Published on February 19, 2026 4:00 PM GMT
I learned a few weeks ago that I’m a Canadian citizen. This was
pretty surprising to me, since I was born in the US to American
parents, both of which had American parents. You don’t normally
suddenly become a citizen of another country! But with
Bill
C-3, anyone with any Canadian ancestry is now Canadian. [1]
In my case my mother’s,
mother’s,
father’s
mother’s
mother
was Canadian. While that is really quite far back, there isn’t
a generational limit anymore.
Possibly you’re also a Canadian citizen? Seems worth checking! With
how much migration there has been between the US and Canada, and
citizenship requiring only a single ancestor, this might mean ~5-10% of
Americans are now additionally Canadian, which is kind of nuts.
I very much think of myself as an American, and am not
interested in moving to Canada or even getting a passport. I am
planning to apply
for a Citizenship Certificate, though, since it seems better to
have this fully documented. This means collecting the records to link
each generation, including marital name changes, back to my
thrice-great grandmother. It’s been a fun project! I’m currently
waiting to receive the Consular
Report of Birth Abroad records for my mother and grandmother,
since they were both born outside the US to American parents.
[1] This is slightly too strong. For example, it doesn’t apply if
you’re born after 2025-12-15 (I’m guessing you weren’t), and no one in
the chain can have renounced their Canadian citizenship. But the
caveats all exclude very few people.
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