Canadian Citizenship: Eligibility, Process and Proof

Most immigrants become Canadian citizens through a grant of citizenship (also called naturalization) under section 5 of the Citizenship Act. You must be a permanent resident (PR), meet a physical presence requirement, file any required tax returns and not be under a prohibition. If you are 18 to 54 when you sign, you must also show basic English or French and pass a knowledge test. For most applicants, the last step is the oath at a citizenship ceremony.

Some people do not need a grant. A person born outside Canada to a Canadian parent may already be a citizen by descent. Bill C-3 (An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025)) took effect on December 15, 2025 and removed the first-generation limit in some situations. These people apply for a citizenship certificate (proof of citizenship) instead.

• Grant of citizenship for adults (18 and over): the regular route for permanent residents, explained below.
• Minor 5(2), a child with a Canadian parent or a parent applying at the same time: the child must be a PR and not under a prohibition. No physical presence, language or test requirement. A parent or legal guardian applies.
• Minor 5(1), a child without a Canadian parent or a parent applying at the same time: the child needs 1,095 days of physical presence and any required tax filing. Someone with custody or legal authority applies; if no one can, the minor can ask to apply alone.
• Citizenship certificate: for people who are already citizens, including by descent, who need proof, a replacement or an update.
• Children born and adopted abroad by a Canadian parent: not citizens automatically. After the adoption, they can apply for a direct grant of citizenship.
• Special routes: Canadian Armed Forces members and veterans, stateless people born to a Canadian parent, people registered under the Indian Act, and former citizens resuming citizenship.

Marrying a Canadian does not make you a citizen. Spouses and common-law partners of citizens must meet the same requirements as other adults.

Not a permanent resident yet? Citizenship comes after PR; the family sponsorship and refugee protection pages explain two common routes. If you may already be a citizen by descent, read the Bill C-3 section first.

A grant of citizenship is likely a good fit if:

• You are a PR with no removal order and no unfulfilled PR conditions.
• You have at least 1,095 days in Canada in the 5 years before you sign, counted correctly.
• You filed tax returns for 3 years in that period, if required.
• You are 55 or older, or can prove CLB/NCLC 4 in English or French.
• You have no current charges, sentence, probation or parole, and no indictable conviction in the last 4 years.

Look at other options if:

• You were born outside Canada to a Canadian parent: you may already be a citizen. Apply for a citizenship certificate instead.
• Your PR status is under review for immigration or fraud reasons: IRCC may suspend your application.
• You are on probation or parole, serving a sentence, or charged with an offence: wait until it no longer affects your eligibility.
• You are close to 1,095 days after long trips abroad: building a margin is safer than applying at the minimum.
• Your current country does not allow dual citizenship: check its rules first.

PR status: you can apply with a valid or expired PR card, but you must still have PR status.

Taxes: the Act requires you to have met any requirement under the Income Tax Act to file a return for 3 taxation years that fall fully or partly within the 5 years before you apply. In the application, you say whether you had to file and whether you did.

Accommodations and waivers: you can ask for help such as a Braille, large-print or oral test, extra time or sign language interpretation. Adults can ask IRCC to waive the language, test or oath requirement; minors 14 to 17 can ask to waive only the oath.

Prohibitions (section 22 of the Citizenship Act): you cannot be granted citizenship or take the oath if, for example:

• You are in prison, on parole or on probation in Canada, or serving a sentence abroad.
• You are charged with, on trial for or appealing an indictable offence or a Citizenship Act offence in Canada, or an equivalent offence abroad.
• You were convicted of such an offence in the 4 years before you apply (for foreign convictions, even if pardoned).
• You are under a removal order, or are investigated for, charged with or convicted of war crimes or crimes against humanity.
• You were refused for misrepresentation in the past 5 years, or had citizenship revoked for fraud in the past 10 years.
• While a PR, you were convicted of terrorism, treason or spying offences, or served in an armed force or group engaged in armed conflict with Canada.

Your eligibility period is the 5 years before the date you sign your application. You need at least 1,095 days of physical presence in that period. Because credit for time before PR is capped at 365 days, you always need at least 730 days in Canada as a permanent resident.

Online applicants must use the physical presence calculator inside their IRCC account; paper applicants include IRCC's online calculator printout or form CIT 0407. IRCC's optional travel journal helps you record trips. The calculator in your IRCC account is the one IRCC uses.

The signature date must match the application date in your calculation. If IRCC returns an incomplete application, you recalculate and sign again, so your eligibility period moves.

If you are 18 to 54 on the day you sign, you must show speaking and listening at CLB 4 in English or Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) 4 in French: short everyday conversations, simple instructions and basic grammar. You send proof with the application, and officials may also assess you during the process.

Expired results are accepted if the scores are high enough. IELTS Academic is not accepted. IRCC returns the whole application if the proof is missing, unreadable, or not in English or French without a certified translation.

The test has 20 multiple-choice or true-or-false questions, lasts 45 minutes and is in English or French. You pass with 15 correct answers (75%). Questions come from the official study guide, Discover Canada, and cover citizens' rights and responsibilities and Canada's history, geography, economy, government, laws and symbols.

Most applicants take the test online, from anywhere, with webcam monitoring. After the email invitation, you have 30 days and up to 3 attempts. With an accommodation, the test can be in person or on Microsoft Teams.

1. 1

   Check eligibility and count your days

   Use IRCC's eligibility questions and physical presence calculator, and gather language proof and identity documents. IRCC asks you to confirm you are still eligible on the day before you sign.

2. 2

   Pay the fees and apply online

   Most people apply online, alone or as a family or group (one adult per account, up to 20 minors). You must apply on paper if you count time abroad as a Crown servant or family member, or want your representative to complete and submit for you. Online, you fill out, sign and submit the application yourself, even with a representative.

3. 3

   Wait for the acknowledgement of receipt (AOR)

   The confirmation email is not the AOR. IRCC checks completeness, then sends the AOR with your application number and unique client identifier (UCI). Incomplete applications are returned. Paper applications received more than 90 days after signing are returned.

4. 4

   Keep IRCC informed

   Answer letters and emails by the deadline, usually 30 days. Tell IRCC if you move, plan to leave Canada for more than 2 weeks in a row, or are charged with a crime. If asked for fingerprints, use a police service, the RCMP or an RCMP-accredited company.

5. 5

   Take the citizenship test (ages 18 to 54)

   Take the online test within the 30 days in your invitation. An officer reviews your score to make it official.

6. 6

   Attend an interview or hearing if invited

   IRCC may interview you to verify identity, documents and eligibility; some files are picked at random for quality assurance. Bring original documents and all passports or travel documents used in the 5 years before you applied.

7. 7

   Take the oath at a ceremony

   Adults and minors 14 to 17 swear or affirm the oath at a virtual or in-person ceremony, and you can ask to switch formats. Sign the Oath or Affirmation of Citizenship form the same day. There is no self-administered online oath: IRCC proposed one in the Canada Gazette in February 2023, but the Citizenship Regulations still require the oath before a citizenship judge or another authorized official.

8. 8

   Get your certificate, then your passport

   You receive an electronic or paper citizenship certificate. Only then can you apply for a Canadian passport.

Before Bill C-3, citizenship by descent stopped at the first generation born abroad. In December 2023, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled this limit unconstitutional for many people. Bill C-3 took effect on December 15, 2025 and removed the limit in some situations. Anyone already a citizen stays a citizen.

The first generation is the first person born or adopted outside Canada to a citizen who was born in Canada or naturalized. Their children born abroad are the second generation.

• Born abroad before December 15, 2025: in most cases you are automatically a citizen if a parent was a Canadian citizen at your birth, including a parent who became Canadian because of these changes.
• Born abroad on or after December 15, 2025, to a Canadian parent who is a citizen by descent (also born or adopted outside Canada to a Canadian citizen): you are a citizen only if that parent was physically present in Canada for at least 1,095 days before your birth. A parent who was born abroad but became Canadian through a grant (naturalization) is not covered by this rule; their child born abroad is a first-generation citizen.
• The 1,095-day rule does not apply if a parent, or a grandparent when your parent was born or adopted, was working abroad for the Canadian Armed Forces or the federal or a provincial public service (not locally engaged).
• Adopted abroad in the second generation or later: you are likely eligible for a direct grant. For adoptions on or after December 15, 2025, the Canadian parent needs 1,095 days in Canada before the adoption.

To find out for sure, apply for a citizenship certificate. For a birth on or after December 15, 2025, you must prove your parent's 1,095 days. Interim-measure applications are processed under the new rules without reapplying. Before travelling to Canada, get the certificate and then a Canadian passport.

If the changes made you a citizen and you do not want to be one, you can renounce, with no fee and fewer requirements.

People born in Canada can usually prove citizenship with a provincial or territorial birth certificate. A citizenship certificate costs $75, also replaces or updates an existing one, and is not a travel document. IRCC no longer issues citizenship cards.

Canada allows dual citizenship, but not every country does. You may lose your current citizenship when you become Canadian. If you are not sure, contact the embassy, high commission or consulate of your current country. As a dual citizen, you can enter Canada only with a valid Canadian passport or a special authorization.

Renouncing: in general, you must be, or be about to become, a citizen of another country, live outside Canada, be at least 18 and not face revocation proceedings. The fee is $100. You then have no status in Canada. Former citizens can apply to resume citizenship.

Revocation for fraud: the Minister can revoke citizenship if satisfied, on a balance of probabilities, that it was obtained, kept, renounced or resumed by false representation, fraud or knowingly hiding material circumstances, including PR status obtained by fraud (sections 10 and 10.2). After a written notice, you have 60 days to make written representations, including personal circumstances such as a child's best interests and statelessness.

The case goes to the Federal Court unless you ask the Minister to decide, or the Minister finds no fraud or grants special relief (sections 10 and 10.1). Revocation for fraud bars a new grant for 10 years.

Refunds: if an adult application is not approved, IRCC refunds the $123 right of citizenship fee; minors get no refund. If you withdraw or IRCC closes the file before processing starts (before the AOR), you get everything back; after that, adults get back $123. Unpaid or partly paid applications are returned.

Other costs can include a language test, translations and fingerprints. Processing times below are IRCC's live figures: for a grant, from a complete application until you become a citizen, including test and ceremony. Complex files take longer. IRCC may speed up some files in exceptional cases.

• Not enough physical presence: under 1,095 days on the signing date, often because pre-PR time was counted in full, the 365-day cap was exceeded, or time awaiting a refugee decision or on probation or parole was counted (sections 5 and 21).
• Miscounted or missing trips: absences that do not match passport stamps or other records. IRCC can ask for more evidence, such as a residence questionnaire (form CIT 0171), or ask you to appear (section 23.1). Not responding without a reasonable excuse can lead to abandonment (section 13.2).
• Tax filing gaps: missing returns the Income Tax Act required for 3 taxation years in the period (paragraph 5(1)(c)).
• Language proof problems: missing, unreadable or untranslated proof, or IELTS Academic, leads to a returned application. An official can also find you below CLB 4 at a hearing.
• Failing the test and hearing: after 3 failed attempts, IRCC holds a 30 to 90 minute hearing that can include an oral knowledge test (15 of 20 to pass), residence questions and a language check (6 of 9). Failing it means refusal; you must reapply and pay again.
• Prohibitions: charges, probation, parole, a recent indictable conviction or a removal order (section 22), including new charges during processing.
• Misrepresentation: misrepresenting or withholding important facts is a prohibition (paragraph 22(1)(e.1)), with a 5-year bar, and can later lead to revocation.
• Losing eligibility before the oath, for example losing PR status (subsection 22(6)), or missing the ceremony without a reasonable excuse (section 13.2).

After a refusal, you can ask the Federal Court for leave for judicial review within 30 days of learning of the decision (section 22.1). This requires a lawyer. Often, reapplying once you meet the requirements is faster.

• Certificate: an e-certificate appears in the IRCC Portal within 5 business days after IRCC receives your signed oath form. A paper certificate is given at an in-person ceremony, or mailed 2 to 4 weeks after a virtual one. Do not laminate it.
• Passport: apply after you have your certificate. Your PR card is collected or destroyed at the ceremony, so wait for your passport before leaving Canada.
• Voting: register to vote in federal elections, and contact your province or territory for provincial or territorial elections.
• Address changes: you no longer need to tell IRCC when you move.
• Your future children: a child born outside Canada to you as a naturalized citizen is a first-generation Canadian by descent. If that child later has children outside Canada, those grandchildren are, in most cases, citizens only if your child spent at least 1,095 days in Canada before their birth (exceptions exist for some families working abroad for the Canadian Armed Forces or a federal or provincial public service).