Canada moves to restore citizenship to 'Lost Canadians'

22 April 2008

The government of Canada has passed legislation that will grant citizenship to people who lost it or never had it in the first place because of unintended consequences in existing and former Canadian immigration law.

Between 1947, when the first citizenship act took effect, and 1977, when it was replaced, Canadians may have lost their citizenship if they or a parent took up citizenship in another country. In addition, an individual may never have been recognized as a Canadian if they were born abroad to a Canadian parent and did not take steps to register their birth with Canadian citizenship authorities.

Not until these individuals tried to get passports in response to increased United States border security did they realize their predicament.

"By introducing this legislation last year, our Government took decisive action to help those people who had their citizenship questioned, and to protect the value of Canadian citizenship for the future," said Canadian Immigration Minister Diane Finley.

Unfortunately, it's been a slow moving process to sort out the predicament for these so-called 'Lost Canadians'. The legislation was first tabled in 10 December 2007 and is expected to formally become law no later than a year following 'Royal Assent', when the Canadian Governor-General signs the legislation.