U.S. leads interest by wide margin in getting Canadian citizenship by descent

Canadian passports are displayed at an event to debut the new design at the Ottawa International Airport in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA — Interest in Canadian citizenship by descent among citizens in a handful of countries — especially the United States — surged after the federal government passed a new law clarifying the rules.

C-3, which took effect on Dec. 15, 2025, allows someone born outside Canada to a Canadian parent who also was born outside Canada to file a citizenship claim — as long as the parent spent at least three years in Canada before their child’s birth or adoption.

The law was drafted and passed in response to a 2023 Ontario Superior Court order that found a law on citizenship by descent passed by Stephen Harper’s government was unconstitutional.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada reports receiving more than 12,000 citizenship by descent applications between Dec. 15, 2025 and the end of January.

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U.S. citizens accounted for the largest national share of those applications. Nearly 2,500 Americans filed applications in January alone.

While the December to January period saw a higher than normal number of applications, a department spokesperson said the government does not expect to see a “significant” uptick in applications.

The department approved almost 6,300 citizenship by descent applications between Dec. 15, 2025 and the end of January. Only 1,480 of them were approved under C-3; the remainder were approved through other laws.

While January 2026 saw a higher-than-average number of American citizenship by descent applications, it only ranked third in terms of U.S. applications in a single month in the last year. March 2025 saw more than 2,800 applications out of the United States, while May saw almost 2,700.

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The number of applications from the U.K. — the country with the second highest level of interest in Canadian citizenship by descent — was also above average in January, at 290.

People from France filed 140 applications in January. Other countries in the top 10 for citizenship by descent applications include China, Hong Kong, India, Australia, the Philippines, the U.A.E. and Germany — they ranged between 75 and 120 applications in January.

The vast majority of countries outside the top 10 saw no significant shifts in application numbers — with the exceptions of Mexico and Belize.

Mexico was the source of 235 citizenship by descent applications in January 2026; Mexican citizens made just 610 such applications in all of 2025. Ninety applications came out of Mexico in December 2025 — a notable jump over the 2025 monthly average of 50 citizenship claims.

While Belize accounted for only 45 applications throughout 2025, it registered 40 applications in January of this year alone.

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The immigration department received about 82,500 applications for citizenship by descent throughout 2025, with the United States generating the most demand — about 24,500 applications.

The other countries in the top 10 accounted for only a combined 11,600 applications in 2025.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 16, 2026.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press