Skip to content
CanadaVisaPart of Cohen Immigration Law
Check eligibility

Bill C-3 · in force Dec 15, 2025

Bill C-3 removed the first-generation limit. You may now qualify.

If your parent, grandparent, or further-back ancestor was born in Canada, the 2025 amendment to the Citizenship Act may now grant you Canadian citizenship by descent. Cohen Immigration Law has practised for fifty years. We can assess your eligibility and manage your citizenship application.

Step 1 of 4

Your Canadian ancestor

Your Canadian connection
Do you have a Canadian parent, grandparent, or further-back ancestor?

Bill C-3 traces eligibility through Canadian ancestors. Birth or naturalization both count.

Your information is confidential. No spam, no obligation.

  • 4.6 Google rating
  • 50Years in practice
  • 100,000Files handled
  • 100Client nationalities

The 90-second check

You may qualify if any of these is true.

  1. You were born outside Canada.

  2. Your Canadian-born ancestor is a parent, grandparent, or further back.

  3. You were told before December 2025 that you don’t qualify, or you never asked because you assumed you didn’t.

Bill C-3 removed the rule that cut off citizenship after the first generation born abroad. Families that lost their Canadian connection through a single generation now have it back. Your children may also qualify.

What changed

What Bill C-3 actually changed.

Before December 2025, Canadian citizenship by descent stopped after one generation born outside Canada. If your parent was born abroad to a Canadian, and you were also born abroad, you were not Canadian. Families called this the “first-generation cutoff.”

In December 2025, Parliament passed Bill C-3, which removed the first-generation limit. Families that were excluded now qualify under the same rules that apply to anyone with Canadian descent.

The law applies to people born before, on, and after the date of the amendment. If you fit the criteria, you have likely been Canadian since birth. Canada just did not recognize it until the law changed.

Source: Citizenship Act, as amended by Bill C-3 (Strengthening Canadian Citizenship), Royal Assent and commencement December 15, 2025. Administered by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

What a Bill C-3 file involves.

  • 01

    You aren’t applying for citizenship. Bill C-3 grants it. The file is a proof-of-citizenship application asking IRCC to recognize the status and issue a certificate.

  • 02

    A Bill C-3 file is largely a records exercise: tracing the line of descent and sourcing birth, marriage, and naturalization documents across generations. We can request Quebec records on your behalf.

  • 03

    Engagement is a fixed fee, quoted after the consultation. The consultation is free.

Counsel.

Senior attorneys at Cohen Immigration Law, supported by paralegals, regulated immigration consultants, and case managers.

Daniel Levy

Daniel Levy

Senior Attorney

McGill Faculty of Law. Citizenship, business immigration, and complex eligibility files. Listed in Who’s Who Legal, Corporate Immigration.

Bar. Barreau du Québec

Ala Bujac

Ala Bujac

Senior Attorney, Director of Operations

McGill Faculty of Law (BCL/LLB/LLM). MBA, Grenoble. Oversees firm-wide case management.

Bar. Law Society of Ontario

Gabriel Dumitrascu

Gabriel Dumitrascu

Senior Attorney

Université de Montréal. Director, Avocats hors Québec. Federal and Quebec economic immigration, family reunification.

Bar. Barreau du Québec

Olivia Cohen

Olivia Cohen

Immigration Attorney

McGill Faculty of Law (BCL/JD). McGill Desautels (B. Comm). Inadmissibility, business and economic immigration.

Bar. Barreau du Québec

Common questions.

Five questions Bill C-3 readers ask before the first call. Anything specific to your file is for the consultation.

Was I always Canadian, even before Bill C-3?

Probably yes. Under Bill C-3, eligible descendants are considered to have been Canadian since birth. The amendment reinstated a status that was never properly extended under the previous first-generation limit; it didn't grant a new citizenship, it recognized one that should have existed all along.

My grandparent applied and was denied in the 2010s. Are they automatically Canadian now?

They likely qualify under Bill C-3, but recognition isn't automatic. The original application can be re-opened or re-filed under the new rules. Cohen handles re-applications. Bring the prior denial letter to the consultation; it tells us a great deal about the file.

Do my US-born children also qualify?

In most cases, yes, once your own Canadian citizenship is confirmed. Bill C-3 removed the first-generation limit, so descent now passes through additional generations. Children born on or after December 15, 2025 are subject to a 1,095-day physical-presence test on the Canadian parent; your lawyer will walk through how that applies to your file.

Will claiming Canadian citizenship affect my US passport?

No. The United States permits dual citizenship with Canada, and Canada permits dual citizenship with the United States. Confirming Canadian citizenship by descent does not require renouncing US citizenship and does not change your US tax filing obligations.

How long does this take?

IRCC's current processing time for proof-of-citizenship (descent) applications is more than 12 months after filing, unless the applicant qualifies for urgent processing. Cohen typically prepares the file in a few weeks once the source documents are in hand. Most of the calendar is IRCC-side; most of the work is upstream of that.

Ready when you are

Check your eligibility under Bill C-3.

A senior immigration lawyer will review your details and get back to you.

Check my eligibility

Cohen Immigration Law50 years100,000+ filesQuebec & Ontario bar