IRCC reviews some Bill C-3 citizenship-by-descent certificates
Canada has not announced a new policy that strips citizenship from applicants, and the expanded ancestry rules remain in force. Here is what actually happened.
Bill C-3, which amends the Citizenship Act, received Royal Assent on November 20, 2025 and came into force on December 15, 2025. It removed the first-generation limit on citizenship by descent and introduced a "substantial connection" test, under which a Canadian parent must have 1,095 cumulative days of physical presence in Canada before a child is born or adopted abroad. That law is still valid and in force — it has not been repealed or reversed.
Between December 15, 2025 and March 31, 2026, IRCC issued 4,075 citizenship-by-descent certificates under the new rules, roughly half of them to applicants born in the United States. In mid-June 2026, IRCC's Registrar of Canadian Citizenship emailed a limited number of those certificate holders to say their files are under review and to ask them to surrender their certificates pending re-examination of their proof of lineage.
This is a review, not a revocation and not a fraud allegation. IRCC's stated concern is documentary: some applications relied on compiled genealogy records from sites such as Ancestry.ca or FamilySearch rather than certified records obtained directly from source authorities such as provincial vital-statistics offices, and did not explain why original records were unavailable. If a review confirms entitlement, the certificate is returned.
The number of people who received letters has not been officially confirmed; the minister's office described it as "a limited number," and the 4,075 figure refers to certificates issued, not letters sent. As of mid-June 2026 there was no dedicated Government of Canada page on the review, so anyone affected should rely on the actual letter they received and official IRCC channels.
This is general information, not legal advice — for your situation, consult an authorized immigration representative.