Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab confirmed in the House of Commons on June 16 that dozens of people who recently obtained citizenship certificates under last year’s Bill C-3 have been asked to surrender them. The letters from IRCC state that genealogy websites and secondary documents are insufficient and that applicants must provide primary evidence linking each generation to Canada. Bill C-3, which took effect on 15 December 2025, restored citizenship by descent to anyone born before that date who has at least one Canadian ancestor. More than 4,000 people have already benefited, but the minister said some may have relied on incomplete or inaccurate records.
![‘Lost Canadians’ told ancestry alone is not enough—Ottawa demands fresh proof of citizenship claims]()
For applicants and employers who need help gathering the right paperwork or exploring alternative immigration options while lineage claims are under review, VisaHQ offers practical assistance. Their Canada portal (https://www.visahq.com/canada/) provides step-by-step checklists, document procurement services and expedited visa processing that can keep mobility plans on track even when citizenship status is uncertain.
Under the Citizenship Act, the onus to prove lineage rests with the applicant in every generation; failure to do so constitutes misrepresentation and can trigger revocation proceedings. For multinational employers, the episode is a warning that new hires claiming Canadian citizenship through ancestry may not yet be secure in their status. HR departments should request original documents—vital-statistics records, long-form birth certificates and, where necessary, certified translations—before onboarding talent under the assumption they hold full mobility rights. Practically, affected individuals can continue to reside and work in Canada until IRCC reaches a final decision but risk losing social-insurance numbers, health coverage and the ability to sponsor family members if their certificates are revoked. Legal advisers recommend proactive retrieval of church registries, overseas civil-registry extracts and DNA reports to buttress files. The government’s clamp-down also signals tighter scrutiny of citizenship-by-descent claims ahead of 2027’s planned expansion of first-generation limits. Businesses that use passport mobility for global-talent deployment should monitor anticipated regulatory amendments and build alternative work-permit pathways into succession plans.
For applicants and employers who need help gathering the right paperwork or exploring alternative immigration options while lineage claims are under review, VisaHQ offers practical assistance. Their Canada portal (https://www.visahq.com/canada/) provides step-by-step checklists, document procurement services and expedited visa processing that can keep mobility plans on track even when citizenship status is uncertain.
Under the Citizenship Act, the onus to prove lineage rests with the applicant in every generation; failure to do so constitutes misrepresentation and can trigger revocation proceedings. For multinational employers, the episode is a warning that new hires claiming Canadian citizenship through ancestry may not yet be secure in their status. HR departments should request original documents—vital-statistics records, long-form birth certificates and, where necessary, certified translations—before onboarding talent under the assumption they hold full mobility rights. Practically, affected individuals can continue to reside and work in Canada until IRCC reaches a final decision but risk losing social-insurance numbers, health coverage and the ability to sponsor family members if their certificates are revoked. Legal advisers recommend proactive retrieval of church registries, overseas civil-registry extracts and DNA reports to buttress files. The government’s clamp-down also signals tighter scrutiny of citizenship-by-descent claims ahead of 2027’s planned expansion of first-generation limits. Businesses that use passport mobility for global-talent deployment should monitor anticipated regulatory amendments and build alternative work-permit pathways into succession plans.
