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The first-generation limit was ruled unconstitutional in 2023, the interim relief has been extended into 2026, and Bill C-71 to formally repeal it has been in and out of Parliament for two years. Here is where the file actually stands right now, and what a HNWI client with Canadian ancestry can and can't do.
Canadian citizenship by descent has spent the last three years in a legislative and constitutional limbo that has generated more coverage than certainty. The short version: the 2009 first-generation limit is dead as constitutional law but partially alive as operational practice, Bill C-71 is meant to fix that but has repeatedly stalled, and the current route for HNWI clients with Canadian ancestry runs through an interim grant process that works but requires precision. Anyone quoting a clean rule is quoting one that does not exist yet.
Bill C-37, passed in 2009, restored Canadian citizenship to a large class of "lost Canadians" who had lost it under earlier rules, but did so with a hard cutoff: only the first generation born abroad to a Canadian citizen would inherit citizenship by descent. Children born abroad in the second generation and beyond would not. A Canadian citizen living in London whose child was born there would have a Canadian child. That child's own children, if born abroad, would not be Canadian.
In December 2023, the Ontario Superior Court ruled in Bjorkquist v. Canada that the first-generation limit violated section 15 (equality) and section 6 (mobility) of the Charter. The government did not appeal, and instead accepted the finding and issued interim measures. The Court gave Parliament until June 2024 to legislate a fix. That deadline has been extended twice.
Two things are true simultaneously. First, the first-generation limit is no longer enforceable as a bar to citizenship claims. Second, the statutory scheme still contains the limit on its face, and until Bill C-71 (or a successor bill) passes, IRCC processes second-generation claims through a discretionary grant mechanism under section 5(4) of the Citizenship Act.
For an HNWI client with a Canadian ancestor whose file would previously have been closed by the first-generation limit, the practical route is:
Processing time on section 5(4) grants is currently running twelve to twenty-four months. It has been accelerated relative to pre-2024 backlogs but remains slower than the standard proof-of-citizenship process, which runs six to twelve months.
Bill C-71, as tabled, formally repeals the first-generation limit and replaces it with a substantial-connection test for citizens born abroad who wish to pass citizenship to their own children born abroad. The parent has to have accumulated 1,095 days (three years) of physical presence in Canada before the child's birth. This is a real test with real bite. It closes the door for a family whose Canadian ancestor emigrated three or four generations ago and whose current adult applicant has never lived in Canada.
For HNWI files where the substantial-connection test would fail, the effective outcome once C-71 passes is that the section 5(4) discretionary route becomes the primary and often the only route. Discretionary grants are not automatic, but IRCC has issued them in cases where the applicant demonstrates cultural, family, or professional ties to Canada.
The standard case (child born abroad to a Canadian citizen who is a citizen at the child's birth, first generation abroad) remains straightforward and unchanged. Proof of citizenship (a Citizenship Certificate) is issued on file review. Fee is CAD 75. Processing runs six to twelve months in current cycles.
Once the Citizenship Certificate is in hand, a Canadian passport application is administrative. Fee is CAD 160 for a ten-year adult passport.
Unlike the US system, Canada does not have a distinct Consular Report of Birth Abroad. The Citizenship Certificate is the single dispositive document. For a child born abroad to a Canadian citizen, parents can apply for the certificate soon after birth, and this is the standard practice. HNWI clients whose children are born abroad and whose file is first-generation should file the certificate application in the child's infancy, not later, to avoid documentation drift.
For clients whose ancestor was a Canadian citizen but who has never had the certificate issued, the file works the same way, running from an application under section 3 with supporting documentation of the ancestor's citizenship.
Three things are worth flagging for a Canadian descent file.
First: Canada has no residency requirement to hold or maintain citizenship once acquired. There is no equivalent of the US expatriation tax. There is no requirement to file Canadian tax returns from abroad unless you have Canadian-source income. For HNWI clients whose only connection to Canada is inherited citizenship, the tax exposure profile is much lighter than for US citizenship.
Second: Canadian citizenship is one of the more useful "backup" passports in the world. Visa-free to 185+ destinations, unrestricted right to enter the US under NEXUS and the Canadian pre-clearance framework, and full standing in the Commonwealth. The passport is not an EU passport and does not deliver EU settlement rights, but for a client whose primary passport is US, Chinese, or Middle Eastern, the additive value is meaningful.
Third: the legislative uncertainty around C-71 means a file in 2026 should be built for a two-track outcome (proof-of-citizenship straightforward, section 5(4) grant if the break is there) rather than assuming either will resolve cleanly.
For a client with a Canadian-born parent who was a citizen at the client's birth, Canadian descent is administratively easy and the passport is a strong backup. For a client whose Canadian connection is at grandparent or great-grandparent level, the route runs through the discretionary grant and requires patience plus a real demonstration of connection to Canada.
For a client whose Canadian ancestry is functionally residual (great-great-grandparent who emigrated a century ago), the more efficient route is usually the standard Canadian residency track (Express Entry, provincial nominee, or study-then-work) rather than a discretionary grant based on descent.
If you have a Canadian-ancestry file and want a written read on whether it is a clean first-generation case, a section 5(4) discretionary case, or a case where a different route pencils better, send the family outline through our contact form. We'll come back the same week with the working determination.