Canada has ordered many citizens who recently gained their citizenship through expanded descent rules to return their citizenship certificates.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has begun emailing notices requiring the surrender of these documents, citing the need for further verification of supporting evidence.
This action primarily affects applicants who obtained proof of Canadian citizenship following the passage of Bill C-3, which removed the first-generation limit on citizenship by descent.
Many affected new citizens, including those living abroad, were shocked to receive letters over the weekend demanding the return of their citizenship certificates while IRCC reviews their files.
Bill C-3, enacted in late 2025, significantly broadened access to Canadian citizenship for descendants of Canadian ancestors.
This led to a surge in applications for citizenship certificates, particularly from individuals in the United States and other countries seeking to reconnect with their Canadian heritage.
However, concerns over the quality of submitted documentation have prompted this review process.
In formal notices, IRCC officials state that certain applications lacked source documents from vital statistics agencies or proper explanations for why such records could not be obtained.
As a result, Canada ordered new citizens to return their citizenship certificates to allow for a more thorough assessment of eligibility.
Affected individuals are instructed to mail physical certificates to a specific address in Ottawa if they received paper versions. Electronic certificates may also face suspension during the review. Recipients are allowed to submit additional evidence, and certificates will be returned if the review confirms eligibility.
“The purpose of this letter is to inform you that I have information in my possession that indicates that you may not be entitled to hold a Canadian certificate of citizenship,” reads the notice signed Peggy Sun, registrar of Canadian citizenship.
“As this documentation was not submitted with your proof of citizenship application, I am requiring the surrender of your certificate of citizenship,” Sun writes in what appears to be a form letter, adding that those who received the notice will have an opportunity to submit additional evidence and their certificates will be returned if the review finds they are eligible.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has yet to respond to questions.
Immigration lawyers say it appears to be a mass suspension, but just how many have been suspended is not yet known.
Many of those who received the letter — like Valerie Campbell of Bucksport, Maine — are in shock.
Campbell and her son Morgan received their citizenship certificates based on her family roots in Quebec and Ontario. After she received her certificate in March, Campbell put her home up for sale, began packing, and started planning a move to New Brunswick or Nova Scotia.
Campbell said the suspension notice came out of the blue.
“It was a complete and total shock, I had no idea this was coming, that there were any problems at all,” she said in an interview, her Canadian citizenship certificate proudly framed and hanging on the wall behind her.
“I went into a blind panic. I didn’t know what to do.”
While Campbell received the notice on Saturday, her son didn’t.
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Campbell, a licensed mental health counsellor, said she has wanted to be in Canada for a long time, but the current political climate in the United States tipped the balance.
“It no longer feels safe to be in America, especially as a woman or if you’re on the spectrum or you’re a person of colour … there are so many different reasons that people are not wanted here,” she said.
“When I saw C-3 was happening, it seemed like such a wonderful opportunity to go someplace that would be better and more amenable to people like me.”
Campbell is one of an estimated 4,075 people from around the world — half of whom were born in the United States — who received proof of citizenship by descent certificates following the adoption by Parliament in November of Bill C-3.
The change in the law allows people living in other countries who can trace their lineage from Canadian ancestors to qualify for Canadian citizenship, even if their Canadian ancestor left the country several generations back.
Before Bill C-3, Canadian citizenship by descent was limited to the first generation born or adopted outside of Canada to a Canadian citizen. However, that limitation was struck down by the courts as unconstitutional, and Ottawa was ordered to pass a law providing citizenship to those who became known as “lost Canadians.”
