Inside IRCC: 5 Things We Learned From Our Access to Information Request on Bill C-3 and Citizenship by Descent

On December 15, 2025, Bill C-3 changed Canadian citizenship by descent in a big way. The first-generation limit was removed for everyone born abroad before that date, and a new "substantial connection" test was created for children born abroad after it.

The public rules are on Canada.ca. But how do IRCC officers actually apply them behind the scenes?

To find out, Marin Immigration Law filed an access to information (ATIP) request with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. We received a 157-page release (file 1A-2025-14201) containing IRCC's internal training materials, officer instructions, program bulletins, and staff emails about Bill C-3.

Much of this material is marked "internal only." It was never meant to be posted online. Here are five things we learned that you will not find in the public instructions.

1. IRCC quietly paused certain multi-generational applications

This is the biggest finding in the release.

In an internal training session recorded days before Bill C-3 came into force, IRCC told its officers that two groups of people "may have been unintentionally excluded from Bill C-3" because of how the law was written:

• People born before 1947 (or before April 1, 1949 for Newfoundland and Labrador) whose parent was also born abroad before those dates. The way the law is drafted, the parent had to have actually become a citizen when the first Citizenship Act took effect, which some multi-generational family lines cannot satisfy.
• People claiming through an ancestor who died before earlier reforms. Bill C-3 has a "citizenship despite death of a parent" provision, but as written it may only help when the deceased parent would have become a citizen because of Bill C-3 itself. If the ancestor died before April 17, 2009 or June 11, 2015, IRCC's training says "the descendant may not have a claim by descent."

Officers were told these cases "are to be set aside" until further instructions.

On December 11, 2025, four days before the law took effect, IRCC also sent an internal bulletin called "Processing Pause on Certain Proof Applications." It orders officers not to finalize certain multi-generational files where the claim runs through a family member who was fixed by the 2009 or 2015 "Lost Canadians" reforms but never obtained a citizenship certificate. Affected applicants only receive a generic Notice of Delay letter.

Why this matters: if your citizenship claim runs through several generations, or through an ancestor who passed away years ago, your file may be sitting on hold and the delay letter will not tell you why. Knowing which cohort you fall into is now a key part of case strategy.

2. How officers really count the 1,095 days of physical presence

Children born abroad on or after December 15, 2025, in the second generation or beyond, are only citizens if their Canadian parent spent at least 1,095 days physically in Canada before the birth. The internal instructions reveal how generous this count actually is:

• Any part of a day counts. A "day of physical presence" is any calendar day spent in Canada, no matter how short the visit or the reason for it.
• The days do not need to be consecutive. They add up over the parent's entire life, from the parent's own date of birth right up to the child's birth or adoption.
• The parent did not need to be a citizen at the time. Time spent in Canada as a permanent resident, a student, or a visitor all counts.
• There is no fixed list of required documents. Officers are told to assess "the totality of information provided." Pay stubs, school records, tax returns, leases, utility bills, and passport stamps are all examples, but anything can help.
• Exact dates are not mandatory. If a parent is unsure of precise travel dates, the applicant may complete the form "to the best of their ability."
• One exception: time spent serving a criminal sentence in Canada (prison, probation, or parole) generally does not count, with limited carve-outs for conditional discharges and youth sentences.

Why this matters: many families assume the parent needed three straight years in Canada as a citizen. They did not. Childhood summers, university years, and work stints can all be added together.

3. Some files may require research going back to 1868

How far back can a citizenship claim reach? According to IRCC's internal questions and answers, further than most people imagine.

The document explains that anyone born abroad before December 15, 2025 to a parent who became a citizen on January 1, 1947 (or April 1, 1949 in Newfoundland), or who would have become a citizen because of Bill C-3, is now a citizen by descent. That includes people born before 1947.

IRCC then tells its officers something remarkable: an assessment "might need to go as far back as the Naturalization Act (1868)" to figure out whether an ancestor would have been considered a Canadian citizen when the first Citizenship Act took effect.

Every claim must be supported by documentary evidence, generation by generation.

Why this matters: these files are as much genealogy as they are law. This is exactly why our firm keeps a professional genealogist in-house. Old church records, ship manifests, and naturalization registers can now decide whether an entire family line is Canadian.

4. What really happened to interim measure files: cancelled ceremonies and refunds

Before Bill C-3, IRCC ran an interim measure. People blocked by the first-generation limit were offered a discretionary grant of citizenship under subsection 5(4) of the Citizenship Act.

The internal "Workload Management Strategy" shows exactly how IRCC unwound that program when the new law took effect, and it includes internal case counts as of November 1, 2025:

• 896 people had received an interim measure letter and never responded.
• 1,929 people had asked for the discretionary grant, but their grant application was never opened.
• 611 discretionary grant applications were open in the system.
• 89 people had declined the grant and asked for a decision on their proof application.

The most striking instructions cover people whose grant was already approved. Because Bill C-3 made them citizens automatically, IRCC could no longer naturalize them (you cannot grant citizenship to someone who already has it). So officers were told to "un-grant" the approval, cancel any scheduled citizenship ceremony, refuse the grant application because the person "is already a citizen," and refund the Right of Citizenship fee.

Why this matters: if your ceremony was suddenly cancelled in December 2025, this is why. It was not a problem with your file. You became a citizen automatically, retroactive to your date of birth, and you should have received a fee refund.

5. Newborns abroad may face passport limbo

Here is a practical warning for Canadian families expecting a baby outside Canada.

The internal instructions to visa offices and consulates explain that for children born abroad before December 15, 2025, a mission can usually confirm the child's citizenship status quickly for passport purposes.

But for a child born on or after that date in the second generation or beyond, the parent's 1,095 days of physical presence must first be assessed as part of a full proof of citizenship application. IRCC's own guidance admits the status confirmation "will likely be inconclusive until the full application is assessed."

In plain terms: your baby may be a Canadian citizen, but you may not be able to prove it, or get a Canadian travel document, until IRCC finishes processing the proof application with the new physical presence form (CIT 0555) and supporting evidence.

Why this matters: if you are a Canadian citizen by descent living abroad and expecting a child, prepare the parent's physical presence evidence early. A complete, well-documented application filed quickly, with an urgent processing request where justified, can make the difference between months of limbo and a timely passport.

What this ATIP release tells us overall

The internal documents show a department working hard to implement a complex law on a tight timeline. They also show real gaps: cohorts unintentionally left out, files quietly set aside, and evidence rules that are far more flexible than the public instructions suggest.

If you are waiting on a proof of citizenship application, or wondering whether Bill C-3 makes you or your children Canadian, these internal rules can shape your strategy: which documents to gather, which cohort you fall into, and when to push for urgent processing.

Frequently asked questions

What is an ATIP request? An access to information request under Canada's Access to Information Act. It lets anyone obtain government records, including internal instructions that are not published online. We use ATIP requests to understand how IRCC actually decides files.

Does Bill C-3 make me a citizen automatically? If you were born abroad before December 15, 2025 and were blocked only by the first-generation limit, you are likely a citizen automatically, retroactive to your birth. You still need a citizenship certificate to prove it. Some multi-generational and deceased-ancestor cases are currently on hold, as explained above.

My child was born abroad after December 15, 2025. What now? If you are a Canadian citizen by descent, your child's citizenship depends on your 1,095 days of physical presence in Canada before the birth. Time as a permanent resident or student counts, and the days do not need to be consecutive.