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, 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.
The Lost Canadians are led by Vancouver’s Don Chapman, himself a Lost Canadian. He writes on the Lost Canadians blog, Lost Canadians are “movie stars, sports heroes, singers, Privy Council Members, MP's, Senators, Judges, journalists, pharmacists, even Order of Canada recipients. Most Lost Canadians, however, are just average, ordinary people who've always thought themselves to be Canadian citizens.” For a comprehensive look into Lost Canadians, media releases and timelines, click here.
In 2007, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration indicated that there were about 450 known cases of Lost Canadians, however, according to a 2007 CBC investigative report, the number might have been as high as in the hundreds of thousands.
How does this happen?
Prior to amendments adopted in 2009, there were at least four distinct legal groups of Lost Canadians:
Steps taken to Resolve
On April 17, 2009, the Canadian government implemented Bill C-37, a measure that granted Canadian citizenship to two groups of Lost Canadians:
- revocation for fraud
- misrepresentation or concealment of material circumstances
- or in the case of a second- or subsequent-generation Canadian born abroad since 15 February 1977, who failed to take steps to retain Canadian citizenship by the age of 28
The April 2009 Bill C-37 created the possibility of new statelessness casesy limiting citizenship by descent to the first generation born or adopted outside of Canada to a Canadian parent. As a result of this limitation, it is possible that children born on or after April 17, 2009 to a second generation Canadian parent may be stateless. Click here to access the Government of Canada's information on the April, 2009 changes. In April, 2009 Citizenship and Immigration Canada created a YouTube video advertising the April 17, 2009 changes.
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, 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.
The Lost Canadians are led by Vancouver’s Don Chapman, himself a Lost Canadian. He writes on the Lost Canadians blog, Lost Canadians are “movie stars, sports heroes, singers, Privy Council Members, MP's, Senators, Judges, journalists, pharmacists, even Order of Canada recipients. Most Lost Canadians, however, are just average, ordinary people who've always thought themselves to be Canadian citizens.” For a comprehensive look into Lost Canadians, media releases and timelines, click here.
In 2007, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration indicated that there were about 450 known cases of Lost Canadians, however, according to a 2007 CBC investigative report, the number might have been as high as in the hundreds of thousands.
How does this happen?
Prior to amendments adopted in 2009, there were at least four distinct legal groups of Lost Canadians:
- people naturalized to Canada who subsequently lived outside the country for more than 10 years prior to 1967;
- people born abroad to a Canadian parent before the Citizenship Act of 15 February 1977 came into effect;
- people who lost their citizenship between 1 January 1947 and 14 February 1977 because they or their parent acquired the nationality or citizenship of another country;
- and second- and subsequent-generation Canadians born abroad since the Citizenship Act of 15 February 1977 came into effect.
Steps taken to Resolve
On April 17, 2009, the Canadian government implemented Bill C-37, a measure that granted Canadian citizenship to two groups of Lost Canadians:
- those who lost Canadian citizenship for any reason other than
- revocation for fraud
- misrepresentation or concealment of material circumstances
- or in the case of a second- or subsequent-generation Canadian born abroad since 15 February 1977, who failed to take steps to retain Canadian citizenship by the age of 28
- and, those born abroad before 15 February 1977 to a Canadian parent but who never became a Canadian citizen.
The April 2009 Bill C-37 created the possibility of new statelessness casesy limiting citizenship by descent to the first generation born or adopted outside of Canada to a Canadian parent. As a result of this limitation, it is possible that children born on or after April 17, 2009 to a second generation Canadian parent may be stateless. Click here to access the Government of Canada's information on the April, 2009 changes. In April, 2009 Citizenship and Immigration Canada created a YouTube video advertising the April 17, 2009 changes.
The 2014 Bill C-24, the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act, retroactively recognizes the citizenship of many Lost Canadians. The Bill addresses those who were excluded by the 2009 amendments to the Act through the broad first generation limitation for those born outside of Canada.
Section 3(1) of the Act lists persons who have a right to citizenship
- as a result of being born in Canada;
- born to a Canadian citizen parent;
- or by operation of the 1946 Citizenship Act.
In other words, it lists all paths to citizenship other than through naturalization. Bill C-24 retroactively recognizes the citizenship of many Lost Canadians excluded from citizenship when the 1946 Citizenship Act came into force.
Challenges
Section 3(3) of the Act still denies citizenship to the second- and subsequent-generations born outside Canada to a parent who was a citizen at the time of birth. Bill C-24, therefore, maintains the risk of statelessness for some persons, since many countries restrict granting citizenship to a child born there of foreign national parents. The Canadian Bar Association recommends that Bill C-24 be drafted to fulfill Canada’s international obligations to prevent statelessness.
Excerpts from Canadian Bar Association, 2014, Bill C-24 Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act, and Andrew Brouwer, 2012, Statelessness in Canadian Context.
For more information on Bill C-24 see:
Canadian Bar Association, 2014, Bill C-24 Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act
Amnesty International, 2014, Bill C-24: Amnesty International's Concerns regarding Proposed Changes to the Canadian Citizenship Act
Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, 2014, Bill C-24, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts
