Mexican Families May Already Be Eligible for Canadian Passports Under Bill C-3 After 1,095 Days

Bill C-3 has opened a route for some Mexican families to claim Canadian citizenship by descent, and that status can lead to Canadian passports once they prove the family line. The proof comes first.

For children born outside Canada on or after December 15, 2025, a different rule now applies. If the Canadian parent was also born abroad, that parent must have had 1,095 days of physical presence in Canada before the child’s birth. That test is new.

For people born abroad before that date, the old first-generation limit no longer blocks the claim. A Mexican family can qualify if one ancestor was Canadian, through birth in Canada or some forms of naturalization, and each generation passed citizenship down without a break before the cutoff. Not every line survives.

The file is documentary, not ceremonial. Applicants usually need the Canadian ancestor’s birth certificate or naturalization record, then birth certificates for each generation linking the ancestor to the applicant. A citizenship certificate comes first. Then the passport.

Processing can be slow. Current reporting in August 2026 says proof-of-citizenship applications have taken more than two years. IRCC also updated guidance in June 2026, telling applicants to submit authentic, reliable and verifiable records for every generation in the chain. Keep the paper trail tight.

Mexican-born applicants already make up a fifth of approvals

Mexican-born applicants now account for 20.5 per cent of approvals under the expanded descent rules, behind U.S.-born applicants at 51 per cent. The totals keep climbing.

Families start by mapping the oldest known Canadian ancestor

The next step is to map the oldest known Canadian ancestor. Then work forward. The line has to stay unbroken, and the birth dates decide which rule applies.