House committee adds language, security checks to ‘Lost Canadians’ bill

The new Canadian passport is unveiled at an event at the Ottawa International Airport in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA — The House of Commons immigration committee is recommending most adults eligible for birthright citizenship under the “Lost Canadians” bill fulfil similar requirements to immigrant applicants, on language, knowledge of Canadian history and security checks.

MPs on the committee adopted amendments on Tuesday to Bill C-3, which will go back to the House of Commons for approval.

The bill responds to a 2023 Ontario court ruling overturning a Stephen Harper-era law which prohibited Canadians born aboard from passing down citizenship if their children were not born in Canada

The bill proposes that in such situations, citizenship can be passed down if the individual can demonstrate a substantial connection to Canada by spending at least 1,095 cumulative days in the country.

The Conservative amendments added the language and other requirements, as well as to put a restriction that the 1,095 days must occur within five consecutive years.

The government has a court mandated deadline to pass the legislation before midnight on Nov. 21, otherwise government officials say an unknown number of people will automatically become Canadian citizens.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2025.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press