John Richardson, J.D. – August 27, 2026
From “Lost Canadians” to Bill C-3: The 80-Year Evolution of Canadian Citizenship
Introduction and purpose
This is the fourth of a series of posts about Canada’s Bill C-3 which redefines (among other things) Canada’s, “citizenship by descent rules”. The first three posts are described in the Appendix to this post.
Most people understand that Canada’s Bill C-3 states that those who are born outside of Canada to a Canadian citizen parent may (depending on the date of birth) be a Canadian citizen. This is a very simple principle to understand. In some cases it’s very easy to know whether your parent was a Canadian citizen. In other cases, it’s not that easy.
The lawyer as a “practical historian”
In a previous post I referred to J.J. Robinette’s conviction that a lawyer is a “practical historian”. This is particularly true in citizenship law. The reality is that Canadian citizenship has changed very significantly over the years. A person who may not have been a citizen under the law of 1976 might be a citizen under the law of 2026.
When does Canadian citizenship law begin? When does Canadian citizenship begin?
Most of the discussion of Canadian citizenship law assumes that Canadian citizenship law begins with the Canada Citizenship Act of 1946 (taking effect in 1947). Although this is a reasonable assumption, it may be an incorrect assumption.
I begin with a “shout out” to Don Chapman. Don Chapman is a retired United Airlines pilot. For years he has been the public face of the “Lost Canadians” movement. He argues (I believe persuasively) that Canadian citizenship existed long before the 1947 Canada Citizenship Act.
Put another way: the 1947 Citizenship Act did NOT create Canadian citizenship. Rather it was a legislative expression of Canadian citizenship.
Because this post is a description of the evolution of the Canada Citizenship Act, I will NOT address the issue of the temporal origins of Canadian citizenship. This post should be considered to be a discussion of the evolution of Canada’s statutory citizenship act. Interestingly the evolution of Canada’s citizenship law is like the game of “whack a mole”. Each statutory iteration of law is intended to “fix” a problem created by the previous legislation.
Therefore, I will begin with the 1947 Canada Citizenship Act.
The 1947 Canada Citizenship Act did NOT keep up with changes in Canadian society
The problems addressed by the Canada Citizenship Act today are largely an attempt to change the effects of problems that began with the 1947 Canada Citizenship Act. Specifically, remedying the following two features of the 1947 Act have been the focus of the 1977 Act, the 2009 Act and the 2026 Act. Those two features of the 1947 Act were:
1. The prohibition on dual citizenship – S. 16– A Canadian who naturalized as a citizen of another country automatically lost his Canadian citizenship.
2. The problem of gender discrimination – S. 5 – If a child was born outside of Canada to a married couple, Canadian citizenship by descent was possible ONLY when the father was a Canadian citizen.
These problems were compounded because the legislative fix proposed in 1977 operated prospectively and NOT retrospectively.
From 1947 to 2026 – A Legislative Journey
What follows is a brief summary (partly AI generated) that describes the four phases of Canadian citizenship law. This is intended only to be a 30,000 foot view. Those who prefer graphs and charts might find the following “Canadian Citizenship By Descent Lineage Blueprint” to be a helpful summary:
But first, a reminder of what Bill C-3 was intended to accomplish
Bill C-3 was an attempt (I think largely successful) to fix some of the injustices of the past. As discussed in previous posts (See the Appendix), what Bill C-3 did was:
1. Legislate that a person born outside of Canada prior to December 15, 2025, IS a Canadian citizen, if they were born to a parent who was a Canadian citizen at the time of that person’s birth; and
2. Legislate that a child born outside of Canada after December 14, 2025, to a Canadian citizen parent, is a Canadian citizen, if the Canadian citizen parent had a “substantial connection” to Canada prior to the child’s birth. “Substantial connection” is CURRENTLY defined as 1095 days of physical presence in Canada. Note that the meaning of “substantial connection” is subject to legislative change!
To understand why Bill C-3 was necessary and some of the problems it was intended to fix, it’s important to understand the “Evolution Of Canadian Citizenship”. Specifically, it’s important to understand how each major legislative revision was designed to fix a problem caused by previous legislation.
