Nearly 380,000 people became Canadian citizens last year as the federal immigration department warns recent changes expanding citizenship eligibility could put additional pressure on processing times.Blacklock's Reporter says Department of Immigration figures submitted to the Senate national finance committee show 376,630 people were granted Canadian citizenship during the year.The 376,630 people is roughly equivalent to the population of a mid-sized Canadian city.“The average end-to-end processing time was eight months,” the department said.Ottawa spent $86.8 million processing citizenship applications, according to the report Cost And Processing Times For Citizenship Applications.“This amount does not include internal service costs associated with citizenship,” the report said. No additional breakdown of those costs was provided.Applicants for Canadian citizenship pay a $653 fee, while applications for minor children cost $100. Prospective citizens must also pass a citizenship test and publicly swear allegiance to the King and Constitution. A commemorative citizenship certificate costs an additional $75.The department did not provide an estimate of how many additional applications it expects following passage of Bill C-3, An Act To Amend The Citizenship Act, which became law last November.The legislation expanded citizenship rights to some descendants of Canadians born abroad.“Completed data for the fiscal year 2025-2026 are not yet available,” the department said in Citizenship Applications.“Given the complexity of some Bill C-3 cases, we expect greater pressure on processing times in the near future.”The department also did not disclose the number of Bill C-3 applications received, refusal rates or the size of any resulting backlog.“The department is processing applications fairly and as quickly as possible while maintaining the integrity of Canada’s citizenship program,” the submission said.Bill C-3 followed a 2023 Ontario Superior Court ruling in Bjorkquist et al v. Attorney General that struck down federal restrictions limiting automatic citizenship by descent to the first generation born outside Canada..The legislation allows citizenship to be passed to another generation born abroad when the Canadian parent can demonstrate a substantial connection to Canada, including at least 1,095 days physically present in the country before the child’s birth.Immigration officials originally estimated the changes would “create fewer than 5,000 new Canadians per year.”The Parliamentary Budget Officer, however, estimated about 115,000 people living abroad could become eligible for citizenship.Statistics Canada previously estimated the Canadian diaspora could include as many as 5.5 million Canadian citizens living outside the country, although the number of foreign-born descendants who could qualify under the new rules remains uncertain.Laurent Martel, director of Statistics Canada’s Centre for Demography, told the Senate foreign affairs committee in February that the agency could revisit its estimates.“We could update this study,” said Martel. “I think it would be relevant.”The citizenship expansion also comes as record numbers of Canadians living outside the country participate in federal elections.Elections Canada reported 57,440 Canadians abroad voted in the 2025 federal election, while 101,690 requested mail-in ballots be sent to addresses outside Canada.“It is unclear from Bill C-3 how many individuals may be affected by this,” Elections Canada said in its memo Challenges Regarding Special Ballot Voting.The agency cited the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s estimate of 115,000 people over five years.
