Canadian citizenship by descent checker

Which rule applies to you

Two facts decide most cases: your birth or adoption date against 15 December 2025, and how your Canadian parent became Canadian. The table sets out the rules as IRCC and the Citizenship Act state them, read on 12 October 2026. The checker above runs the same logic on your answers. A permanent resident with no Canadian parent follows the grant route instead, set out in our guide to how to become a Canadian citizen.

Is Bill C-3 in force?

Yes, Bill C-3 is in force: it received royal assent on 20 November 2025 and came into effect on 15 December 2025. IRCC's backgrounder, dated 15 December 2025, says that IRCC “now recognizes new eligible citizens and is applying the new rules for passing citizenship on going forward.” Before the change, the Citizenship Act limited the passing on of citizenship to the first generation born or adopted abroad. On 19 December 2023 the Ontario Superior Court of Justice found that parts of the Act on the first-generation limit were unconstitutional, and the government did not appeal.

IRCC's summary of the three groups that follow from the change: people who automatically became citizens can apply for proof of citizenship; people adopted abroad before 15 December 2025 by a Canadian parent born or adopted abroad can apply for citizenship for an adopted child; and people born or adopted abroad on or after that date to a Canadian parent also born or adopted abroad must demonstrate that the parent has spent three years in Canada.

What is the substantial connection test?

The substantial connection test requires the Canadian parent to have been physically present in Canada for at least 1,095 days, which is three years, before the child's birth or adoption. It applies only to a child born or adopted outside Canada on or after 15 December 2025 whose Canadian parent was also born or adopted outside Canada. IRCC describes it as a cumulative count: the days do not have to be consecutive.

The Citizenship Act says paragraph 3(1)(b) does not apply to a person born outside Canada on or after that date where the Canadian parent was born outside Canada and “neither of the person's parents who was a citizen was physically present in Canada for at least 1,095 days before the person's birth” (Citizenship Act, s. 3(3)(a)(ii), Justice Laws, current to 21 September 2026). So where both parents are Canadian citizens born abroad, either parent's days can meet it.

There is one exception in IRCC's guide: the physical presence requirement does not apply to the Canadian parent if they were a Crown servant at the time of the child's birth or adoption, meaning employed outside Canada in or with the Canadian Armed Forces, the federal public administration, or the public service of a province or territory, other than as a locally engaged person. IRCC asks for proof of that employment.

Who is a citizen automatically now?

Most people born outside Canada before 15 December 2025 to a Canadian parent are now automatically citizens. IRCC's page says that “in most cases you're automatically a Canadian citizen if you were born before December 15, 2025 outside Canada to a Canadian parent”, and that the rule also applies if you were born to someone who became Canadian because of these changes. IRCC's guide adds that this takes effect from the person's date of birth, or from the date they lost citizenship.

That includes people who lost citizenship on their 28th birthday under the former section 8 of the Citizenship Act (repealed on 17 April 2009), people born between 1 January 1947 and 15 December 2025 to a person who was a citizen at the time of the birth, and people born before 15 December 2025 to a person who became a citizen through the 2009, 2015 or 2025 amendments. IRCC's backgrounder explains that earlier changes in 2009 and 2015 restored or gave citizenship to about 20,000 people, but some remained excluded, including section 8 “Lost Canadians” and descendants of “Lost Canadians”, and that Bill C-3 extends access to citizenship to them.

If your parent has died, the Act has its own rule: a person who would not be a citizen only because their parent died before the Act came into force is a citizen if that parent, but for their death, would have been one as a result of the change (Citizenship Act, s. 3(1.5)).

How does IRCC count generations?

IRCC counts the first generation as the first person born or adopted outside Canada to a Canadian citizen who was born in Canada or granted citizenship. That first-generation person is Canadian by descent. A second-generation or later person is also born outside Canada, to a first-generation person, and is now Canadian in some situations. IRCC counts adopted people the same way when they apply for the direct grant of citizenship.

Worked example using IRCC's definitions: a grandmother born in Toronto is a Canadian citizen. A mother born in London to her is the first generation and Canadian by descent. A child born in London to that mother is the second generation. If the child was born before 15 December 2025, IRCC says the child is in most cases automatically a citizen. If the child was born on or after that date, the mother must have spent at least 1,095 days in Canada before the birth.

How do I apply for proof of citizenship?

You apply to IRCC for a citizenship certificate, which costs $75 per person, paid online. The IRCC guide for the application is CIT 0001 (Citizenship certificate for adults and minors, proof of citizenship under section 3). Fees are not refundable once processing has begun, and IRCC returns an application that is incomplete or paid by another method. IRCC says the certificate is what you use to apply for a Canadian passport, and that it helps avoid delays at the border.

1. 01

   Work out your rule

   Use the checker above to see whether the first-generation rule, the automatic rule for births before 15 December 2025, or the 1,095-day test appears to apply.

2. 02

   Choose online or paper

   A person born outside Canada to a Canadian parent who was also born outside Canada must submit a paper application. Others can use IRCC's online questionnaire.

3. 03

   Gather documents for every generation

   IRCC wants authentic documents from the original authority for each person in the chain: provincial birth certificates, civil registry records, citizenship or naturalization certificates, or a Certificate of Registration of Birth Abroad.

4. 04

   Add the parent's days in Canada if the test applies

   Complete form CIT 0555 and attach records that support each stay. Where a document cannot be found, IRCC accepts a written explanation and proof that you tried to get it.

5. 05

   Pay the fee and submit

   The fee is $75 per person, paid online. Documents not in English or French need a translation and a sworn statement from the translator; IRCC does not accept translations by family members.

6. 06

   Wait for IRCC, then apply for a passport

   IRCC showed "about 34 months" for a certificate, last updated 9 October 2026. If you are a citizen, the certificate supports your passport application.

IRCC also runs a quality assurance program: it randomly selects applications for an interview and can ask for original documents and, in some cases, DNA to confirm parentage if it is not satisfied with the documents on file. You will be notified in writing if your application is chosen.

What if I applied under the interim measure?

You do not need to apply again: IRCC says it will process an application still in progress under the new rules. The interim measure was IRCC's response to the December 2023 court ruling while the law was changed. Now that the Citizenship Act has been amended, IRCC says people do not need to submit a new citizenship certificate application.

What if the parent's days in Canada fall short?

A child born on or after 15 December 2025 whose Canadian parent has fewer than 1,095 days in Canada is not a citizen by descent, but IRCC's guide names other routes. A person in that position may apply for permanent resident status and then for a grant of citizenship under section 5 of the Citizenship Act. If the person may be stateless, IRCC points to a grant under subsection 5(5), or a grant application with a request for discretionary consideration on the basis of statelessness. Check the count first: every stay adds to it. If the child does go through permanent residence first, our guide to permanent resident vs citizen sets out what changes when citizenship is granted.

Sources and when they were checked

Each source below was opened on 12 October 2026. The date shown in brackets is the date IRCC or Justice Laws displays on the page itself. Anything that could not be confirmed on an official page that day is left out.

• IRCC backgrounder: Bill C-3 comes into effect (dated 15 December 2025)
• IRCC news release: new citizenship rules are now in effect (dated 15 December 2025)
• IRCC: Change to citizenship rules in 2025 (page dated 24 December 2025)
• Citizenship Act, section 3 (Justice Laws) (current to 21 September 2026, last amended 15 December 2025)
• IRCC: Guide for online applications for a citizenship certificate (CIT 0001) (page dated 23 September 2026)
• IRCC: Guide for paper applications for a citizenship certificate (CIT 0001) (page dated 23 September 2026)
• IRCC: Apply for a citizenship certificate, how to apply (page dated 17 July 2026)
• IRCC: Apply for a citizenship certificate, about the process (fee) (page dated 1 June 2026)
• IRCC: Check our current processing times (citizenship certificate figure last updated 9 October 2026)
• IRCC: Get proof of Canadian citizenship (page dated 1 June 2026)
• IRCC: Application for Canadian citizenship, adopted person (page dated 15 December 2025)

Wild Mountain Immigration is a CICC-regulated consultancy and is not affiliated with the Government of Canada. The links above go to official government pages.