The Liberal government, with support from the NDP, has passed Bill C-3, An Act to Amend the Citizenship Act (2025), at third reading in the House of Commons.The legislation passed on Wednesday by a vote of 177 to 163, sending it now to the Senate floor, where it is expected to be voted into law.The bill overhauls how Canada grants citizenship by descent, removing the long-standing “first-generation limit” that prevented many Canadians born abroad from passing citizenship to their own foreign-born children.Under the current law, only Canadians born in or those naturalized in Canada can automatically pass citizenship to children born outside the country.Those who themselves were born abroad could not, leaving some families without a clear path to citizenship..The changes come after a Dec. 2023 decision by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, which found parts of the existing law unconstitutional.The federal government did not appeal that ruling, saying the first-generation limit created “unacceptable consequences” for Canadians living abroad.The bill now seeks to remedy those consequences by automatically restoring citizenship to anyone who would be Canadian today if not for the first-generation restriction or other outdated provisions.It also establishes a new framework for citizenship by descent that allows eligibility “beyond the first generation,” provided a parent demonstrates a “substantial connection” to Canada.That connection would be proven by at least 1,095 days—or three years—of physical presence in Canada before the birth or adoption of the child.Some of the Conservatives who voted against the bill accused Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government of weakening the meaning of Canadian citizenship..Conservative MP Costas Menegakis (Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill) criticized the Liberals for rejecting opposition amendments that would have added residency, language, and security requirements.“How the process has played out is emblematic of the last ten years of this Liberal government,” Menegakis said.“They do not care about recommendations. They don't care about what other parliamentarians have to say. They have no respect for our amendments and recommendations coming out of the standing committees of Parliament. Our immigration system is an unmitigated disaster right now.“It tells me and all Canadians that Liberals don't care if Canadians can speak English or French. It tells me and all Canadians that Liberals don't care if they can execute their immigration policies, and it tells me and all Canadians that Liberals don't care if new Canadians with criminal backgrounds are being released into our communities.”The legislation will also restore citizenship to so-called “Lost Canadians” — people who lost or never acquired citizenship due to previous legislative loopholes.Earlier reforms in 2009 and 2015 resolved many of these cases, but immigration advocates say thousands still remain..Fellow Conservative MP Andrew Lawton (Elgin—St. Thomas—London South) argued that the bill “devalues Canadian citizenship” by extending it to people who barely have ties to the country.“Canadian citizenship is not something that should be freely given out to people who were not born here. It should be earned, and, more importantly, given to people who genuinely want to build up this country and contribute,” Lawton stated.“Some of the proudest Canadians I've ever met have been people who adopted Canadian citizenship after being born abroad, and they came to Canada because they loved something here. They loved our values. They loved our freedom.”Lawton accused the Liberals of embracing a “post-national” view of Canadian identity, quoting former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s past remarks that Canada has “no core identity.”“I am not arguing that citizenship should never be available to people. I'm saying that we need to make sure that those who become Canadian citizens truly want to contribute to Canada and be Canadian,” Lawton clarified.“We do not want what we have seen in the past, which is ‘Canadians of convenience.’ When a crisis unfolds somewhere in the world and, all of a sudden, someone who has no desire to live or contribute in Canada pulls out a Canadian passport and demands the federal government help them — these are people who do not want to be Canadians, but they want the benefits of Canadian citizenship.”
