Citizenship and Immigration

The committee was studying Bill C-3, an act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025), and heard from officials from the Department of Citizenship and Immigration: Uyen Hoang, director general of the citizenship branch; Alain Laurencelle, team manager and senior counsel in legal services; Stephanie Jay-Tosh, acting senior director of citizenship legislative policy; and Jody Dewan, senior policy analyst.

Uyen Hoang explained that Bill C-3 allows Canadian parents who give birth abroad to pass on citizenship beyond the first generation if they meet a substantial connection requirement of 1,095 days cumulative before the child’s birth. She noted that restricting this to 1,095 days within a consecutive five-year period, as proposed in an amendment, could create a new cohort of lost Canadians by excluding families who spend more time in Canada but over a longer period.

Alain Laurencelle stated that while legal challenges on charter grounds are always possible, the Department of Justice views the bill’s current requirement as consistent with the charter. He did not offer a specific opinion on the legal implications of the proposed amendment to add a five-year window.

Stephanie Jay-Tosh clarified that the substantial connection test applies to parents born abroad who then give birth abroad, and that the amendment requiring 1,095 days within any consecutive five years would affect that scenario. She did not express disagreement with other witnesses.

Jody Dewan provided technical analysis of an amendment concerning adopted children, explaining that a proposed change to subsection 3(3) would have no effect because that subsection only applies to persons born outside Canada, not to adopted persons who become citizens through a grant. She later analyzed a different amendment to clause 4, stating it would allow adopted children to access the direct grant of citizenship regardless of the adoptive parent’s generation if the parent was also adopted, but would not allow an adopted person to pass citizenship by descent to a child born abroad.

The committee debated several amendments, including Conservative proposals to restrict birthright citizenship to children of permanent residents or citizens, to require 1,095 days of physical presence within five years for citizenship by descent, and to impose language, knowledge, and security requirements on those acquiring citizenship through the bill. Officials raised concerns that these amendments could create lost Canadians, be impossible to operationalize, or have no legal effect. A Liberal amendment to exempt internationally adopted children from the substantial connection test was withdrawn after officials advised it would have no effect, and a subsequent Liberal amendment to clause 4 was debated but not voted on. The committee also considered Conservative amendments requiring annual reporting on citizenship numbers and security assessment waivers, with officials noting that tracking births abroad is not currently possible and that the waiver reporting requirement would be moot. All amendments were ultimately defeated on division, and the bill was adopted clause by clause.