On December 19, 2023, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice found that the “second-generation cutoff” for Citizenship was unconstitutional, thus expanding the grant of Citizenship for many people born overseas who have Canadian ancestry. At that time, the Court suspended the declaration on invalidity to allow parliament to pass remedial legislation. More than a year has passed, and numerous extensions have been granted by the Court, but no law has yet come into force.
On March 19, 2025, the government once again asked the Court to give it a further one-year extension. Prior to this request, in the interim, they announced that they would be accepting applications for citizenship under s.5(4) of the Citizenship Act for those affected by the unconstitutional law. They will process applications from:
- Those born or adopted before December 19, 2023, who are subject to the first-generation limit
- Those born or adopted on or after December 19, 2023, if their Canadian parent had at least 1,095 cumulative days of physical presence in Canada before their birth or adoption (they will be offered consideration for a discretionary grant on a prioritized basis)
- Certain individuals born before April 1, 1949, who remain affected by the first-generation limit
- Those who lost their citizenship under the former section 8 of the Citizenship Act due to unmet retention requirements
If you have Canadian heritage and fall into one of these categories, please reach out at inquiries@lmlawgroup.com to set up a meeting to see if you would qualify to apply.
