Global News: Canadian Citizenship post Bill C-3
Since DEC 2025 and the passing of Bill C-3, CIL has been flooded with calls from potential Canadians. These are individuals with ancestral ties to Canada. Typically, these applicants have dug up their family history and they have uncovered a Canadian “anchor relative” from the past. We have submitted dozens of Canadian Citizenship applications after Bill C-3 based on the changes to the Act. We received 3 positive decisions at the beginning of 2026 – these may have been the first applications approved after the passing of Bill C-3.
Alastair Clarke was interviewed by Global News on this issue. As reported by Marney Blunt:
According to a provincial spokesperson, Manitoba Vital Statistics has observed an increasing number of applications from U.S. mailing addresses, which have identified citizenship as their reason for submission. In 2021, Vital Statistics received 48 applications of that kind. In 2024, they received 71 applications, and in 2025, it spiked to 225 applications. In 2026, there have already been 256 applications so far.
The provincial spokesperson noted applications do not always include a reason for submission, so the numbers are not a total of all applications from the U.S. for citizenship purposes.
Alastair Clarke, an immigration and refugee lawyer in Winnipeg, says it’s unlikely anyone foresaw the volume of applications Bill C-3 would spur.
“I don’t believe the lawmakers planned on having applications from individuals who were four generations removed from a Canadian or five generations removed from a Canadian,” Clarke said. “I don’t believe the government planned or predicted that they would receive applications from individuals who are so far removed from Canada.”
Clarke said his firm, Clarke Immigration Law, has also been flooded with calls from people interested in applying for Canadian citizenship, with the majority being from south of the border.
“These are Americans who are looking for a backup plan,” Clarke said. “We’ve spoken to many Americans who are very anxious about what’s going on with the Trump administration.”
Clarke also noted that some applicants are making inquiries to connect with their roots.
“I’ve heard from individuals that have Canadian ancestry and they feel that inside they are Canadians and they want to get in touch with those Canadian roots,” he said.
“And that is one of the intentions of Bill C-3 … that was one of the explicit intentions of the legislation.”
Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada says each proof of citizenship application is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. An IRCC spokesperson says from December 15, 2025 to February 28, 2026, approximately 11,665 citizenship by descent applications were processed, and 2,670 of them were confirmed to be citizens by descent due to Bill C-3. The IRCC’s website also says the current wait time for citizenship grant applications is about 13 months.
Indeed, the team at CIL is focused on providing the best services for these applications; however, there are many outstanding and unanswered questions. As the Amendments to the Citizenship Act are new, we do not have guidance from the Court on how these amendments may be interpreted. IRCC has been slow to process the applications and it is not clear whether the language of the Act may be broadly interpreted.
