My grandmother was born in Canada. Can I obtain Canadian citizenship?

Wow. That had no idea. My French Canadian relatives emigrated the the 1890s and I though I was SOL, but it sounds like I could claim citizenship and pass it on.

At least Canada is a free country unlike the US.

Anonymous wrote:CITE YOUR SOURCES, OP

Not OP - https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-citizenship/act-changes.html

CITE YOUR SOURCES, OP

Don’t worry about the paperwork. Just barge into the Canada and demand a hotel room & a debit card. I’m sure the locals will fight like hell to make sure they don’t deport you.

Anonymous wrote:Specifically for those born outside with Canadian ancestry (including those who were expelled in the 1700s, before Canada Day 1867) no matter how far back.

It’s kinda like when Hungary and other EU countries did this about 15(?) years ago.

The courts decided that the old law was unconstitutional but the timing in December is curious.

What was the real motivation? Is it all political? A money grab? Or just righting a wrong?

Also, what do you think the long-term implications are for Canada and the US? I think some EU countries might do things a bit differently (some more liberal, some not).

They had made the generational limit too strict in 2009, and had some babies that ought to be Canadian be entirely stateless. I.E. Canadian father born in US to Canadian parents, moves to Canada at age 1, lives in Canada until age 30, and then has a baby at age 31 in a country without birthright citizenship where the mother cannot pass on citizenship. The father can't pass on US citizenship because of lack of time in the US. This baby is entirely stateless and it's a huge mess for everybody involved, and there was no mechanism for the father to avoid it by naturalizing in Canada. Some families found out about this at, say, 6 months of pregnancy and had to make the call of whether to uproot their lives to go back to Canada for the baby's citizenship. Other families found out when trying to register a birth with the consulate, and realized that their baby was ineligible for any passport.

A few dozen of those families filed as plaintiffs in a case about the second generation limit, and the court fully struck down the limit. The government was given a mandate to change the law to remove that limit, and delayed it for a couple years, with the court granting extensions the whole time. The court started giving signals that it would stop giving extensions and let the law lapse entirely over the summer, so the government pushed a new law through.

It's unclear how much they were forced by the court on the retroactive stuff vs how much they just didn't try to make a restrictive law. It seems to me that there was some way to make a time limit around the original citizenship act in 1947, but they seemingly didn't even try. There may be some behind the scenes rulemaking creating a limit somewhere in there as we speak, but it's unclear. There is some kind of soft limit from how early you can actually acquire certified birth records.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter has been tracking this for about two years. Became a dual citizen last summer.

Per her, the courts had declared the previous law unconstitutional years ago and had been getting ticked at the political branch because they'd been taking so long settling on an acceptable change.

What was the process and how much verification did she need?

You have to submit Canadian paperwork, pictures meeting Canadian requirements, proof you are who you are (driver's license/US passport/...), and a complete genealogical trail since your Canadian/British/... ancestor became Canadian/... and subsequently emigrated from what is now Canada. To the extent possible, the trail (births/marriages/name changes/...) has to be based on certified/signed/sealed copies of legal documents, but, where such records don't exist, some people have used church records, etc. My daughter was able to obtain a combination of certified birth certificates, marriage records, emigration records from the various state/local/provincial governmental agencies since her most recent emigrant wasn't far removed - my grandmother was born outside Toronto. (Her cousins on my wife's side are submitting through my wife's less recent emigration trail from Acadia, I'm not sure whether their trail is completely governmental. My daughter has also mentioned being on some blogs where people have successfully claimed emigration as far back as the 1600s.)

As to process, my daughter applied last spring - before the December codification - so she had to apply for a grant of citizenship, swear an oath, etc. Under the codification, she'd be automagically a Canadian citizen having provided the complete genealogical trail and appropriate paperwork.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter has been tracking this for about two years. Became a dual citizen last summer.

Per her, the courts had declared the previous law unconstitutional years ago and had been getting ticked at the political branch because they'd been taking so long settling on an acceptable change.

What was the process and how much verification did she need?

Anonymous wrote:Good for them for FINALLY acknowledging the Acadians who were thrown out of their own country by the British because they refused to pledge allegiance to King George, a foreign King

Agree somewhat. I’m from a place with a high number of French-Canadian (specifically Acadian) descendants. On one hand, they may have some sense of vindication, on the other, it’s kinda like what are you (Canadian govt my ancestor’s enemy) trying to exploit me for now? Well, there was no established Canada until 1867 (happy Canada day!), so they wouldn’t call themselves Canadian. Maybe the descendants can fight like Quebec for independence. LOL.

Will Canada gain more political support in the US from people of deeper / older Canadian descent?

Anonymous wrote:My daughter has been tracking this for about two years. Became a dual citizen last summer.

Per her, the courts had declared the previous law unconstitutional years ago and had been getting ticked at the political branch because they'd been taking so long settling on an acceptable change.

What was the process and how much verification did she need?

My daughter has been tracking this for about two years. Became a dual citizen last summer.

Per her, the courts had declared the previous law unconstitutional years ago and had been getting ticked at the political branch because they'd been taking so long settling on an acceptable change.

Good for them for FINALLY acknowledging the Acadians who were thrown out of their own country by the British because they refused to pledge allegiance to King George, a foreign King

Is there any connection to this change ans Carney’s recent speech about taking signs down?

Specifically for those born outside with Canadian ancestry (including those who were expelled in the 1700s, before Canada Day 1867) no matter how far back.

It’s kinda like when Hungary and other EU countries did this about 15(?) years ago.

The courts decided that the old law was unconstitutional but the timing in December is curious.

What was the real motivation? Is it all political? A money grab? Or just righting a wrong?

Also, what do you think the long-term implications are for Canada and the US? I think some EU countries might do things a bit differently (some more liberal, some not).