Canadian citizenship certificate holders who obtained proof of citizenship by descent have been told to surrender their certificates after the government questioned whether their supporting documents came from acceptable authorities.
On June 13, 2026, an unknown number of certificate holders received letters from the Registrar of Citizenship requiring them to surrender their certificates under Citizenship Regulations 26(1). The letters said their claims to citizenship had come under review.
The stated reason was that the supporting documents were “not from the original source authorities responsible for creating or maintaining historical records,” such as civil registries, vital statistics agencies, or authorized government bodies.
Immigration lawyers say this requirement was not clearly stated when applicants submitted their proof of citizenship applications.
Ala Bujac, a lawyer at Cohen Immigration Law, said on June 17, 2026 that this appeared to be the first time the government had said documents must come only from “original source authorities.” She also said there had been no specific mention in the regulatory framework of a list of such authorities before the letters were issued.
The issue is that applicants are generally expected to be assessed under the rules and document standards in place when they applied.
The government’s official checklist, CIT 0014, says birth certificates must be “issued by the original government authority” in the country of birth. It does not expressly say documents must be obtained from “original source authorities.”
The same checklist also allows broader forms of evidence, including:
- evidence that a parent is a Canadian citizen;
- pre-birth orders, court orders, surrogacy agreements, and hospital records;
- other proof of citizenship or immigration status in Canada or another country, including immigration documents, visas, and passports.
The surrender demand was issued under Citizenship Regulations 26(1), which allows the Registrar to require a person to surrender a citizenship certificate if there is reason to believe the person may not be entitled to it.
However, the use of this provision may face legal challenges, including possible arguments under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The affected people had received proof of Canadian citizenship certificates after applying through the government’s citizenship-by-descent process. They submitted paper applications using form CIT 0001, along with supporting documents and forms.
Many were part of a new wave of citizenship-by-descent applicants after December 2025 changes to the Citizenship Act expanded eligibility. The changes removed the generational limit on inheriting Canadian citizenship, opening potential claims to people born outside Canada, including many Americans with Canadian ancestry.
Some applicants reportedly traced their claim through Canadian-born ancestors from the mid-19th century, before modern civil recordkeeping was common. These cases often required extensive documentation to establish an unbroken chain of descent.
Applicants who received surrender letters must hand over their certificates immediately and provide additional documentation to support their citizenship claim.
If the government accepts the claim after review, the certificate will be returned. If the claim is rejected, the certificate will be cancelled.
Source article: www.cicnews.com
