How to find out if you have Canadian citizenship through the same ancestor…
The December 2024 amendments to Canada's Citizenship Act removed the first-generation limit on citizenship by descent, making an estimated 13,000-plus descendants of Acadian leader Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil newly eligible for Canadian citizenship — including American singer Beyoncé. The changes took effect on December 19, 2024, and apply to anyone who can document an unbroken line of descent from a Canadian ancestor, regardless of how many generations removed.
Before December, Canadian citizenship by descent was limited to the first generation born abroad. Under the revised law, descendants beyond the first generation can now claim citizenship if they trace their lineage to a Canadian parent, grandparent, or more distant ancestor who held or was entitled to citizenship. Broussard, who led 193 Acadian refugees to Louisiana in 1765 after British expulsion from present-day Nova Scotia, is recognized as a Canadian ancestor under the Act. His descendants, including the Cajun population of Louisiana, now have a pathway to citizenship that didn't exist a year ago.
To establish eligibility, applicants must prove continuous descent through parent-child relationships documented in vital records. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada requires birth certificates, marriage certificates, and other government-issued documents for each generation in the lineage. The process begins with mapping your family tree backward from yourself to your parents, grandparents, and earlier generations, recording full names, birth dates, birth locations, and citizenship status for each ancestor. Genealogical software such as Family Tree Maker, RootsMagic, or spreadsheet tools like Excel can organize the data, though IRCC accepts documentation in any clear format that shows the unbroken chain.
"Anyone able to trace a continuous line of descent to Broussard is not only a distant relative of Beyoncé, but also a Canadian citizen by descent," as reported by CIC News.
The change primarily affects descendants of Acadians in Louisiana, French-Canadian emigrants to the United States, and other diaspora communities whose family lines extend beyond the previous one-generation cutoff. Applicants in the United States, particularly those with Cajun heritage, represent the largest group of newly eligible individuals. Descendants in France, the United Kingdom, and other countries with historical ties to French Canada may also qualify if they can document the lineage.
Applicants should begin by gathering birth, marriage, and death certificates for themselves and their direct ancestors, working backward one generation at a time. Submit a proof of citizenship application (form CIT 0001) to IRCC once the documentation is complete, including certified translations for any records not in English or French. Processing times for citizenship certificate applications currently average 15 months, though complex cases involving older records or multiple jurisdictions may take longer. Check the IRCC online portal for updates on your application status after submission.
Source: CIC News — published 2026-05-27.