(CANADA) Canada has approved Bill C-3, a major change to its Citizenship Act that will allow many Canadians born abroad, including thousands of people of Indian origin, to pass their citizenship to children born outside the country, ending a long-running problem that left a group known as “lost Canadians” without automatic rights. The bill received royal assent on November 21, 2025, and will take full effect once the federal cabinet sets an official start date, with a court-imposed deadline of January 2026 for the new rules to be in place.
What Bill C-3 changes: from a cut-off to a connection test
At the centre of Bill C-3 is the decision to remove Canada’s old “first-generation limit” on citizenship by descent. That earlier rule, introduced in 2009, meant only the first generation of Canadians born abroad could pass on citizenship to their children.
If a Canadian was themselves born outside Canada, they usually could not pass citizenship to a child who was also born abroad — even if they had deep family roots and long residence in the country. According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, this cut-off created a confusing divide within families, where one sibling might be a citizen and another might not, simply because of where and when they were born.
The new law replaces that rigid cut-off with a substantial connection test that focuses on how much time the parent has actually spent in Canada.
The 1,095-day (three-year) rule
Under Bill C-3, a Canadian parent born or adopted abroad can pass citizenship to a child who is also born or adopted outside Canada as long as the parent can show at least 1,095 days of physical presence in Canada before the child’s birth or adoption.
- 1,095 days = 3 years in total.
- These days do not need to be consecutive; they can be added up over multiple stays.
- The test mirrors the residency rule already used for permanent residents applying for citizenship by naturalization.
This three-year benchmark also aligns Canada’s approach with several other countries (for example, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia) that use some form of physical-presence test when deciding whether citizens living abroad can pass nationality to children overseas.
Supporters argue the substantial connection requirement is a fair way to show a parent’s bond to Canada is real and ongoing, without unduly punishing families who spend time abroad for work, study, or family reasons.
Retroactive citizenship restoration
One of the most far-reaching features of Bill C-3 is its retroactive citizenship restoration.
- People born before Bill C-3 comes into force who were excluded under the old first-generation limit will become eligible for Canadian citizenship.
- This change targets the “lost Canadians” whose parents or even grandparents were Canadian but who did not meet the strict rules set in 2009.
- Once the new system is active, many of these individuals can claim the citizenship they long believed they should have had from birth.
Legal context and deadlines
The reform follows a 2023 ruling by the Ontario Superior Court, which struck down the 2009 second-generation cut-off as too restrictive. The court found the law unfairly blocked many Canadians born abroad from passing citizenship to their foreign-born children despite deep ties to Canada.
- The court set a deadline for Parliament to fix the law.
- Lawmakers needed extra time to complete Bill C-3 and prepare for rollout, so the court granted an extension, pushing the implementation deadline to January 2026.
The bill received royal assent on November 21, 2025, and will take full effect once the federal cabinet sets an official start date.
Expected impact on the Indian diaspora
The reform is expected to significantly affect the large Indian diaspora with ties to Canada.
- Over the past decade, hundreds of thousands of Indian nationals have become permanent residents and citizens of Canada, with many later moving abroad for jobs or family reasons.
- Under the old limit, Indian-origin Canadians born outside Canada often discovered their children — if born in a third country — did not qualify for Canadian citizenship.
- Families reported difficulties planning futures, limits on where children could study or work, and fears that siblings would hold different rights.
By allowing citizenship to pass through parents who meet the substantial connection test, Bill C-3 is expected to open access to Canadian education, healthcare, and work rights for many of these children. It may also ease decisions for Indian-origin parents considering whether to return to Canada or remain abroad.
Practical considerations: evidence and documentation
Officials have not yet set the exact date when Bill C-3 will start to apply, but the federal government must complete the transition by January 2026. In the meantime, affected families are watching for instructions from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
- The IRCC’s main information page on citizenship is hosted at: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-citizenship.html
- That page is expected to outline how people can show their days of physical presence in Canada and how retroactive claims will be processed.
Because the law relies on a 1,095-day threshold, personal records will be crucial. Applicants will likely need:
- Past travel records (passports, entry/exit stamps)
- Work documents and employment records
- School transcripts or enrollment records
- Other official documents showing time in Canada
Remember: the days can be cumulative rather than consecutive, so multiple shorter stays that add up to the threshold will count.
Emotional and social effects
For families directly affected by the 2009 reforms, the retroactive citizenship restoration can be deeply emotional.
- Parents who spent years securing status for their children via study permits, work permits, or visitor records may now look forward to a simpler path.
- Adult children who always felt connected to Canada through family stories may finally be able to hold Canadian passports and access full rights.
Key takeaway: Bill C-3 aims to repair harm caused by the 2009 cut-off by replacing an automatic generational limit with a substantial connection test, allowing many previously excluded people to claim citizenship — provided a parent can show 1,095 days of physical presence in Canada before the child’s birth or adoption.
Political debate and balance
The political debate around the bill focused less on restoring rights and more on how to define a real link to Canada.
- Critics of full automatic transmission argued some limit was needed to prevent citizenship passing through families with no meaningful ties to Canada.
- By tying citizenship to a substantial connection measured in days of presence, lawmakers aimed to strike a balance between preventing limitless chains of automatic citizenship and fixing the harm done to “lost Canadians.”
Next steps and what families should do now
With the court’s January 2026 deadline approaching, families across India, the Middle East, Europe, and elsewhere with Canadian roots are:
- Preparing documents and tracing their past years in Canada.
- Gathering travel, work, education, and other records to prove the 1,095-day standard.
- Monitoring IRCC for detailed application instructions and timelines.
As official details and application procedures emerge, affected families will be watching not only how the law works on paper, but how it changes their daily lives and their sense of belonging to Canada.
Bill C-3 replaces Canada’s 2009 first-generation limit with a substantial-connection test that permits parents born abroad to pass citizenship to children born or adopted overseas if they show at least 1,095 days of physical presence in Canada. The law includes retroactive restoration for those excluded previously. It received royal assent on November 21, 2025, and must be implemented by January 2026, affecting many in the Indian diaspora and other communities with long Canadian ties.
