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Canadian Citizenship Changes 2017

Canadian Citizenship Changes 2017

Effective October 11, 2017 the residency requirements are shorter and broader making it easier for immigrants to become Canadian Citizens. Among other changes, permanent residents will now be eligible to apply for citizenship when they have accumulated 3 years (1,095 days) within a 5 year period dropping the previous requirement 4 out of 6 years. Time spent in Canada before becoming a permanent resident may also be credited towards the 1,095 day requirement.

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Canadian Citizenship Bill C-6 Makes Citizenship Easier

On June 19, 2017, Bill C-6 received Royal Assent and is now law. This bill amends Canada’s Citizenship Act and will now offer a quicker path to citizenship for permanent residents. The table* below summarizes the changes that went into effect on June 19, 2017.

Previous Citizenship Act
Citizenship Act with Bill
C-6 Amendments
Citizenship could be revoked from dual citizens convicted of treason, spying and terrorism offences, depending on the sentence received, or who were a part of an armed force of a country or organized group engaged in conflict with Canada.
This provision is repealed. Dual citizens living in Canada who are convicted of these crimes will face the Canadian justice system, like other Canadian citizens who break the law.
Applicants were required to intend to continue to live in Canada if granted citizenship.
This provision is repealed. Applicants are no longer required to intend to continue to live in Canada once granted citizenship. This provides more flexibility to Canadians who may need to live outside of Canada for work or personal reasons.
The Minister had the discretion to waive certain requirements under subsection 5(1) of the Citizenship Act so a minor could obtain citizenship without a Canadian parent.
Minors can now apply for citizenship without a Canadian parent, as the age requirement for citizenship has been removed under subsection 5(1). A person having custody of the minor or empowered to act on their behalf by court order, written agreement or operation of law, can now apply for citizenship on behalf of the minor, unless that requirement is waived by the Minister.
No provision existed to prevent individuals serving a sentence in the community (a conditional sentence order) from being granted citizenship, taking the Oath of Citizenship or counting this time towards meeting the physical presence requirements for citizenship.
Individuals serving a conditional sentence will not be granted citizenship, take the Oath of Citizenship, or be able to count this time towards meeting the physical presence requirements for citizenship.
The Minister has the discretion to grant citizenship to a person to alleviate cases of special and unusual hardship, or to reward services of an exceptional value to Canada.
Statelessness has been added as a stand-alone ground that can be considered for a discretionary grant of citizenship.
The Department has reasonable measures to accommodate the needs of citizenship applicants. However, there was no explicit reference to accommodate persons with disabilities in the Citizenship Act.
The requirement to take into consideration reasonable measures to accommodate the needs of a citizenship applicant who is a disabled person is now included in the Citizenship Act.
The requirement for applicants to maintain the requirements for citizenship from the time they apply for citizenship until taking the Oath of Citizenship only applied to applications received on or after June 11, 2015.
This requirement now also applies to all applications, including those received before June 11, 2015.

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Canadian Citizenship Residency Requirements

Effective October 11, 2017 the residency requirements are shorter and broader making it easier for immigrants to become Canadian Citizens.

Changes to the citizenship requirements are:

  • Permanent residents will now be eligible to apply for citizenship when they have accumulated 3 years (1,095 days) within a 5 year period dropping the previous requirement 4 out of 6 years.
  • Permanent residents will now be eligible to apply for citizenship when they have filed taxes for three out of five years.
  • Allow permanent residents who had spent time in Canada on temporary status, such as on a work or study permit, to count up to 365 days of this temporary status towards the residency requirement, as long as this aligns with the number of income tax declarations.
  • Permit children under the age of 18 to apply for citizenship without the support or consent of their parents
  • Permanent residents who are under 18 or over 54 years old are no longer required to take the citizenship knowledge and language test.
  • Eliminate the government’s ability to revoke citizenship from naturalized citizens who hold dual citizenship on national security grounds, which the now-governing Liberals had said created a two-tiered citizenship system when in opposition
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* https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2017/06/bill_c-6_receivesroyalassent0.html
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