Under Bill C-3, the Citizenship Act will be amended to
resolve the unconstitutional effects of the "second-generation
cut-off" rule. As a result, "lost Canadians" will
have their Canadian citizenship restored where their Canadian
parent has met certain residency requirements.
Under the "second-generation cut-off" rule, children
who were born abroad to Canadian parents were not able to attain
Canadian citizenship if their parents had also been born outside of
Canada. This rule resulted in a large number of "lost
Canadians" who were denied Canadian citizenship because of
their birthplace.
After the Ontario Superior Court of Justice declared this rule unconstitutional in December
2023, a deadline for amending the Citizenship Act was
set for November 20, 2025. The deadline for the finalization of the
amendments has now been extended to January 20, 2026.
