C-3 citizenship certificates suspended then reinstated: documentary evidence at the heart of the storm
- Patrice Bourque
- 1 day ago
- 9 min read
A week of confusion has served as a stark reminder of a truth genealogists have long known: when it comes to citizenship by descent, it's not blood ties that are proven to the state, but the document itself. On June 23, Ottawa reversed its decision to revoke citizenship certificates from certain "lost Canadians," just days after ordering them to return them. In the interim, families found themselves in what one immigration lawyer described as "legal limbo." This article revisits this revealing episode and what it means for anyone considering having their Canadian ancestry recognized.
What happened in June 2026
At the beginning of the month, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) wrote to several dozen people who had obtained a citizenship certificate by descent, informing them that their status was "under review." The letter, signed by a departmental director, requested the return of the paper certificate and specified that the associated Canadian passport was no longer valid and had to be returned within 15 days. The reason given: the submitted documents did not originate from "original sources responsible for the creation or preservation of historical records."
On June 16, IRCC confirmed it was temporarily suspending the finalization of certificates related to the new law and reviewing approximately 4,100 applications submitted under it. Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab clarified that evidence from sites like Ancestry.ca was insufficient and that applicants needed to submit "verified and authenticated documents." Lawyer Laurence Trempe described the situation as "unprecedented chaos," noting that a person holding a certificate is a citizen by right and, as such, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms applies to them.
The following weekend, the tone had changed. Several recipients received an email confirming that their citizenship was once again valid. On June 23, the ministry clarified its position: the certificates would not be suspended unless the review revealed a problem with a document already issued. The review of the approximately 4,100 files is nevertheless continuing.
Timeline of C-3, from the Bjorkquist decision to today
2009. The Conservative government introduced the first-generation limit. In practical terms, a Canadian parent born abroad can no longer pass on citizenship to a child born outside the country.
December 19, 2023. In Bjorkquist et al. v. Attorney General of Canada (2023 ONSC 7152), the Ontario Superior Court of Justice declared this limit unconstitutional because it violated the Charter rights to mobility and equality. However, the court suspended the effect of its declaration to allow Parliament time to legislate.
January 22, 2024. Ottawa announces that it will not appeal the decision, acknowledging that the law was producing unacceptable results.
2024. Bill C-71, introduced in the previous Parliament to rectify the situation, died on the order paper before the election. The suspension of the declaration of invalidity was extended several times (decisions 2025 ONSC 1657 and 2025 ONSC 2413), with the deadline being pushed back with each extension.
March 13, 2025. Pending new legislation, IRCC is implementing interim measures allowing for discretionary grants of citizenship to affected individuals.
June 5, 2025. Minister Lena Metlege Diab introduces Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act, 2025, in the House of Commons. The Charter statement is tabled on June 10.
Autumn 2025. The project passes the second reading, the committee study and the third reading, then is adopted by the Senate.
November 20, 2025. C-3 receives royal assent.
December 15, 2025. The law comes into force by decree. From that day forward, any person born before that date who can establish a direct lineage to a Canadian ancestor is entitled to citizenship, regardless of the number of generations. For children born after December 15, 2025, a Canadian parent born abroad must demonstrate a "substantial connection" with the country, meaning at least 1,095 days (three years) of physical presence before the birth.
December 2025 to January 2026. In just six weeks, IRCC receives over 12,400 applications for citizenship by descent. From December 15 to February 28, approximately 2,670 requests for proof of parentage are processed and confirmed under the new provisions.
Early June 2026. IRCC sends out its first letters of review and orders the return of certificates and passports.
June 16, 2026. The ministry confirms it is suspending the finalization of certificates and reviewing approximately 4,100 files. Nearly 4,000 certificates had already been issued based on parentage since December.
June 20 and 21, 2026. Several people affected learn by email that their citizenship is once again recognized.
June 23, 2026. Ottawa officially reverses its decision. Certificates will not be suspended unless a review reveals a problem with a document already issued.
The real issue: the quality of the evidence
The June incident was not an isolated incident; it was the predictable consequence of a misunderstanding about the nature of the evidence. Many applicants, often American, compiled their files using screenshots of family trees or extracts from commercial databases. However, these images are not official documents. IRCC requires official or certified copies issued by the authority responsible for preserving the record: Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) for Quebec records over one hundred years old, the Directeur de l'état civil (Director of Civil Status) for more recent records, and the competent provincial body elsewhere in the country. A certified copy of a baptismal, marriage, or burial certificate, accompanied by reasoning linking each generation to the next, is infinitely more valuable than a printed page from a public website.
This is precisely where the value of rigorous genealogical research lies. Establishing a defensible chain of proof means identifying the correct document in the correct parish, ordering a certified copy from the official source, documenting each link, and taking responsibility for the result. Genealogical research is not a matter of personal belonging; it is a documentary demonstration that must hold up before an official.
BAnQ: exploding delays
The cornerstone of most Quebec records lies in the parish registers held by BAnQ, and the institution is currently overwhelmed. On its own page dedicated to the reproduction of civil status documents, BAnQ displays an unequivocal warning: given the exceptional number of requests received, it can no longer determine the time required for this service (banq.qc.ca/etat-civil). Under normal circumstances, the basic rate provides delivery within fifteen business days for orders of thirty-five files or fewer, with an expedited service of five business days charged at double the price. For civil status records, these guidelines no longer apply.
The figures reported by the media, based on data provided by BAnQ itself, illustrate the scale of the shock. According to Radio-Canada, the institution received over 1,000 requests related to the new law in January 2026, compared to 32 during the same period the previous year. In April 2026, 1,681 requests flooded in, compared to 56 in April 2025—an increase of more than twelvefold, confirmed by La Presse using the same sources. As early as February, the coordinating archivist of the Rimouski office, Guillaume Marsan, summed up the situation in one sentence: "We are overwhelmed." He specified that he had processed 150 American files in January alone, and that the institution was no longer meeting its usual three-week processing time for research.
To absorb the surge, BAnQ responded on two fronts. First, the institution established a team specializing in the certification of civil status documents, creating eleven new positions, according to its communications department. It also revised its fee schedule: the cost remains $55 for Quebec residents, but it rises to $350 for the first copy of a request from abroad, plus $100 for each additional copy. An English translation of the form was also made available. The Trois-Rivières office, which holds civil records prior to 1922, and the Rimouski office, serving the Lower St. Lawrence and Gaspé regions, are among the most in demand, indicating that the demand is concentrated in the areas where Franco-Americans trace their roots.
The phenomenon extends far beyond Quebec. According to CBC, several provincial archives services, notably in New Brunswick, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Ontario, are reporting comparable increases. The Nova Scotia Public Archives offer a striking point of comparison: they received 1,354 requests between January and March 2026, more than five times the total for the entire year of 2024, which stood at 262. The pressure from the Acadian community is particularly intense there, with many descendants of deportees now seeking to document their Maritime ancestry.
The practical lesson is simple: get it right the first time. Providing the exact parish, date, type of document, number, and names of the parties involved speeds up the search and prevents the wrong document from being reproduced. This is precisely the kind of precision that a preliminary search in name databases allows you to obtain even before placing an order.
IRCC: a service window that gets more and more congested month after month
At the other end of the chain, federal processing is lengthening at a dramatic rate. Proof of citizenship and the granting of citizenship are two separate lines, each with its own processing time. For proof of citizenship—that is, the certificate requested by those already citizens by right—the trajectory is striking: IRCC estimated the processing time at five months in July 2025. Five days before Bill C-3 came into effect, it was nine months, with approximately 40,400 people waiting. By May 12, 2026, the processing time had reached twelve months, and the backlog numbered some 70,400 applications. In June 2026, according to IRCC data reported by CIC News, the estimate climbed to fifteen months, with a backlog exceeding 82,000 applications. Added to this are three to four months of postal delays for applications submitted outside Canada and the United States, where the majority of applicants reside.
This processing time is not fixed. IRCC recalculates it monthly based on the number of applications already in the queue, available staff, and anticipated volumes. As applications continue to arrive faster than they are processed, the estimate is likely to continue rising. For those who need the certificate to apply for a Canadian passport, the constraint is significant: a passport application cannot be submitted without the certificate, and expedited processing remains limited to narrow humanitarian grounds. As a reminder, the citizenship grant queue, which concerns permanent residents in the process of becoming naturalized, had approximately 321,100 applications as of May 12, 2026, with a processing time of roughly thirteen months.
Key takeaways
The trip to Ottawa in June does nothing to change the underlying problem: a citizenship application based on descent is only as good as the strength of its supporting documents. The ministry reacted clumsily, but its initial requirement was justified. A certificate issued based solely on a screenshot remains vulnerable, and no one wants to build a life plan, let alone relocate, on such a shaky foundation.
In this context, the value of rigorous genealogical research has never been more evident. Identifying the correct document, ordering it certified as a true copy from the competent official source, linking each generation through documented reasoning, and assuming responsibility for the entire process: this is what transforms a family intuition into admissible evidence. Artificial intelligence, databases, and online family trees are useful tools for this process. They do not replace the individual who is accountable to the state for the results.
Press review and references
Primary and governmental sources
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Reproduction of civil status documents (baptism, marriage, burial), banq.qc.ca/etat-civil (official notice on deadlines and fee schedule).
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Obtain a reproduction, banq.qc.ca/notre-institution/banq/commander-reproduction.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, New citizenship rules for Canadians born or adopted abroad are now in effect, December 15, 2025, canada.ca.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Canada takes a major step by restoring equity in citizenship by descent (Royal Assent), November 21, 2025, canada.ca.
Parliament of Canada, Bill C-3 (45-1), LEGISinfo fact sheet, parl.ca/LegisInfo/fr/projet-de-loi/45-1/C-3.
Library of Parliament, Legislative Summary of Bill C-3: An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025), bdp.parl.ca.
Senate of Canada (BRG), Citizenship legislation becomes law, November 27, 2025, senat-brg.ca/c3-citoyennete.
Press coverage
Radio-Canada, Ottawa reverses its decision to revoke citizenship from some "lost Canadians", June 23, 2026.
Radio-Canada, Ottawa suspends Canadian citizenship certificates obtained through descent, June 16, 2026.
Le Devoir, The federal government has suspended several recently received citizenship certificates by descent, June 2026.
Radio-Canada, Canadian citizenship by descent: applications are multiplying, especially from Americans, May 17, 2026 (BAnQ data from April 2026 and IRCC statistics).
La Presse, Americans trace their Canadian ancestors back several centuries, May 19, 2026.
Radio-Canada, When archives open the door to Canadian citizenship, March 20, 2026 (Trois-Rivières office, price list).
Radio-Canada, Worried about the political climate, Americans are flocking to their Canadian roots, February 9, 2026 (Rimouski bureau).
CIC News, Citizenship wait time jumps to 15 months as more than 11,500 join processing queue in a month, June 2026.
CIC News, Archives overwhelmed after Canada opens up citizenship to millions of Americans, May 5, 2026 (Nova Scotia figures and national overview).
CBC News, Millions of Americans can now claim Canadian citizenship by descent. But they have to prove it, March 8, 2026.
Moving2Canada, Proof of citizenship processing time rises to 12 months as citizenship by descent applications surge, May 15, 2026.
This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For any citizenship or immigration matters, consult a licensed advisor.
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