Maple News reports that the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has granted the federal government an additional three months to revise Canada’s first-generation limit (FGL) on citizenship by descent. The new deadline is set for March 19, 2025.
The FGL, currently part of the Canadian Citizenship Act, restricts citizenship transmission to only one generation born abroad. In effect, if a Canadian citizen is born outside the country and subsequently has a child outside Canada, that child is not automatically eligible for citizenship. This rule has faced increasing legal and public scrutiny, culminating in court decisions challenging its constitutionality.
In an earlier ruling, the Ontario Superior Court found the FGL unconstitutional, arguing that it creates a discriminatory two-tier system of citizenship. The court ordered the federal government to amend the legislation, but this is now the third time the deadline for those changes has been extended.
To address the issue, Immigration Minister Marc Miller introduced Bill C-71 in 2024. The proposed legislation seeks to amend the Citizenship Act to allow Canadian citizenship to be passed down beyond the first generation born abroad. If enacted, Bill C-71 would automatically grant citizenship to individuals born or adopted outside Canada, provided they have a Canadian parent who was also born abroad.
However, the bill includes a key condition: the Canadian parent must demonstrate a “substantial connection” to Canada by having spent at least 1,095 days (approximately three years) physically in the country before the child’s birth or adoption. This provision aims to ensure a meaningful link to Canada while making citizenship laws more inclusive.
The proposed reforms have been applauded by advocates who argue that the current rules unjustly limit access to citizenship for children of Canadians living or working abroad. Critics have long voiced concern that the FGL unfairly penalizes globally mobile families and does not reflect the realities of modern Canadian expatriates.
As the federal government continues to refine the legislation, Maple News will monitor developments closely. The forthcoming months will be crucial in determining whether Canada will ultimately take a more inclusive approach to citizenship by descent.