This update is part of the Bill C-3 citizenship by descent hub, with the Citizenship guide. Canada's immigration department, IRCC, has used a hypothetical case to train its officers on how individuals whose grandparent was born in Canada and later became an American may be Canadian citizens by descent. This suggests that many individuals could be eligible for Canadian citizenship, potentially since their birth, under new citizenship laws.

Internal IRCC training materials, released through an access to information request, show that in December 2025, officers studied the case of "Clifford," a hypothetical American born in 1998. This case demonstrates that under Canada's new citizenship law, Clifford is Canadian from his date of birth. Bill C-3 removed the first-generation limit for everyone born before December 15, 2025, which previously would have prevented Clifford from being a citizen as the second generation born outside Canada.

The training focused on a hypothetical American named Clifford, born in 1998. Citizenship law changes occurred in 2009, 2015, and 2025, with Bill C-3 removing a limit for those born before December 15, 2025. The laws shaping Clifford's family spanned 78 years. Parliament restored "Lost Canadians" in 2009 for losses from 1947 on, and in 2015 for those who lost status before 1947. If a grandparent became American on or after February 15, 1977, they may not have lost Canadian citizenship. Clifford's grandparent was born in 1938.

"Lost Canadians" are individuals who lost or never received Canadian citizenship under old rules that have since been corrected. Clifford's grandparent was a "Lost Canadian," and Clifford is a descendant of one. Previously, from 2009 until December 2025, Canadian citizenship could only pass down to one generation born outside Canada. Bill C-3 removed this limit for everyone born before December 15, 2025.

This could affect individuals whose grandparent or earlier ancestor was born in Canada and later became a citizen of the U.S. or another country, and whose parent was born outside Canada, and who were born before December 15, 2025. Such individuals may be Canadian citizens, even if their grandparent regained citizenship decades after their parent's birth. Taking U.S. citizenship does not count as renouncing Canadian citizenship. Siblings, cousins, and children born abroad before December 15, 2025, may also qualify for Canadian citizenship.

IRCC's public instruction guide for proof of citizenship applications confirms that any person born outside Canada to a Canadian parent before December 15, 2025, "is automatically a Canadian citizen." This includes people born "to a person who became a citizen as a result of amendments to the Citizenship Act in 2009, 2015 or 2025." IRCC also states that an individual may be a citizen if their parent "became a citizen because of these changes even after your birth."

Individuals who fit this pattern apply for a citizenship certificate to prove their existing Canadian citizenship, not to become Canadian. The application requires official records for each generation, including the grandparent's Canadian birth record, proof of the grandparent's U.S. naturalization, and birth certificates for each generation. IRCC offers a search of citizenship records, and processing times are subject to change, with some applicants qualifying for urgent processing. As of September 2026, IRCC's processing time for proof of citizenship was 33 months, with about 136,000 people in the queue. For children born abroad on or after December 15, 2025, a parent needs to have spent at least 1,095 days in Canada before their birth.

The government's own training example illustrates that many descendants of Canadian-born ancestors who became American may already be Canadian citizens due to recent changes in citizenship law.