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C-3 — An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025)
Every bill summarized in plain language. Not clear enough? Ask for an explanation.
C-3
An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025)
LPC
Assented to
▾
BILL C-3
An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025)
Last activity : Royal assent received
LPC
Assented to
Commons · 1st2025-06-05Commons · 2nd2025-09-22Commons · 3rd2025-11-05Senate · 1st2025-11-06Senate · 2nd2025-11-06Senate · 3rd2025-11-19Royal assent2025-11-20
Sign-in required — one request per person, no anonymous requests
What it does, in plain language
- Grants citizenship by descent to everyone born abroad before the Act comes into force to a parent who was a citizen, setting aside the current first-generation cut-off.
- Requires a "substantial connection" for children born abroad beyond the first generation on or after the coming-into-force date: the citizen parent must have been physically present in Canada for at least 1,095 days (about three years) before the birth.
- Extends the same approach to adoptions: citizenship can be granted to anyone adopted abroad before the Act takes effect by a citizen parent, and afterwards if the adoptive parent meets the 1,095-day presence test before the adoption.
- Restores citizenship to people who lost it because they never applied to retain it under the former section 8 of the Citizenship Act, or whose application was refused.
- Allows a person to become a citizen even if their parent — or both their parent and grandparent — died before the Act comes into force, provided that parent would have become a citizen under the new rules.
- Lets the Governor in Council make regulations for a simplified process to renounce citizenship, aimed at people born before the coming-into-force date who become citizens solely because of the Act.
- Comes into force on a date set by order of the Governor in Council.
🤖 AI-generated from the bill’s official text as introduced — may not reflect amendments adopted since.
✋ What does “challenging” mean?
Clicking “Ask for an explanation” is a citizen request for the bill's sponsor to explain it in plain language — and for us to keep an eye on it together.
An account (email) is required — one request per person, no anonymous requests. 🔥 At 1,000 requests on the same bill, a public post is made, in the hope an MP agrees to sponsor a petition to the House.
It works on any bill, including one that has already received royal assent — that is often the one people want to understand.
Votes in the Commons
Every recorded vote — who voted what, and by what margin.
On the “who voted what” detail — the House of Commons publishes each member's name for every recorded (nominal) vote (Yea / Nay / paired). The by-member breakdown above (the "+" button on each row) comes directly from that official source (ourcommons.ca), not an estimate. The party shown next to each name is taken from the current House roster; people who have since left the House appear separately under "Former members".
How to read a vote
Recorded vote
Members vote one by one and each choice is entered in the public record. That is what lets us say exactly who voted what — no interpretation.
Passed is not law
A passed vote clears ONE stage. A bill must pass both chambers and then receive royal assent before it becomes law.
Paired is not absent
In the Commons, two members from opposing sides can agree not to vote: their voices cancel out. It is neither an absence nor an abstention.
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Hi! My name is
Martin Archambault
I'm 45, and dossiercanada.ca is your first step into democracy!
If we want people to understand politics, it has to be brought down to their level.
When I first tried to take an interest in it, on top of not knowing the jargon, bills came as two lines… and fifty PDFs. Most people would simply walk away.
So I had an idea: use artificial intelligence first to read through all of it, then to put it in plain words. That's how DossierCanada was born.
Alongside the AI recap, I've given people a lexicon that explains the basics of political jargon. Plain-language law exists — think of this as its equivalent for politics!
Parliament glossary
Parliamentary jargon, translated into everyday language.
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