Canada pulls citizenship certificates from 'Lost Canadians'
Hundreds of people granted citizenship under new legislation are now being told to surrender their documents pending investigation.
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Some people who received Canadian citizenship under the "Lost Canadians" legislation passed last year are now being asked to surrender their certificates of citizenship, creating legal limbo for hundreds of applicants.
Immigration lawyer Amandeep Hayer said one of his clients received a message from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada on Saturday saying they must turn over their citizenship certificate during an investigation. The message states the certificate must be surrendered because the application didn't cite proof of Canadian family from original sources — such as vital statistics — and didn't explain why original documents weren't provided or detail efforts to obtain them.
Based on Reddit threads on the subject, Hayer estimates "at least a couple hundred people" have received similar letters. Those affected are people born or adopted outside Canada before December 15, 2025 who proved they had a Canadian parent under Bill C-3, which replaced a Stephen Harper-era law limiting the ability to pass on Canadian citizenship to the first generation born outside Canada. That prior law was deemed unconstitutional in December 2023.
The new law means people can now claim citizenship if they can prove Canadian lineage, potentially stretching back generations. However, applicants have had to comb through census data, baptismal records, and third-party services like Ancestry.com to prove that lineage — and original documents can be difficult to locate.
Maureen Silcoff, an immigration lawyer with 38 years of experience, said she's never seen a situation like this before. "It raises a question, first of all, why was a certificate issued if the requirements were not met to start with? And the second question that comes to mind is, could it be that the explanation was indeed submitted but somehow overlooked?" she said.
The letter states that recipients will have an opportunity to respond with further documentary evidence. If that is accepted, they will get their citizenship certificate back. Government systems have been updated to show recipients' citizenship is under review.