Millions of Americans could claim Canadian citizenship under new rule
Recent legislation passed by the federal government is giving millions of Americans the opportunity to get Canadian citizenship.
In December 2025, Bill C-3, an Act to Amend the Citizenship Act, kicked in. Also known as the “Lost Canadians” legislation, the new law extends Canadian citizenship by descent beyond the first generation. It automatically gives citizenship to anyone who would be a citizen today if not for the first-generation limit.
The first-generation limit prevented people who were born outside of Canada to a parent who was also born or adopted outside Canada to a Canadian parent from automatically becoming a Canadian citizen.
Under Bill C-3, people who were born or adopted outside Canada in the second generation or later to a Canadian parent before Dec. 15, 2025, can automatically become Canadian citizens in most cases.
“This rule also applies to you if you were born to someone who became Canadian because of these rule changes,” according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
This means that Americans living in the U.S. who were born before Dec. 15, 2025 and can trace their roots back to a Canadian ancestor are eligible to apply for proof of Canadian citizenship under the new legislation. However, they will have to prove it with documents that show parentage, place of birth and any name changes.
A majority of Americans eligible for Canadian citizenship are likely descendants of a mass migration movement known as the Great Hemorrhage, when millions of French-speaking Canadians emigrated to the U.S. between 1840 and 1930.
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Bill C-3 may be a way out for these eligible Americans who disagree with President Donald Trump’s administration amid its escalating immigration crackdown and the massive political and economic divide.
In fact, a poll from November found that the number of younger women who want to leave the U.S. had “surged to unprecedented levels,” and their top destination to move to is Canada.
Those born on or after Dec. 15, 2025, have different criteria they need to meet.
In 2023, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice declared the first-generation limit as “unconstitutional,” but suspended that declaration until Nov. 20, 2025.
The federal government says the first Canadian Citizenship Act of 1947 contained “now-outdated” laws that caused many people to either lose their citizenship or not receive one in the first place. This group was dubbed the “Lost Canadians.”
In 2009 and 2015, legislative changes restored or gave citizenship to a majority of “Lost Canadians.” Around 20,000 people became citizens and were issued certificates as a result of these changes.
However, the first-generation limit was introduced in 2009, causing some individuals who were born abroad beyond the first generation between Feb. 15, 1977, and April 16, 1981, to lose or fail to obtain citizenship at the age of 28.