Canada Accepts Removal Of "Second Generation" Citizenship Cut-Off Rule For Canadians Born Abroad

The federal government will not appeal the Ontario Superior Court's ruling that Canada's "second generation cut-off" for citizenship eligibility is unconstitutional.

This will end the "second generation cut-off" rule for many Canadians who were born abroad but rendered ineligible for citizenship.

Under the rule, found in Canada's Citizenship Act, children born abroad were denied automatic Canadian citizenship if their Canadian parents were also born abroad. In December 2021, a Constitutional challenge was brought against the federal government regarding this provision of the Citizenship Act on grounds that the second generation citizenship cut-off discriminated on the basis of nation of origin, effectively creating a second class of citizens who are denied an automatic right to return to Canada with their foreign-born children.