All Canadians could soon pass on their citizenship rights to their children born outside the country. Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller tabled Bill C-71 on Thursday morning, which would allow citizenship by descent beyond the first generation.
If the bill is adopted, children born abroad to a Canadian parent also born abroad would automatically obtain Canadian citizenship, as would children born outside the country’s borders and adopted by a Canadian parent. beyond the first generation.
The minister was unable to specify how many people could be granted citizenship through these changes.
Currently, children born abroad to Canadian parents who were also born abroad are denied citizenship, even if their parents have lived in Canada for several years.
“Current rules generally restrict citizenship by descent to the first generation, excluding some people with a genuine connection to Canada,” Minister Marc Miller said in the foyer of the House of Commons.
In 2009, Stephen Harper’s Conservative government changed the law so that Canadian parents born abroad could not pass on their citizenship unless their child was born in Canada. Some rights organizations at the time believed that the government was establishing two classes of citizens.
A link with Canada
Professor of immigration, refugee and citizenship law at the University of Ottawa, Yves Le Bouthillier welcomes the new bill, affirming that the new changes could encourage the international mobility of Canadians.
“For women, if they really wanted to preserve the right of their children to pass on their citizenship, they had to stay in Canada to give birth,” he gives as an example.
Parents born outside the country must have spent at least 1095 cumulative days (three years) in Canada before the birth or adoption of their child to transmit their Canadian citizenship to them.
“I think this is a reasonable limit to what constitutes a substantial connection with Canada,” explained the minister.
Professor Le Bouthillier indicates that the threshold of 1095 days is quite flexible compared to other countries. In the United States, for example, a parent must be a U.S. citizen and have spent at least five years physically in the United States before the child’s birth in order to pass on citizenship to the child. At least two years of this physical presence must be after the 14the parent’s birthday.
The Canadian bill thus promotes retention and acquisition of citizenship through the parent, analyzes the professor.
A new test for children born after the reform came into force will also be implemented to “assess clear links” with Canada.
“Lost” Canadians
If passed, the bill would also restore the citizenship of “dispossessed Canadians,” meaning people who lost or never acquired citizenship due to previous citizenship legislation.
NDP MP Jenny Kwan, present at the time of the announcement, said she had met many families “separated” from their loved ones due to the law.
“People travel, study abroad, work abroad, fall in love abroad, start a family abroad. Due to this law, some of these families had to be separated from their children. Some children have become stateless,” she said.
Professor Yves Le Bouthillier recalls that this bill follows a decision by the Superior Court of Ontario rendered last December. The judge concluded that the current system violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by discriminating based on national origin and sex and gave Ottawa six months to change the law.
Ottawa ultimately decided not to challenge the court’s decision “because it agrees that the law has unacceptable consequences” for Canadians whose children were born outside the country.
The government may have to ask the court for a delay while the bill makes its way through the Commons.
“I think the message this sends is that it demonstrates the strength of legal actions, the importance of Charter rights and that the government encourages international mobility,” concludes Mr. Le Bouthillier.