The “Lost Canadians” legislation, designed to address Canada’s unlawful citizenship by descent regulations, was approved by the Senate on Wednesday and granted royal assent on Thursday afternoon. The term pertains to individuals born outside Canada to Canadian parents who were also born abroad.
In 2009, the federal government altered the law to stipulate that Canadians born overseas could only transmit their citizenship if their child was born in Canada. However, this was deemed unconstitutional by the Ontario Superior Court in December 2023. The new legislation proposes that Canadian citizenship can be passed down to individuals born abroad, extending beyond the first generation, if the parents spent a cumulative three years in Canada before the child’s birth or adoption.
Senator David Arnot from Saskatchewan raised concerns that the bill imposes an unfair “substantial connection” test on “intercountry adoptees” regarding citizenship transmission. This test applies to adopted children born abroad and raised in Canada by Canadian parents. Arnot emphasized that intercountry adoptees should receive the same treatment as domestic adoptees under the Hague Convention.
Immigration lawyers Sujit Choudhry and Maureen Silcoff have been enlisted for a potential Charter challenge on behalf of intercountry adoptees, arguing against differential treatment compared to domestically adopted children. They assert that the current requirements for intercountry adoptees pose a potential violation of rights and are inconsistent with Canada’s international obligations.
Choudhry expressed a preference for a legislative resolution to the issue rather than resorting to a court challenge. Despite attempts by various MPs to introduce amendments clarifying adoption rules, these efforts were unsuccessful. Amendments proposed in the House of Commons were removed before the bill advanced to the Senate, where further attempts to reintroduce them were rejected.