Statelessness in Canada
How many stateless persons are in Canada?
According to Statistics Canada's 2021 Census, 3,560 persons identified themselves as stateless when asked to select their country of citizenship. Of these, 390 indicated that they did not have permanent residence status in Canada at the time. Official figures from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada claim that there are 316,882 stateless permanent residents in Canada since 1981.
These figures present several challenges for understanding statelessness in this country. The Statistics Canada figure of 3,790 is self-reported and cannot be validated, and the 316,882 IRCC figure does not explain whether these permanent resident stateless persons have acquired citizenship since 1981, or whether they still reside in Canada.
These figures present several challenges for understanding statelessness in this country. The Statistics Canada figure of 3,790 is self-reported and cannot be validated, and the 316,882 IRCC figure does not explain whether these permanent resident stateless persons have acquired citizenship since 1981, or whether they still reside in Canada.
For more information on data on stateless persons collected from Statistics Canada, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Immigration and Refugee Board, and Canada Border Services Agency see CCS' 2017 report Data Collection on Stateless Persons in Canada.
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Who is stateless in Canada?
Statelessness affects specific groups of people in Canada, with individuals falling into broad categories according to status. In Canada, statelessness can occur in two ways: one is in the context of migration which includes those who are stateless when they arrive in Canada, and those who become stateless after they arrive in Canada. The second context is those who are stateless in situ, who consider themselves to be Canadian, but who are not recognized as citizens by Canada.
In 2015, CCS began identifying and collecting Canadian and British nationality and immigration legislation that contributes to statelessness in Canada, dating back to 1889. CCS has identified eight categories of statelessness in Canada that affect women, children, and foreigners.
1. Stateless Persons Living in Canada
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This is a broad category but it generally refers to any person not born in Canada who finds themselves stateless after their arrival in Canada. This can happen to any migrant in Canada from any class, for example, students, refugees, asylum seekers, economic class, tourists, or those sponsored by family members in Canada. The experiences of these people are diverse. Some possess identity and travel documents; others do not. Some possess documents that suddenly become invalid due to situations in their home country (conflict, state secession, or political decisions to strip certain people of nationality). People who find themselves stateless after arriving in Canada are almost always prohibited from leaving Canada due to invalid or no identity or travel documents.
There is little recourse for people in this situation, but one potential remedy is an application for citizenship based on Section 5 (4) of the Citizenship Act. Click here to learn more. |
2. Second Generation Children Born Abroad
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In 2009, Canada’s Citizenship Act (Section 3 (3)) was amended so that jus sanguinis (citizenship by parental lineage) citizenship was restricted to the first generation born abroad. As a result, a child born outside of Canada to a Canadian citizen parent who was also born outside of Canada is not a Canadian citizen. Individuals born outside of Canada after the coming into force of the amendment, on or after April 17, 2009, can make a citizenship application directly to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship if certain criteria is met.
This creates a risk that children of Canadian nationals born abroad will remain stateless for some years during their childhood, depending on the laws in the country where they are born. The provisions also exclude second generation children born abroad prior to the 2009 amendment from applying for citizenship. Second generation born abroad children born on or after April 17, 2009, who would otherwise be stateless, can apply for Canadian citizenship if they
In July 2020, CCS submitted a joint alternative report with the Canadian Citizens Rights Council to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The report outlines our concerns and recommendations with respect to Ottawa’s implementation of the CRC, and focuses on: 1. the realization of the right of every child to acquire a nationality in Canada, and 2. the right of the child to preserve their identity. You can find the submission here. Click here to read about a recent court challenge to this provision involving several families with Canadian roots. |
Canada grants citizenship based on both jus soli and first generation jus sanguinis bases. In general, all children born in Canada, as well as those born abroad to Canadian-born parents, are Canadian citizens. An exception arises with respect to children born in Canada to diplomatic officials and staff of foreign countries, including the United Nations or similar international agencies, who have diplomatic status. All other children born in Canada are entitled to Canadian citizenship, regardless of their parents’ legal status or nationality. Possessing Canadian citizenship is dependent on whether the birth of the child is registered with Canadian authorities. If a birth is not registered the child is not technically a Canadian citizen, and will only acquire Canadian citizenship when birth in Canada can be proven. Many people are born and grow up in Canada thinking they are Canadian citizens only to learn later in life that they are not.
1. Lack of Birth Registration
Canada grants citizenship based on both jus soli and first generation jus sanguinis bases. In general, all children born in Canada, as well as those born abroad to Canadian-born parents, are Canadian citizens. An exception arises with respect to children born in Canada to diplomatic officials and staff of foreign countries, including the United Nations or similar international agencies, who have diplomatic status (see below). All other children born in Canada are entitled to Canadian citizenship, regardless of their parents’ legal status or nationality. Possessing Canadian citizenship is dependent on whether the birth of the child is registered with Canadian authorities. If a birth is not registered the child is not technically a Canadian citizen, and will only acquire Canadian citizenship when birth in Canada can be proven. Many people are born and grow up in Canada thinking they are Canadian citizens only to learn later in life that they are not. These situations of statelessness can be remedied by applications for citizenship based on Section 5 (4) of the Citizenship Act. Three examples are below.
Canada grants citizenship based on both jus soli and first generation jus sanguinis bases. In general, all children born in Canada, as well as those born abroad to Canadian-born parents, are Canadian citizens. An exception arises with respect to children born in Canada to diplomatic officials and staff of foreign countries, including the United Nations or similar international agencies, who have diplomatic status (see below). All other children born in Canada are entitled to Canadian citizenship, regardless of their parents’ legal status or nationality. Possessing Canadian citizenship is dependent on whether the birth of the child is registered with Canadian authorities. If a birth is not registered the child is not technically a Canadian citizen, and will only acquire Canadian citizenship when birth in Canada can be proven. Many people are born and grow up in Canada thinking they are Canadian citizens only to learn later in life that they are not. These situations of statelessness can be remedied by applications for citizenship based on Section 5 (4) of the Citizenship Act. Three examples are below.
Border Babies
Children born in the U.S. (often because the nearest hospital was across the United States border rather than Canada), whose births were never properly registered. People from Quebec were particularly affected. These children were not issued birth certificates but often baptismal certificates. Many lost their domicile or Canadian citizenship because they were out of country on their 23rd or 28th birthday. If these children were first generation born abroad to a Canadian, they are eligible for citizenship under Bill C-37, implemented April 17, 2009. If these children were second generation born abroad, they are ineligible to apply for Canadian citizenship and could be stateless (see above). |
Indigenous Persons
The births of some Indigenous people are not registered. This can happen because the location of their birth is unknown, they are unable to prove their birth in Canada, or their parents or communities refused to register their birth. As many Indigenous persons live on both sides of the Canada – United States border, further complications arise when trying to access birth registration records in provincial/territorial and state jurisdictions. Despite being entitled to Canadian citizenship by birth, non-registered Indigenous persons who do not, subsequently, possess Canadian or United States citizenship, are at risk of statelessness. Read about Donovan McGlaughlin. |
'Lost Canadians'
'Lost Canadians' are people who think of themselves as Canadians, but either ceased to be citizens, or never were Canadian citizens in the first place. This has occurred as a result of gaps in citizenship law or arcane legal provisions. In many cases, 'Lost Canadians' were unaware they were without Canadian citizenship, and potentially stateless, until they attempted to obtain government identification like a passport or birth certificate, or register for government services, such as Canadian Pension. 'Lost Canadians' can comprise many of the groups listed on this page. For more information on 'Lost Canadians' click here. |
2. Children born in Canada to diplomat or diplomat office staff person working in Canada
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All children born in Canada are entitled to Canadian citizenship through the principle of jus soli. An exception arises in Section 3. 2 of the Citizenship Act, where any child born to a diplomat or diplomat staff person in Canada is not entitled to Canadian citizenship. Despite being born in Canada, children of diplomats are at risk of statelessness because in addition to not being Canadian, they are at risk of being ineligible for citizenship in the foreign country in question.
A prominent example is Deepan Budlakoti who was born in Ottawa but found to be child of an Indian diplomat's staff in Canada and denied Canadian citizenship. He has also been denied Indian citizenship. Click here to learn of his case, and here to read about Deepan's experience in detention in Ottawa. |
3. Military ‘Brats’
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Military 'Brats' are children born to a Canadian serviceperson outside of Canada. They got their name because the majority were born during the Cold War on Canadian military bases abroad. Others are the children of Canadians who worked abroad for the diplomatic corps or on other government work.
Before 1977, all Canadians who had children abroad were required to secure their children's citizenships with a form known as the Registration of Birth Abroad. In the case of children born on military bases, those forms were collected and filed by the Armed Forces. After 1977, the laws about registration changed, and anyone born abroad was required to obtain a certificate of Canadian citizenship. In many cases, Citizenship and Immigration Canada did not tell the affected people of the new requirement, and many were rendered without Canadian nationality or that of their birth country, leaving them stateless. |
4. Butterbox Babies
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Adopted babies from the Ideal Maternity Home, an illegally run home for unwed mothers in Nova Scotia, where many babies were sold on the black market to desperate couples from New York and New Jersey in the 1930s and '40s. Hundreds of others were left to die, either because the medical care at the home was lacking, or because the children appeared "unmarketable". Infants who were sick, deformed or disabled, or of mixed race were fed molasses and water until they starved to death. A caretaker years later admitted to Canadian journalist Bette Cahill that he was paid to bury the babies in open graves, or in butter boxes from the local LaHave Dairy.
Many of these births were not formally registered, and many of these children were sold without identity documents. As a result, they could not prove their nationality, whether living in Canada or the United States. Many lived as stateless persons, and often underground. Learn more from the Canadian Children's Rights Council. |
5. Canada’s Home Children
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Between 1869 and the late 1930s, over 100,000 orphaned, abandoned, or 'pauper' children were sent to live in Canada from Great Britain by churches and other philanthropic organisations. Many believed these children would have a better chance for a healthy life in Canada, where some families welcomed them as a source of cheap farm labour and domestic help. After arriving by ship, the children were sent to distributing homes, such as Fairknowe in Brockville, and then sent on to farmers in the area. Although many of the children were poorly treated and abused, others experienced a good life, and many served with the Canadian and British Forces during both World Wars.
Many of these children were not sent to Canada with copies of their identity documents, and as a result, could not prove their British nationality. Up to 4 million Canadians are believed to be descended from Canada's Home Children. To learn more visit Library and Archives Canada, or British Home Children in Canada. |
6. “Disability – the status of being a married woman, minor, lunatic, or idiot”
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These were people classified "under a disability" and unable to confer their own nationality prior to 1947 Citizenship Act. Married women, for example, did not have full authority over their national status. Classified with minors, lunatics and idiots (yes, legal terms at the time) “under a disability,” they could not become naturalized or control their national status as independent persons, except in very special circumstances. Children of women included in this group were also affected.
The Naturalization Act of 1914 introduced more stringent requirements to obtaining naturalization in Canada and immigrants were judged on their moral character. Persons with disabilities, as defined by the act, married women, minors, lunatics and idiots were not eligible to receive certificates of naturalization. The status of married women and children was depended on the male head of the family. Upon enacting the Canadian Citizenship Act on June 26, 1946, married women were given full authority over their nationality. |