Not “eligible” for citizenship, actually de facto citizens. If your ancestor is from Canada, you are a Canadian citizen. People “applying” (such as myself) are simply writing for official recognition.
this post was submitted on 10 Apr 2026
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Oh so it includes Elon Musk then. Maybe he can be y'all's problem.
He's everyone's problem regardless of his citizenship.
Personally, I think he should be the center of the sun's problem.
Can I ask what kind of documentation is required?
Sure. Pretty much certified copies of documents proving your Canadian-born ancestor was born in Canada (commonly birth or baptism records), and certified copies of birth records linking you to them through every generation.
For me, I had access to my, my father's, and his father's, birth certificates. Easy. I ordered a birth certificate for my great-grandmother from the US county in which she was born to Canadian-born parents. I also ordered birth/baptism records for both my great-great-grandparents from the cities/provinces in which they were born. Packaged it up along with a family tree and sent it off. Still waiting, but feel pretty confident I'll get word back that Canada recognizes my citizenship through descent.
I helped my partner apply earlier this year (as the law is still relatively new). As a warning, since then, the costs associated have skyrocketed due to the number of people applying. You better be ready to dig up all the birth/marriage records to prove it. For us, this also required parsing through old Québécois church logbooks written in liturgical French. Wait times have also gone up across the board, the wait once you have all your documents is over a year now.
That said, I did quite enjoy the research and I'm happy to say que mon français est assez bon pour lire un ancien document écrit à main pendant les années 50
Pas mal, hein? C'est français.
Oui c'est ça. J'ai décidé tôt que je voudrais apprendre le français pendant mon séjour. J'adore l'apprentissage culturel et je parle déjà une autre langue, l'espagnol. Alors, j'habite en Ontario, pas Québec, mais j'ai plusieurs amis québécois qui m'aident. Je prends aussi des cours pour adultes maintenant. Le français est tellement fascinant, je l'apprend depuis 2024 :)
(Veuillez excuser mes torts)
Ton français est excellent.
La seule chose pas naturelle est "torts". Ça sonne archaïque ou formel. On dirait plutôt "fautes" dans ce contexte.
Ah bon! Merci :)
What costs? My biggest expense was the $80US for overnight fedex. Add $20 for citizen photos and 1 barely broke a c note.
We had a lawyer help us with the documentation to make sure it's airtight, but that cost is optional. Other than that we had costs for each record we requested - both in the US and Canada. The cost to request a formal birth record from Quebec alone (via the BANQ) recently went from $30 to over $300
Overall it's nothing crazy as far as immigration is concerned, but it's not nothing
The cost to request a formal birth record from Quebec alone (via the BANQ) recently went from $30 to over $300
Well shit, glad I got mine in early. I would agree with the sentiment of “costs skyrocketing.”
I am in the research process right now. I'm having trouble finding my great - great grandfather's birth certificate. I'm getting worried because I contacted someone and they said not everyone had a birth certificate in the 1800s. I can find him on census records that list him and both his parents and where they are from. But Im not sure if census records count for this application. Were you able to find actual birth certificates/records for each family member?
Yes we did! Thankfully it was only 4 or 5 generations but it was really difficult. Turns out that Quebec birth records only existed as parish records prior to some date
Y’all need an engineer? I love hockey, snowboarding, and poutine.
Samesies, but I think my knees are probably too trashed to snowboard anymore, so I'll just double up on poutine while I watch hockey.
You can use a stick to throw a rock in curling. I've played with several old farts who are better with a stick than I am with a typical delivery (which is also somewhat hard on knees).
There is an archive of the article.
When Donald Trump was first elected in 2016, New York State resident Ellen Robillard briefly looked into getting Canadian citizenship. Her mother, after all, was born in Nova Scotia. As a Democrat, Robillard was despondent at the election results, but she abandoned the idea after realizing that her young son wouldn’t be eligible for citizenship under a law that barred Canadians born abroad from passing their citizenship to children if they were also born outside Canada. In 2023, however, the Canadian courts ruled that law unconstitutional and the changes to eligibility came into effect in December, suddenly opening up a pathway to Canadian citizenship for many Americans at a time of political upheaval, violence and uncertainty in the US. Robillard, 52, is applying for citizenship with her son now that the first-generation rule has been scrapped. Since criteria for citizenship expanded with the passage of Bill C-3 of Canada’s Citizenship Act, millions of Americans have become eligible to claim Canadian citizenship. The amendment reverses a “first-generation” limit imposed by Canada’s Conservative government in 2009. As the leader of her local Democratic Committee in a suburb of Rochester, New York, Robillard fears that if the political violence escalates, she could have a target on her back. Robillard is an outspoken activist in her town of 3,000, has received veiled threats on social media, and was once followed home after a protest.
My mom was born in Italy, but denounced her Italian citizenship before turning 18. Because she did it before turning 18 I do not qualify for Italian citizenship. If they ever change that age limit restriction I am getting the fuck out of here
We already had much of the family archives gathered for genealogical research done. There was a (mostly unknown) great grandfather that we didn't track down. We just knew he was from canada, fathered one of the ancestors and bailed back to Saskatchewan.
Turns out he's now findable online (new records were added) and he's multi generational Canadian. The birth certificate has been ordered. The process might take a while, but we're filing the day his records show up in our mailbox.
Now we just need Canada to join the EU somehow and all of the stars will align.
Do you have any paper proof of the connection your Canadian Lothario had with his US born offspring? That's likely a sticking point if you do not.
I’d absolutely be all for it, but I don’t have a degree and no ancestors that came from the area, so I’m boned.
‘Just in case’
These people think they’re so privileged ay.
so they can vote the next country into the shit?
That's a different group of people. If you want to cut them off, look at how they're collaborating with CPC leadership
you might want to deal with your alberta problem before commenting with misinformation, the people applying arnt supporters of trump, they have more resources than they do, plus have passports, and other resources. by the way canada was stolen from indigenous peoples just like US was.
Do you think people who are doing this "just in case" are the types that voted republican?
And just so we're clear, the law that allows for this is a Canadian law.
Do we really need a bunch of peops who have been poorly educated (majority at this point) coming here?
In my case we'll be staying in Germany, but having an option to move to Canada with our multiple Phds instead of going back to the US (if forced out of Germany for some reason) would be preferable.
We also have some kids who are going to be looking at college in a few years. If they could have an option to to Canada cheap, that'd rock. Then you'd have some more educated Canadians hanging out and paying taxes.
I did make sure to teach the kids the rules of ice hockey. I know it's on the driving test there, right?
I myself am “applying,” but am not doing it “just in case” nor do I intend on moving there. I’m earnestly doing it because Canada is cool, and the spirit and letter of the law is recognizing “lost Canadians” as Canadians. I honestly don’t look at it as an escape route, but ask me again when my son is draft age.
It's hard to take seriously your complaint of the poorly educated when the complaint contains poor spelling and grammar.
I dunno, that depends on how you look at it. From a certain point of view it provides at least one point of evidence to the idea we may be close to our carrying capacity of under-educated people.
You! I like you.
the poorly educated are trump supporters they arnt moving to canada, let alone have passport or even ancestors there, sorry but there are ton in canada itself too.
Look, it’s ’just In case’.
They think differently, they think everyone wants them around