Reviewed by Jane Katkova, Founder & Licensed CICC ConsultantOn 13 June 2026 Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) wrote to some people who had received citizenship certificates under Bill C-3, asking them to surrender the certificates while their files were reviewed. Processing of citizenship-by-descent applications was paused, and within a week IRCC raised the documentary standard for all applicants.
Bill C-3 took effect on 15 December 2025 and removed the first-generation limit on citizenship by descent for people born before that date. Applications rose sharply, with around half of the early certificates going to people born in the United States.
Timeline of the June 2026 review
- 13 June: IRCC sends surrender letters to some certificate holders.
- 17 and 18 June: IRCC updates the CIT 0014 document checklist and guidance.
- 19 June: the department begins reversing surrender requests where files are confirmed as sound.
- 23 June: Minister Lena Diab confirms the processing pause.
- 30 June: IRCC completes the review.
According to CIC News, IRCC reviewed about 6,500 certificates. A routine check had flagged 100 for potentially insufficient documentation. Of those, 33 were reinstated and 67, about 1% of the certificates issued under Bill C-3, remained outstanding in early July. Processing was expected to resume shortly after.
The new documentary standard
Under the updated CIT 0014 checklist, an application cannot be supported solely by third-party records. Each generation in the line of descent must be proven with documents from the original issuing authority: a provincial vital statistics office, a civil registry, a provincial or national archive, or the equivalent. Printouts and index entries from genealogy websites are research aids and are not accepted as proof on their own.
Where an original record cannot be obtained, practitioners report that IRCC expects a written explanation with evidence of a genuine search, such as a refusal letter or correspondence from the archive. Pending applications may be assessed against the stricter standard.
What this means for applicants
For US citizens with a Canadian parent, grandparent or earlier ancestor, entitlement under Bill C-3 has not changed. What has changed is the evidence. A claim through a great-grandparent born in Quebec in the 1890s needs the baptismal or civil registration record from the Quebec archives, and certified birth and marriage records linking each later generation, including US state-issued long-form certificates.
Applicants who have already filed should check their file against the updated checklist and send any missing primary records before IRCC asks. Anyone who receives a surrender or information request should answer within the stated time and keep copies of everything sent.
Citizenship by descent is one of two routes to Canadian citizenship at birth; the other, birth on Canadian soil, is covered in our guide to childbirth in Canada. For help assembling a multi-generation file, book a consultation with us.