Canadians born abroad caught up in yearslong citizenship certificate processing delays
IRCC taking 33 months to process applications in wake of 'lost Canadians' law
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IRCC → bear → law
When Pascal Sud and Meisha Smith prepared in January for the arrival of their first child, the choice seemed simple.
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choice → prepare → child
Smith would give birth in her home country of Jamaica where she had family support, and then they would together return to Montreal three months later.
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they → give → Montreal
At the time, the wait time for the citizenship certificate that their daughter, Sofianne, needed to fly back to Canada was between four and six weeks.
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daughter → need → Canada
But more than eight months later, they're still waiting.
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they → wait → ?
"It's been very frustrating," said Sud.
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Sud → say → ?
"I was lucky to be there for three months … but I've been missing every step since, and it's been very difficult to be apart from them."
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it → miss → them
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is struggling to handle a flood of citizenship applications — many of them from a change to federal law late last year that allows anyone who can prove they have a Canadian ancestor to apply.
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they → struggle → ancestor
That backlog is preventing Canadians born abroad like Sofianne from coming home.
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backlog → prevent → Sofianne
Those applying for a citizenship certificate now face a wait of 33 months.
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Those → apply → months
At that rate, Sofianne could be more than three years old before she can enter Canada.
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she → enter → Canada
Faced with this delay, Sud applied for a visitor's visa for Sofianne to travel to Canada on her Jamaican passport.
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Sofianne → face → passport
But IRCC rejected the application — saying she was Canadian and must travel to Canada on a Canadian passport.
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she → reject → passport
Sud gets frustrated when he reads in online forums about those who are trying to get citizenship through Bill C-3 — the change to immigration law for those known as the "Lost Canadians."
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who → frustrate → Canadians
Many of the posts are from people living in countries like the United States, trying to trace their Canadian ancestry to apply for citizenship certificates.
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Many → live → certificates
"They're not people who are living in Canada and a lot of them, they're not even planning to live in Canada," said Sud.
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Sud → live → Canada
"There is no different process if you're a Canadian living in Canada."
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you → be → Canada
Between Dec. 15 and July 31, 6,810 people, more than half of them Americans, have obtained Canadian citizenship certificates under Bill C-3.
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half → obtain → C-3
Another 20,515 have obtained the certificates under the pre-existing provisions to recognize those born abroad to Canadian parents.
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20,515 → obtain → parents
Canadian citizenship certificates allow holders to apply for a Canadian passport and live and work in Canada.
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holders → allow → Canada
"We have known since the first drafts of Bill C-3 that this would cause a lot of uptake in the number of applications," she said.
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she → know → applications
"That's become a reality at this point in time.
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That → become → time
Taous Ait, spokesperson for Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab, said the current processing time is the result of an increase in applications for citizenship certificates — but not all of the applications are the result of Bill C-3.
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all → say → C-3
"We recognize that long processing times can be challenging for applicants, and we are focused on ensuring citizenship certificate applications are processed as efficiently as possible while protecting the integrity of Canada's citizenship program," she wrote in a statement.
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she → recognize → statement
"IRCC is actively responding to increased demand by training and onboarding additional staff, improving intake processes and strengthening workload management.
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IRCC → respond → management
"
Change in Canada's citizenship law hitting U.S. archives
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Change → hit → archives
Demand for Canadian citizenship certificates soaring, fuelled by Americans
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Demand → soar → Americans
Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner said Prime Minister Mark Carney's government ignored warnings when Parliament adopted Bill C-3.
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Parliament → say → Bill
She said instead of getting immigration issues under control, it has created a "dumpster fire."
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it → say → fire
"There are a lot of people who have a reasonable expectation, a very reasonable expectation, for timely service delivery in the documentation that the federal government has a duty to provide to them," she said.
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she → be → them
"What the federal government did last fall was put in place a piece of legislation in spite of warnings from many stakeholders, as well as the Opposition party, gutted safeguards that could have prevented this mess and charged ahead anyways.
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that → put → mess
The Calgary MP said the backlog is affecting many in Alberta, where recent changes to provincial rules to renew driver's licenses and health cards include provisions to verify citizenship.
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changes → say → citizenship
A citizenship certificate can serve as proof for those without a passport.
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certificate → serve → passport
"It's certainly something that I'm hearing in my caucus," she said.
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she → hear → caucus
"The onus really is on the immigration minister to clear this backlog that we told her was going to happen."
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we → clear → her
NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan called on the government to restore staffing and resources that were cut at IRCC, calling the processing delays "simply unreasonable and unacceptable."
Robert Woodrich's family is also caught in the backlog.
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family → call → backlog
Woodrich was born and raised in Windsor, Ont., but has lived outside of Canada for several years — first in Thailand, where his daughter and son were born, and now in Switzerland where his family has ancestral roots.
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family → bear → roots
In February 2025, he applied for a citizenship certificate for his three-year-old daughter, Michelle, and later his son, so they could visit their grandfather and other family in Canada.
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they → apply → Canada
Michelle has a Swiss passport but, similarly to Sud, Woodrich has been told that his daughter is supposed to travel to Canada on a Canadian passport.
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daughter → have → passport
They are scheduled to visit family later this week.
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They → schedule → family
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
