Canadian Citizenship by Descent
Canadian citizenship by descent: find out whether you are already Canadian.
On December 15, 2025, Bill C-3 removed the first-generation limit on Canadian citizenship by descent. If a parent, grandparent, or earlier ancestor was born in Canada, you and your children may now be Canadian citizens by right. This is usually a question of confirming a status you already hold, not applying for a new one, and the first step is working out whether the chain holds.
Start your chain check
Where to start
The chain check
Citizenship by descent is not a question of eligibility in the ordinary sense. Either citizenship passed down your family line or it did not, and that depends on the law as it stood each time it was meant to pass.
The chain check is how we work that out. We trace your family line against both the legacy Citizenship Act and the C-3 amendments, generation by generation, and tell you where the chain holds and where it breaks. Multi-generation, multi-country document reconciliation is real work that software is good at, and ours lines up the names, dates and places across the whole chain for the lawyer reading it.
It is free to start. Send us what you know, and a member of our team will reach out almost instantly to book your 30 minute consultation, where a lawyer walks you through the result. Sometimes the chain breaks, and a clear no is worth more than a hopeful maybe on a file this document-heavy.
Sources: Bill C-3, the Citizenship Act, IRCC’s summary of the changes, and IRCC’s proof of citizenship guidance.
What we need from you to start
- Who in your family was born in Canada, and roughly when
- The generations between them and you, with approximate dates and places of birth
- Whether anyone in that line naturalised elsewhere, renounced, or was born outside marriage, because each of those mattered under the older law
- Any documents you already have
What you get back
Whether the chain appears to hold, where the weak points are, which of the three routes fits your facts, and what documents you would need. If the chain breaks, we will tell you that and where.
What citizenship unlocks
A birthright with lifelong value.
Tier-one passport
Visa-free or visa-on-arrival travel to many countries, plus the right to live and work anywhere in Canada.
A stable G7 home
Lifetime access to a stable democracy, universal healthcare, and public education for you and your children.
A heritage worth claiming
Pass Canadian citizenship to your children and grandchildren under the new rules, preserving the connection for generations.
What the timeline looks like
Long, and getting longer.
Bill C-3 came into force on December 15, 2025 and is the largest change to Canadian citizenship law in a generation. IRCC reports about 130,700 proof of citizenship applications waiting to be processed, as of October 9, 2026.
IRCC’s posted processing time for a proof of citizenship application is about 34 months, as of its October 9, 2026 update. Check IRCC’s current processing times.
That is the situation. What you do about it depends on your own plans, not on anything we would tell you about a window closing.
What we will say is this: the part of the timeline you control is whether your file is complete and internally consistent when it goes in. An incomplete file does not just take longer. It generates requests for further documents, and each round of those adds months to a process already measured in years.
Current processing
34
months, IRCC's posted processing time as of October 9, 2026
A complete file avoids the document requests that add months to this.
How we work
A lawyer-led process, built around the chain check.
The chain check
Send us what you know about the Canadian-born ancestor and the generations between. In your consultation, a lawyer tells you where the line holds against both the legacy Act and the C-3 amendments, and where it does not.
Documents and reconciliation
Birth, marriage, and naturalisation records from multiple countries have to line up. Our software reconciles the dates, names, and places across the whole chain and flags the gaps. This is the part that takes the longest and the part most files get wrong.
A licensed Canadian lawyer reviews and files
A licensed Canadian lawyer reviews every page before it is filed.
Flat fees. Once you are a client, a reply within one business day. No surprises.
Why a lawyer matters
Citizenship by descent is not one-size-fits-all.
The old first-generation rule, the C-3 amendments, and decades of historic citizenship law all interact. The right strategy can be the difference between a fast approval and a year of avoidable back-and-forth.
Confirm eligibility
We trace your generation chain against both the legacy Citizenship Act and the C-3 amendments to confirm you actually qualify before you commit.
Audit your documents
Birth, marriage, and naturalization records from multiple countries need to line up. We catch gaps and inconsistencies that cause refusals.
Map your strategy
Proof of citizenship, a grant application, or a discretionary route. Each fits different facts. We pick the path most likely to succeed.
Reduce avoidable refusals
IRCC officers refuse incomplete or ambiguous files. A lawyer-reviewed application protects your filing fee, your timeline, and your record.
A straight answer if the chain breaks
Sometimes it does, and we will tell you where. You should not pay us to prepare a file that cannot succeed.
FAQ
Citizenship by descent questions, answered.
Do not see your question? Ask us directly. A member of our team will reach out almost instantly.
Ask a question- Am I already a Canadian citizen?
- Possibly, and this is the right question to ask first. If a parent, grandparent, or earlier ancestor was born in Canada, citizenship may have passed down to you automatically, in which case you are confirming a status you already hold rather than applying for a new one. Whether it passed depends on the law as it stood at each generation. A chain check establishes that.
- What did Bill C-3 change?
- Bill C-3 came into force on December 15, 2025 and removed the first-generation limit on citizenship by descent. Before that, citizenship by descent generally stopped after one generation born outside Canada. Now it can extend further down the line, subject to the conditions in the amendments to the Citizenship Act.
- How far back does the chain go?
- There is no fixed number of generations. What matters is whether citizenship passed at each step under the law in force at the time, which is why the trace has to be done generation by generation rather than by counting.
- What documents will I need?
- Birth, marriage, and naturalisation records for every generation in the chain, often from more than one country. The reconciliation of those records, making sure names, dates, and places agree across decades and jurisdictions, is the bulk of the work.
- How long does a proof of citizenship application take?
- IRCC's posted processing time for a proof of citizenship application is about 34 months, as of its October 9, 2026 update on the IRCC processing times page. A complete file avoids the document requests that add further months to that.
- What if the chain breaks?
- We tell you, and we tell you where. Depending on the facts, a grant application or a discretionary route may still be open, or there may be no route, in which case you will hear that. Starting the chain check is free, and if the chain breaks you hear that before you retain us to prepare anything.
Meet our founder
Joshua Schachnow, B.Com., J.D.
Founder
Josh is a Toronto-based lawyer who has been practising immigration law for more than nine years. He has helped thousands of individuals and companies navigate Canadian immigration, from work permits to permanent residence, study permits, citizenship, LMIAs and more, and he built the software this firm runs on. Josh always puts his clients first, and believes quick and thoughtful communication is most important to making the process as smooth and stress-free as possible.
Where to start
Start with a chain check.
Tell us who in your family was born in Canada and roughly when, and what you know about the generations since. A member of our team will reach out almost instantly to book your consultation, where a licensed Canadian immigration lawyer will tell you whether the chain appears to hold, where the weak points are, and what it would take to confirm it. Free to start. If the chain breaks, you will hear that too.