Parliament of Canada passes historic new law expanding citizenship by descent

By Bruce Allen In Canada Immigration News

On November 20, 2025, the Senate of Canada voted to approve Bill C-3 titled “An Act to Amend the Citizenship Act.” This completes the approval process of Bill C-3 in Parliament. Until now, children born outside Canada to persons born or naturalized in Canada were Canadian citizens, but their own children were not, with rare exceptions.This is known as the “First Generation Limit.”Bill C-3 makes major changes to the First Generation Limit:

• The First Generation Limit will no longer apply to persons born before the coming into force of Bill C-3. This means that the grandchildren and in most cases later generation descendants of persons born in Canada will now be Canadian citizens.
• For persons born after the coming into force of C-3, the First Generation Limit will no longer apply if the person’s parent has a “substantial connection” to Canada. This is defined as 1,095 days of physical presence in Canada at any time prior to the birth of a child outside Canada.For instance, if a child’s grandparent was born in Canada, and the child’s mother was born outside Canada but lived in Canada at any time for 1,095 days, then the child would be a citizen.

The new “substantial connection” requirements does NOT apply to the first  generation born abroad – everyone in the first generation is a citizen. Nor does it apply to persons born before the coming into force of the new law.

Although C-3 has been approved by Parliament, it has not yet come into force as of November 20. It still needs the formality of approval by the Governor General, known as “Royal Assent,” which will happen quickly. In addition, the government may delay the implementation of C-3 for a short period of time to prepare new forms, train personnel, and educate the public concerning the new law.

Our law firm has successfully handled many hundreds of cases of citizenship by descent, and we have offices in both the United States and Canada. Contact us now by email, or call us at (216) 593-0180 if you would like help in establishing your claim to Canadian citizenship.