r/CanadianbyDescent

I'm curious - clearly all of us have found out about the law and figured out that it applied to us. Where did you hear about it? When did you find out about it?

I literally saw through a legal advertisement on Facebook. I knew I had Canadian ancestry already, but didn't hear about the law until about 7 months after it had passed.

Most people that qualify seem to still be in the dark about the whole situation, so I am wondering how all of you all heard about it (I want to see what channels are spreading awareness)

With Bill C-3, people with Canadian ancestry are automatically citizens by birth if they were born before the law went into effect. But I keep going back and forth on how this actually works in practice because of two conflicting arguments:  

 Argument 1: You are already a citizen retroactive to the moment you're born; the application process for a certificate is literally just requesting proof of a status that already exists.  

 Argument 2: Until IRCC actually vets your lineage, reviews the records, and verifies it, you aren't a legal citizen yet.

I wonder which one it really is. I see so many on these groups say “we are already citizens. We are just requesting proof” which is arguably true — but that leads me to a crazy hypothetical I think about way too often lol:

Let's say someone works for the CIA or the FBI, or any other federal occupation with high security clearance that forbids any and all dual citizenship. Let’s say they happen to have a Canadian great-grandparent or great-great-grandparent or even further removed Canadian ancestor, making them technically eligible under Bill C-3. Hillary Clinton is actually an example of someone who held high ranking clearance and had Canadian ancestry.

However, for this hypothetical let’s say the person has zero intention of ever submitting a proof of citizenship application or interacting with IRCC. In some cases they may not even know any of this

We all know some occupations strictly forbid people from holding dual citizenship. But under this new law... do they actually hold it anyway regardless if they want it or not? Ethically, as they advance in their career should they report that they hold this citizenship?

If citizenship by descent is truly automatic and retroactive from birth, do they technically possess a foreign citizenship right now, even if they've never claimed it or gotten a piece of paper for it? And if security investigators view "automatic birthright" as a disqualifying dual citizenship, how on earth are you supposed to handle a foreign allegiance you never asked for, never documented, and refuse to claim? would people in this category be forced to apply — Only so they could renounce? lol

Where this gets even more complex in my head. Let’s say someone in this category, with high security clearance, has kids that want to make a claim based off a distant ancestor. Obviously the kids would not include an application for their parents with high security clearance, but still need their parent’s birth record — who knows if that logs the parent with security clearance in IRCC’s system as a citizen regardless?

Curious how others view this grey area. Does citizenship exist independently of state recognition, or does it only spark into existence once the bureaucracy finishes vetting you? Interesting hypothetical thought I have had for some time

I finally had a response today from the church where my G0 was baptized in 1849.

"Hello,

For this research, we ask for a $300 fee payable in advance, and we do not guarantee the result of the research. Also, we are currently in a moving period, so we cannot say when we could start it.

Thank you very much for your understanding."

I sent a screenshot from familysearch of the document requested.

For that price and the "who knows when we'll get to it" attitude, I guess I will just wait for the one I ordered from BAnQ in May and have still not received the request to pay? So much frustration.

Like a previous poster, I'm really nervous about getting this right, any advice is appreciated...

Applying for myself (G3), and my two kids (G4s). The Canadian by descent lineage is mostly maternal, so marriage certs included to show last name changes unless the birth certificate includes the mother's maiden name.

here's what I don't have:

G0 1910 certified birth record requested from the Archives of Ontario one month ago, no response yet (expected).

here's what I have:

G0 (great grandmother) Copy of 1910 Ontario birth record from Ancestry

Print out from the Archives of Ontario saying that they use Ancestry to store copies of their documents

G0 on the 1911 Census of Canada from FamilySearch (better quality/clearer than Ancestry copy)

G0 on the 1921 Census of Canada from FamilySearch (better quality/clearer than Ancestry copy)

Print out from the LAC saying the IPCC doesn't need certified copies and to just use FamilySearch/Ancestry

G0 Copy of 1926 certified US marriage record showing birth place as Ontario and last name change to match G1

G0 and G1 on the 1940 US census showing her birth place as Canada with new last name from Ancestry

G1 (grandmother) Copy of 1932 certified US birth certificate also lists G0 mother's birthplace as Canada

G2 (mother) Copy of certified US birth certificate showing G1 maiden name

G3 (me) Copy of certified US birth certificate showing G2 maiden name

G4 (kids) Copy of birth certificates showing my G3 name.

I sent my application in April and got an AOR in July this year 2026. I’m planning on going to grad school in Canada and it would be extremely helpful to be a citizen by then due to cost. I want to move and start a Life in Canada. Does anyone have any advice or an idea of when it could be processed.

My G0 passed away in Massachusetts, but the town where they passed does not allow genealogical research/requests to be done remotely. I live over a thousand miles from this town, and per their website and a phone call with their office, the only way to conduct genealogical research through their vital records office is to physically appear in their office and search the records yourself. I haven’t been able to get my G0s death certificate because Massachusetts only published « death indexes » for people at the time she passed (approximately 1950-1970), and they have not responded to any of my attempts to seek her death certificate. I found her death recorded in the index, but the only info provided there is the year and town in which she passed, and her name. I’ve been trying to get this document for months to no avail. Does anybody have a suggestion on how to get her death certificate?? It seems DEC won’t issue retroactive birth certificates unless you can produce a death certificate, which I currently don’t have access to, this feels a little impossible.

Edit to add: I have requested this information from the state vital records office multiple times and have not received any response unfortunately. I forgot to include this earlier cause I wasn’t quite awake when I made the post 🫠

This is the letter and response I sent to DEC yesterday to obtain confirmation they do not hold civil records from before 1923. I will be uploading the response to my application to hopefully ward off frivolous request to have an act of birth created for my G0, who was born in the 19th century. They are far more responsive in French, and I suggest you email them in their preferred language.

>RE: Demande concernant un acte de naissance de [YYYY]

>Bonjour,

>Je cherche à obtenir un document officiel concernant la naissance d'un ancêtre né au Québec en [YYYY].

>Il s'agit de [Full Name], né le [DD] [month] [YYYY] à [Place] (Québec).

>Pourriez-vous m'indiquer si le Directeur de l'état civil (DEC) peut délivrer un certificat de naissance, une copie d'acte ou tout autre document officiel pour une naissance remontant à [YYYY]? Si aucun document officiel n'est disponible, pourriez-vous me fournir cette réponse sur papier à en-tête du DEC?

>Par ailleurs, si les actes de cette époque ne sont pas conservés ni délivrés par le Directeur de l'état civil, pourriez-vous m'indiquer quelle institution est responsable de ces anciens registres et auprès de qui je devrais faire ma demande?

>Merci beaucoup de votre aide.

>Cordialement,

>[Full Name]

I expect you can receive a similar response as I did to attach to your application:

>Bonjour,

>Nous avons bien reçu votre courriel.

>Nous vous informons que le registre de l’état civil contient les actes de l’état civil de 1923 jusqu’à aujourd’hui. Pour les informations concernant les événements ayant eu lieu avant 1923, nous vous suggérons de communiquer avec la Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec aux numéros suivants :

>Montréal : 514 873-1100

>Ailleurs au Québec : 1 800-363-9028

>Vous pouvez également consulter le site Internet de cet organisme au www.banq.qc.ca.

>Veuillez accepter nos salutations distinguées,

>[Agent's Name]
Agente de soutien à la clientèle
Centre de relations avec la clientèle
Services Québec pour le Directeur de l'état civil

last week there was a new consolidated spreadsheet tracker that was really easy to understand. I can’t find it anywhere and when I click the link on the Facebook group it says “404 not found”

Does anybody know what happened to it?

Wasn’t allowed in the other subreddit so posting it here. Discussion Thread for Those of us with Quebec Baptismal Records but no Birth Certificate

I am starting this thread to discuss the conflicting guidance from IRCC regarding applicants with Quebec baptismal records but no birth certificates.

There seems to be significant confusion about the requirements for a retroactively issued birth certificate from the DEC.

Based on recent discussions, the guidance has shifted multiple times:
• **Initial Guidance:** An uncertified copy from BAnQ was deemed acceptable. As Baptismal records were deemed as the civil registry of the time.
• **Subsequent Requirement:** from a couple of cases, it seems that a certified copy directly from BAnQ was required because of the “from the issuing authority” requirement.
• **Current Situation?**:I’ve seen a couple of IRCC correspondence now requesting birth certificates that simply do not exist for some applicants. And some of us have gone ahead and attempted to get one.

And there are differing theories as to the year in which our G0 was born and whether the DEC birth certificate requirement applies. Because DEC definitively states that “register of civil status holds civil status acts from 1923 to the
present. For information concerning events that occurred prior to 1923, we suggest you
contact BAnQ”

While some have attempted to retroactively obtain a birth certificate, the results have been mixed. And even confusion as to if it’s required

Given that IRCC is aware these documents do not exist, why they might not exist structurally and systematically (and not just in an individualized way) what is the actual, current guidance? What steps should we be taking, and what are the actual timelines and cutoffs?

Hoping to share experiences and clarify the path forward for all of us.

My kids' and my applications were accepted in April. We've been in the processing queue since May. For months after that, I was told there were about 50,000 people ahead of us. I understand the delays! I understand that things are taking longer. But when I checked just now, it says there are 98,000 people ahead of us!

So--48,000 people jumped the line? 48,000 people applied for urgent status? Or 48,000 got immigration attorneys, and the attorneys PAID immigration to let their clients jump the line?

Does anyone know what is going on, because this doesn't make sense! It looks really arbitrary and ridiculous--or corrupt.

For weeks now I couldn’t figure out why after receiving my AOR I could not check my status online using the Canadian website tool.

So today I have finally figured out my issue with the website . I live in the uk but there is actually two options I believe. One is UK British subject ( this is what I have been selecting and failed ) and two England. How did I even miss this 😳

So I have now tried England and I’m straight into my application.

I thought I would share this incase it helps others or have I been having a brain drain for weeks 🤣

For what it's worth, here's my process so far...

4/10 - I sent in my application for myself (G3) and my child (G4). I included color copies of official birth certificates for G1-G4, death records for my father(G2) and grandfather (G1), and death and marriage records and unofficial baptismal record from BAnQ for my great grandmother (G0). I included a letter of brief explanation with checklist, a family tree, and copies of census records from both U.S. and Canada. I requested expedited service due to discriminatory threats in the U.S. with a letter as evidence, though I neglected to mark "expedited" on the outside of the envelope.

4/16 Ordered certified baptismal record for G0 from BAnQ

6/20 Received certified baptismal record for G0 from BAnQ

7/11 Received AOR via email.

7/14 Uploaded copy of certified baptismal record.

7/15 Sent away for certified birth record for G0 (1872) from Directeur de l'etat-civil Quebec, requested expedited mail service (not realizing that they can only send express mail within Canada). Provided nearly 20 pages of documentation, including application, copies of birth/death records for all generations, ID, copy of CIT checklist, family tree, and a brief letter of explanation listing contents, as well as a sworn, notarized statement that I was only seeking this record to prove my citizenship.

8/12 Received email from DIOD Program Support stating that a birth record is required, and explaining that the baptismal record I sent can be used to obtain the birth record. They asked for me to provide high-res color copies of birth record via email within 60 days. (Luckily I already ordered it on 7/14. although I believe it's possible to ask for an extension if needed).

8/14 AM - Called Directeur de l'etat-civil Québec - secret weapon: husband speaks fluent French, he asked them whether the birth record had been processed. They checked and found no record of my request, no charge, etc. They were kind and professional, but had no explanation, offered that perhaps it had gotten lost in the mail. They advised to wait a bit and then re-apply.

*I am not sure what I would have done if I didn't have a French speaker in the house; you can only speak in French on the phone with l'etat-civil, there is no English option, and you cannot translate an email into French to ask about your case, as they will not discuss specifics via email. My French is verrry basic.

8/14 PM - Credit card is charged for birth record (the very same day we called) Coincidence? Perhaps. Probably. Maybe?

8/17 I await birth record in mail (or letter of refusal). I am guessing if the charge went through, they are sending a birth record. I am guessing it will take a while.

I am hoping this level of detail is helpful to others who are applying. I am extremely grateful to all of the folks who have posted info on here, it has helped me enormously. I am very lucky that my case seems quite straightforward. I am not counting my chickens, I am just hopeful since they only asked for one further document.

My takeaways:

-Remember to check your materials multiple times. Get super nerdy. I did, and STILL made a mistake.

-Think about how to make things super clear for the human opening that envelope.

-Say thank you.

-It is ok to send placeholder documents and then upload official ones once you have an AOR.

-Keep in mind that processing times are obviously longer than what is stated on official websites.

-Note that in Québec, you need a French speaker to make inquiries by phone.

Good luck!

Hello, we recently submitted my partner's Citizenship Certificate application. A few days later we found out the wait had jumped to 25 months, from the 11 it had been when we started the process of putting together documents.

My partner is currently American.

I am a Canadian citizen.

Spousal Sponsorship is 17 months wait at the moment. We are currently only engaged so the timeline probably wouldn't be any faster, and obviously it's much more limiting, he wouldn't be a citizen.

I'm wondering, is it worth still doing as well, in case the Certificate Application is rejected. I'm also wondering if there's any information regarding legal details of what would happen if we got accepted on both. Would it negate the limitations/obligations associated with Spousal Sponsorship if he was recognized as a Citizen through the Certificate Process?

Is there anywhere I can get information other than to pay a lawyer?

Thank you!

Edit: Comments seem to agree this isn't possible. Doubling up would cause issues. Thanks for the help.

I heard that the IRCC prefers a death record of your G0 to be sent as well. I have a certified baptismal record and Canadian census records of my G0 but my G0 died in a huge fire that occurred in Cobalt, ON in 1909 and a death certificate was never made for him. Am I fine with the baptismal certificate and census records?

Only one data point but perhaps it will help some of you.

Online request to BAnQ for a baptismal certificate: April 28th 2026

Payment requested and sent: August 4th 2026

Copy received on the west coast USA: August 17th 2026

So around 100 days from request to payment, 2 weeks from payment to receipt by regular mail. I mistakenly requested from Montreal, turns out the record was in Trois Rivieres, although I am guessing that added little or no time to this process.

I have an application in Process submitted before the new guidelines were posted. I want to add the required documents to my application. Does anyone have advice as how ask for the following: (can it be done online, does it require a physical letter sent etc.)

Letter to the Directeur de l'état civil du Québec — requesting an official attestation arguing that under pre-1994 Québec law the parish baptismal act was the official civil birth act, so no separate "birth certificate" would ever have existed.

Follow-up letter to BAnQ — referencing my reproduction request , asking for a search certificate confirming the record's nature and the registration practices in Québec in 1850.

I'm lost on how to get these documents so I can amend my application.

It wasn't too long ago that much of Canada's political class was united in their embrace of immigration to help grow the population and with it, the economy. Now, many of those same politicians are singing a different tune as it's regularly stated as fact that Canada's immigration consensus is broken. 

Today, part one of a two-part documentary on the political 180 on immigration, how it happened so quickly, and what it means for Canada as the country shrinks its population for the first time in history.

Has anyone in this group applied for and actually been issued a DEC birth certificate for an ancestor born in the 1921 time frame? And if so, what did you include in your packet.

Months ago, I came across a post in the CanadianCitizenship group (DEC - New standards for documents…..). The commenter listed all the things you need to submit to the DEC to have your baptism certificate recorded as a birth event and then get your ancestor’s birth certificate issued.
It included a notarized affidavit and several things not listed as required on the DEC site . I asked about those things and the poster said the DEC has a lot of unwritten rules. I suspect this person might be from an immigration firm, since they made it sound impossible for the average person to do it on their own.

I have seen several people apply to the DEC only to be turned down for the creation of a birth record/issuance of a birth certificate because their ancestor was born too early (1800s). But has anyone been successful and had their ancestors birth recorded and gotten a birth certificate? I do have his baptism certificate from BanQ and an official copy of his death certificate. Plus I would basically send my IRCC packet and use the application as the official reason I need a birth certificate.

I’m debating not doing anything until the IRCC asks for a birth certificate or trying to order one now to ensure my ability to meet any IRCC requests. Thoughts from people who have actually completed the process would be welcome.

Feeling low lately. I achieved the impossible and tracked down a Canadian baptismal record for my distant relative and am working on baptismal records for everyone in between. It was all going well until this week when i got a letter saying my grandparent has no birth certificate. My grandparent born in the 1930s that I personally knew. My aunt told me that she doesn’t think my grandparent was ever baptized either. Am I down and out or just down ?

In retrospect it seems like a trivial and obvious thing to say. But IRCC hasn't explicitly said this. I have no way of verifying it for certain. And a lot of people (myself included) have been operating under a different assumption up to now.

The Citizenship Act is a very convoluted beast. Over the years there have been a lot of changes to how people acquire and lose Canadian citizenship. Court rulings and legislation have rectified a lot of the historical injustices with a series of "Band-aids", as I call them, reinstating citizenship retroactively to our ancestors.

From our vantage point today, it seems quite straightforward: if you descend from a Canadian, you're Canadian, provided there are no adoptions and nobody was formally stripped of their citizenship by the Canadian government before the next generation was born. But that apparent simplicity is the end result of a complicated mess of laws. Depending on the specifics of your chain, who had what nationality and when, that is going to affect which Band-aids apply to your chain to make you Canadian. I now think that matters.

Why do I think this?

• CIT 0014 asks us to provide "proof of other nationalities acquired by you and your Canadian parent before February 15, 1977, if applicable to you". It seems very odd that they would only care about this for you and your parent, and not anybody else further up the chain. But the wording makes perfect sense when you consider that the form was originally written before Bill C-3, at a time when only G1 applicants were eligible. I think they've neglected to update the form, and that's giving us the wrong impression of what they want from us. I think they want proof of pre-1977 nationalities for the entire chain, not just you and your parent.

• IRCC's internal communications contain a lot of talk about how applications are to be categorized and processed based on which paragraphs of the Citizenship Act apply (for example, look at pages 63-65). It stands to reason that this categorization process becomes difficult, if not impossible, when applicants don't clarify the circumstances that caused their ancestors to historically lose Canadian citizenship.

• A recent approval where a non-urgent G3 got a very quick decision, based on an application containing nothing but certified birth records and a marriage certificate for the female G0. At the time, Canadian women who married American men automatically got US citizenship and lost their Canadian citizenship, so that's all IRCC would need to determine exactly which parts of the Citizenship Act to apply to this chain. Note that non-urgent G3+ is an extremely rare type of approval. I'm not sure, but this may be the first one we've ever seen that hasn't been linked to a G1 or G2 who also applied and got approved.

• The seeming randomness of who is getting sent to PSU and who isn't. It's been very difficult to suss out any pattern, with similarly situated people going to PSU or avoiding it with little rhyme or reason. We've even got urgent applicants lingering in PSU for ages. If some people are providing various ways to tell their G0's non-Canadian citizenship (naturalization records, some census records, and marriage certificates for women of a certain time would all indicate this), while others are not providing anything of the sort, that could explain the discrepancy. It's the sort of non-obvious pattern that wouldn't have jumped out to us analyzing the data, since it depends on the specifics of each chain and its documentation, including things we haven't been asking about like what gender everyone was.

Why haven't people been asked to provide additional documents then?

This is the most obvious retort to my hypothesis. If IRCC really wants this information, why wouldn't they just ask for it? Because we're talking about historical injustices that were rectified by the courts and the legislature.

Like, they've determined it was wrong to deny someone citizenship based on their gender, so I can see why IRCC wouldn't want to say "hey, since your ancestor was a woman and this Band-aid potentially applies to you, you need to provide extra documentation or we're not going to process your citizenship application". That seems like a messy can of worms to open. There would certainly be litigation. Also, if your Canadian G0 never became a citizen anywhere else after they left Canada, there isn't any way to demonstrate that, yet that would be relevant.

I can see why IRCC would want to apply the exact letter of the law to each application, rather than just saying "well all these differences got ironed out in the end so it doesn't really matter", but I don't know how they can accomplish that. It would be awfully tempting to kick that can down the road and focus on the chains that do have a clearly defined pathway through the Citizenship Act under their established procedures.