# CHANGES TO CITIZENSHIP RULES 2009 TO 2015 — Government of Canada

SOURCE: Government of Canada (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada)
LIVE URL: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-citizenship/act-changes/rules-2009-2015.html
ACCESSED: 2026-09-03

## Key statements (quoted directly from the page)

"In 2015, you became a Canadian citizen if you were:
- born or naturalized in Canada before January 1, 1947, but you stopped being a British
  subject and didn't become a citizen on that date"

"On April 17, 2009, the rules for Canadian citizenship changed for people born outside
Canada to Canadian parents... Canadian citizenship by birth outside Canada to a parent
who was a Canadian citizen (citizenship by descent) was limited to the first generation
born outside Canada."

## Status of the first-generation limit (updated December 15, 2025)

"On December 15, 2025, the Government of Canada passed Bill C-3 to change the
first-generation limit on citizenship by descent." See canada-citizenship-rules-2025.md.

## What this proves for Jack's file

1. The Government of Canada's own page confirms January 1, 1947 as the date Canadian
   citizenship began, and that anyone born in Canada before that date (like Antoine,
   b. 1837) was a British subject — NOT a Canadian citizen.
2. Citizenship by descent has, since 2009, been limited to the first generation born
   outside Canada to a Canadian parent.
3. None of the 2009 or 2015 changes confer citizenship on this family: no ancestor since
   Antoine has been a Canadian citizen, so there is no Canadian parent or grandparent
   in the chain at all.