Overview
- A court ruling led Parliament to change the law and the new descent rules took effect in December 2025, allowing people born abroad beyond the first generation to claim Canadian citizenship if they trace descent to a Canadian ancestor.
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada reported 4,075 proof-of-citizenship certificates issued under the new category in the first three months, with approvals rising from 1,140 in January to 1,405 in March.
- About 1,955 of the approvals from Dec. 15 to March 31 came from people born in the United States, roughly 48 percent of the additional approvals under the expanded rules.
- The surge has raised the IRCC backlog from about 56,000 to roughly 70,400 pending applications and pushed posted processing times from approximately five months to about 12 months for proof-of-citizenship requests.
- Provincial archives and immigration lawyers report sharp demand for ancestral records and legal help—Quebec’s civil registry received 3,800 outside requests since January—and the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimates roughly 115,000 people could ultimately be affected, many seeking contingency options because of U.S. political uncertainty under President Donald Trump.