News release
November 21, 2025—Ottawa—Canada has taken an important step toward modernizing its citizenship laws. Canadians excluded under outdated rules will have a fair, clear way to pass citizenship on to their children born or adopted outside Canada.
Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025), has received royal assent. This represents an important milestone in making the Citizenship Act more inclusive, while maintaining the value of Canadian citizenship.
Once the new law comes into force, Canadian citizenship will be provided to people born before the bill comes into force, who would have been citizens if not for the first-generation limit or other outdated rules of past legislation.