OTTAWA – The “Lost Canadians” legislation, which aims to fix Canada’s unconstitutional citizenship by descent rules, passed in the Senate Wednesday and is on track to becoming law.
The term “Lost Canadians” refers to people who were born outside of the country to Canadian parents who were also born in another country.
In 2009, the Conservative federal government changed the law so that Canadians born abroad could only pass down their citizenship if their child was born in Canada, but that was deemed unconstitutional by the Ontario Superior Court in December 2023.
The legislation proposes Canadian citizenship could be passed down to people born abroad, beyond the first generation, if the parents spent a cumulative three years in Canada before the child’s birth or adoption.
Saskatchewan Sen. David Arnot argued the bill does not apply to “intercountry adoptees,” international children adopted by Canadian parents and raised in Canada, for passing on citizenship to their children if they are also born abroad.
Arnot did not try to amend the law because the court has set a deadline for the law to be enacted by Jan. 20, but he urged the immigration minister to make the change in the future.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2025.
