# CHECK IF YOU MAY BE A CITIZEN — Government of Canada (official eligibility page)

SOURCE: Government of Canada (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada)
LIVE URL: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-citizenship/become-canadian-citizen/eligibility/already-citizen.html
ACCESSED: 2026-09-03

## Key statements (quoted directly from the page)

"If you were born outside of Canada before December 15, 2025, you're likely a Canadian
citizen if your parent was also a Canadian citizen when you were born."

"If you were born outside of Canada on or after December 15, 2025, to a Canadian parent
also born outside of Canada, you're likely a Canadian citizen if
- your parent was also a Canadian citizen when you were born, AND
- your Canadian parent spent at least 1,095 days in Canada before you were born."

"You're not automatically a Canadian citizen if you marry a Canadian citizen... live in
Canada for many years as a permanent resident."

## What this proves for Jack's file

The official eligibility page makes the test simple: to be a Canadian citizen by
descent, you must have a PARENT who was a Canadian citizen at your birth. Jack has no
Canadian-citizen parent, grandparent, or any Canadian-citizen ancestor at all. The
family tree documents Canadian BIRTH (Antoine, 1837 Quebec) — but Canadian citizenship
is a legal status created in 1947, and no ancestor of Jack's ever held it.

The right next step for Jennifer, if she wants an official answer, is to apply for a
citizenship certificate (proof of citizenship) — the Government of Canada's own process
for determining whether someone is a citizen. The link is in the "How to confirm" section
of this page. We cannot and should not promise the outcome; we document the ancestry,
and the government determines eligibility.