Canadian citizens
Canadian nationality law is promulgated by the Citizenship Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-29) since 1977. The Act determines who is, or is eligible to be, a citizen of Canada. The Act replaced the previous Canadian Citizenship Act (S.C. 1946, c. 15) in 1977 and has gone through four significant amendments in 2007, 2009, 2015 and 2017.
Canadian citizenship is typically obtained by birth in Canada on the principle of jus soli, or birth abroad when at least one parent is a Canadian citizen or by adoption by at least one Canadian citizen under the rules of jus sanguinis. It can also be granted to a permanent resident who has lived in Canada for a period of time through naturalization. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC, formerly known as Citizenship and Immigration Canada, or CIC) is the department of the Federal government responsible for citizenship-related matters, including confirmation, grant, renunciation and revocation of citizenship.
On 19 June 2017, the Act has been amended for a fourth time by the 42nd Canadian Parliament. A set of changes has already taken effect on that date, while the remaining provisions will come into force in fall 2017 and early 2018.
After Canadian Confederation was achieved in 1867, the new Dominion's "nationality law" initially closely mirrored that of the United Kingdom and all Canadians were classified as British subjects. Section 91(25) of the British North America Act, 1867, passed by the British Parliament in London (now referred to as the Constitution Act, 1867), however, gave the Parliament of Canada authority over "Naturalization and Aliens". The Immigration Act, 1910, for example, created the status of "Canadian citizen". This distinguished those British subjects who were born, naturalized, or domiciled in Canada from those who were not, but was only applied for the purpose of determining whether someone was free of immigration controls. The Naturalization Act, 1914, increased the period of residence required to qualify for naturalization in Canada as a British subject from three years to five years. A separate additional status of "Canadian national" was created under the Canadian Nationals Act, 1921, in order that Canada could participate in international forces or military expeditions separately from Britain.
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