Holders of proof of Canadian citizenship certificates may have had their constitutional rights violated by the federal government.

On June 13, 2026, the Registrar of citizenship issued letters en masse to persons who had been born outside Canada, requiring the immediate surrender of their Canadian citizenship certificates while their cases were being investigated, as authorized under Citizenship Regulations 26(1).

The government’s move could be illegal.

“This section of the Citizenship Regulations appears to threaten all the citizenship rights of every Canadian citizen who was not born on Canadian soil,” said Ala Bujac, a lawyer at Cohen Immigration Law, in an interview with CIC News on June 17, 2026.

Bujac explained that “there is a possible challenge” to the issuance of these letters, as being in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Under the Charter, all persons are guaranteed freedom from discrimination, including specifically discrimination on the basis of “national or ethnic origin.”

Furthermore, all Canadian citizens under the Citizenship Act are afforded the full suite of rights by the Charter.

A citizen by descent who has been forced to turn over their certificate retains their rights as a Canadian citizen under law, but cannot equally exercise their rights in practice, given that they lack the document which proves their Canadian citizenship.

Citizens born in Canada, in contrast, can prove their Canadian citizenship using birth certificates, which are not subject to forced surrender under Citizenship Regulations 26(1).

According to Bujac, a court may conclude that citizens by descent are disadvantaged on the basis of their national origin as a consequence of Citizenship Regulations 26(1).