October 8, 2025
RED FM News Desk
The House of Commons immigration committee is recommending that most adults eligible for birthright citizenship under the “Lost Canadians” bill must meet similar requirements to immigrant applicants, including language, knowledge of Canadian history, and security checks.
The committee’s MPs adopted these amendments on Tuesday to Bill C-3, which will now return to the House of Commons for final approval.
The bill was introduced in response to a 2023 Ontario court ruling that overturned a Stephen Harper-era law. That law prohibited Canadians born abroad from passing down citizenship to their children if the children were also born outside Canada.
The original bill proposes that in such situations, citizenship can be passed down if the individual can show a substantial connection to Canada by spending at least 1,095 cumulative days in the country.
However, Conservative amendments added the new language and knowledge requirements. They also imposed a restriction that the 1,095 days must be accumulated within five consecutive years.
The government is facing a court-mandated deadline to pass the legislation before midnight on November 21. Failure to do so, according to government officials, will result in an unknown number of people automatically becoming Canadian citizens.
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