Bill C-71 – "Lost Canadians" Now Found

Canadian citizenship offers numerous advantages including healthcare, the right to vote, and increased job opportunities, to name a few. The Citizenship Act establishes the criteria for obtaining Canadian citizenship, and circumstances under which an individual's citizenship can be revoked or lost. Under the Canadian Citizenship Act, a person born outside of Canada would only be granted citizenship through naturalization or if one of their Canadian parents was born in Canada or was naturalized as a citizen of Canada before the child was born—citizenship by descent.

This created a generation of "Lost Canadians" which imposed a first-generation limit to those born outside of Canada. In other words, citizenship by descent did not apply to second and further generations. As a result, many individuals lost their citizenship due to this restrictive legislation. Bill C-71, An Act to Amend the Canadian Citizenship Act (2024) was introduced on May 23, 2024, by the Honorable