Canada’s recent amendments to the Citizenship Act have expanded the definition of who is a Canadian citizen by descent – individuals born abroad who have a Canadian parent, grandparent, or even earlier ancestors may now be Canadian citizens by virtue of their lineage. While this change brings welcome clarity for many, it can also introduce unexpected challenges for individuals already in the process of applying for permanent residence who suddenly realize that under the new law, they are Canadian.

Can a Canadian Citizen Apply for Permanent Residence?

You cannot apply for permanent resident (PR) status in Canada if you are already a Canadian citizen.

If you already applied for permanent residence and are waiting for a decision, but under the new citizenship by descent rules, you have retroactively become a Canadian citizen by virtue of having a Canadian parent, grandparent, or earlier ancestor, you are technically no longer eligible to apply for permanent residence.

What Should You Do?

The first step is to determine whether you are in fact Canadian under the new rules by exploring the following questions:

• Do you have a Canadian parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, or earlier ancestor?
• Did anyone in the chain of lineage dating back to the Canadian ancestor ever renounce their Canadian citizenship?
• Was anyone in the chain of lineage dating back to the Canadian ancestor adopted?
• Do you have official documentation confirming the chain of lineage to your Canadian ancestor (e.g. birth records)?

If you think you are in fact Canadian under the new rules, you must apply for proof of Canadian citizenship to obtain your Canadian citizenship certificate. If you have a permanent residence application in process, urgent processing should be requested.

Do not withdraw your permanent residence application until you have confirmation that you are a Canadian citizen and your Canadian citizenship certificate has been issued. In some situations, individuals who think they are Canadian citizens under the new rules find out that they are not in fact Canadian by virtue of their ancestry – for example, if their ancestor renounced Canadian citizenship before their child was born, Canadian citizenship would not be passed down to their descendants. Your permanent residence application should remain on hold until you receive confirmation on your Canadian citizenship status.

What About Your Children and Spouse?

If you applied for permanent residence with your spouse and children as your dependents but now realize you are Canadian, this adds a layer of complexity.

Dependent Children Included on a Pending Permanent Residence Application

If you are a Canadian citizen by descent, then your biological children may also already be Canadian citizens by descent by virtue of the same lineage. The determination regarding your children’s citizenship will differ depending on:

• Whether your children were born before December 15, 2025; and
• If born on or after December 15, 2025, whether you obtained 1,095 days of physical presence in Canada prior to their birth.

If you think your children are also Canadian citizens under the new rules, they should apply for proof of citizenship at the same time as you to obtain their Canadian citizenship certificates.

With your spouse and any dependent children who do not have a claim to Canadian citizenship, however, additional steps are required. If your spouse does not have their own claim to Canadian citizenship by descent through their own lineage, they would not automatically become a citizen simply because you or your children are citizens by descent. Instead, if you are no longer eligible to apply for permanent residence under your pending PR application because you are a citizen, a spouse or children who were included as dependent family members on that application and do not have their own claims to citizenship would no longer be able to obtain permanent residence through that pending application.

Once your Canadian citizenship certificate is issued, however, you may be able to sponsor your spouse and any dependent children who did not retroactively become citizens when the law changed for permanent residence if you meet the eligibility criteria. As this situation could lead to significant delays in a spouse or some dependent children being able to obtain permanent resident status, it is important to be aware of any timing implications, plan accordingly, and note these implications in the urgency request made on  your own proof of citizenship application.

Final Thoughts

If you think you may now be a Canadian citizen by descent and are unsure how this might affect the current immigration pathway you are on, it is important to obtain strategic legal advice to determine next steps.

If you have questions about your options or want legal advice to develop an immigration strategy that makes sense for your family, please contact us.