Individuals born abroad may soon benefit from enhanced rights if the most recent iteration of the citizenship bill is enacted into law.

On November 3, the House of Commons voted to eliminate the latest revisions to Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025).

The proposed amendments, which were ultimately removed, aimed to restrict second-generation citizenship by descent in several ways:

• Requiring Canadian parent(s) to meet a more stringent version of the original bill’s substantial connection to Canada test.
• Mandating that children aged 18 or older applying for citizenship undergo a security assessment.
• Requiring children aged 18–55 applying for citizenship to demonstrate proficiency in English or French, as well as knowledge of Canada and citizenship rights and responsibilities.

The motions to eliminate the amendments were approved with a 170-163 vote, with the Liberals, NDP, and Green party in favor, and the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois opposed.

Under the substantial connection to Canada test outlined in the initial reading of the bill, a child of a Canadian citizen by descent could inherit citizenship provided the Canadian parent had spent a minimum of 1,095 days in Canada before the child’s birth or adoption.

The revised version of Bill-3 in the second reading made this test more stringent by requiring the 1,095 days to occur within a single five-year period.

Bill C-3 is designed to expand citizenship rights by descent by relaxing the first-generation limit (FGL) introduced in Canada’s Citizenship Act in 2009.

If Bill C-3 is enacted in its most recent form, children of citizens by descent will be eligible for citizenship as long as their Canadian parent meets the substantial connection to Canada test.

Upon enactment, the bill would also automatically restore citizenship to all Lost Canadians impacted by the previous version of the FGL, regardless of their parents’ compliance with the substantial connection to Canada test.

To become law, the bill must pass its third reading in the House of Commons, undergo three readings in the Senate, and receive royal assent.

This bill is the federal government’s response to a ruling by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in December 2023, which deemed the existing FGL unconstitutional and mandated the federal government to make changes.