do not understand is the length of time it required to arrive. The law was in fact completion point of a 16-year argument, a court obstacle, and an unsuccessful effort at legislation.

Here is how it took place.

It began with the First-Generation Limit

In 2009, Canada presented the first-generation limitation. It indicated a Canadian born outside Canada might not instantly pass citizenship to a kid likewise born outside Canada.

The factor for the intro of this limitation was because of a war that broke out in 2006, which led Canada to leave countless its residents from Beirut, much of whom had actually resided in Lebanon for several years.

Analysts began utilizing the expression “Canadians of benefit.” The FGL was presented by the then-Conservative federal government to stop households from passing Canadian status down forever from abroad.

7 households went to court

In 2021, a group of individuals from 7 households challenged the guideline in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice

Their argument was that the cut-off discriminated based upon where an individual was born, for that reason limiting movement and liberty rights. And it fell hardest on females, who in some cases delivered outside Canada for factors they did not control, consisting of work, research study, healthcare or a partner’s task.

On December 19, 2023, Justice Jasmine Akbarali ruled the cut-off unconstitutional. She discovered it breached the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by dealing with people born in Canada in a different way from people who got their citizenship by descent, on their birth outside Canada.

The 2nd group, she composed, held “a lower class of citizenship,” due to the fact that they might not pass their status to kids born abroad.

The court for that reason overruled the arrangements and offered Ottawa time to repair the law.

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Ottawa concurred, then lacked time

In January 2024, the federal government validated it would not challenge the Ontario Supreme Court’s choice. Migration minister Marc Miller stated the guideline had actually produced undesirable effects for Canadian households whose kids were born outside the nation.

That left Parliament to compose a replacement. In May 2024, the federal government presented Bill C-71, which would have brought back citizenship to individuals locked out by the limitation.

While the costs moved gradually, IRCC opened other opportunities to citizenship by descent. In June 2024 it produced an immediate processing path for a narrow group of candidates. In March 2025 it revealed wider interim procedures giving citizenship case by case.

The court’s due date kept moving. Ottawa requested more time in June 2024, however in August.

Politics stepped in. In January 2025, Justin Trudeau revealed his resignation as Liberal leader and Parliament was prorogued.

Days later on, the federal government verified it would miss out on the court’s due date which was then in March.

Costs C-3 got where C-71 stopped

On June 5, 2025, the federal government proposed Bill C-3 rather. It covered much of the exact same ground as the old costs, with one addition: the significant connection test, needing a Canadian moms and dad to have actually invested a minimum of 1,095 days in Canada before the kid’s birth for citizenship to pass to kids born abroad moving forward.

Parliament passed it on November 19, 2025, one day before the court’s last due date. It worked on December 15, 2025.

Why Bill C-3 is here to remain

Absolutely nothing about the death of Bill C-3 fasted. The expense needed to clear very first reading, 2nd reading, committee research study, report phase and 3rd reading in your home of Commons. It had to go through the very same phases in the Senate before reaching the Governor General.

That is likewise the factor the results of Bill C-3 can not quickly be “reversed,” according to a migration attorney

Reversing it would take the very same path. A future Parliament would need to present a brand-new expense and pass it through both chambers once again. That is not something that takes place rapidly or without notification.

Even then, a brand-new law would not cancel citizenship individuals currently hold. For more information, CIC has actually covered why Bill C-3 must not be dealt with as short-term or conditional.

If you believe a Canadian-born forefather may put you in scope of being a Canadian resident, CanadaVisa has a citizenship by descent eligibility checker that is an affordable beginning point.

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