One of the most common questions we hear at MaplePass is: "My grandmother was born in Canada — does that make me a Canadian citizen?" Under Bill C-3, the answer is very likely yes.
Sarah's Story: Tracing Citizenship Through Two Generations
Sarah is a 34-year-old teacher in Vermont. She always knew her grandmother, Marie, was "from Canada" but never thought much about it. When she heard about Bill C-3 on the news in early 2026, she decided to investigate.
Here's exactly what Sarah's ancestry chain looked like and the documents she needed:
The Chain of Descent
Marie (Grandmother) — Born in Sherbrooke, Quebec in 1942. Moved to Vermont after marrying Sarah's grandfather in 1964. Marie was born Canadian and never naturalized as a US citizen.
Robert (Father) — Born in Burlington, Vermont in 1966. Robert was born abroad to a Canadian mother, making him a Canadian citizen by descent — though he never knew it.
Sarah (Applicant) — Born in Burlington, Vermont in 1992. Before Bill C-3, Sarah was NOT recognized as a Canadian citizen because she was "second generation born abroad." Bill C-3 changed that retroactively.
Documents Sarah Needed
- . Her own birth certificate (Vermont long-form) — to prove she's Robert's daughter
- . Robert's birth certificate (Vermont long-form) — to prove he's Marie's son
- . Marie's birth certificate (Quebec certificate) — to prove Marie was born in Canada
- . Marie's marriage certificate — to connect her maiden name (Tremblay) to her married name (Johnson)
How She Got Them
Sarah's Vermont birth certificates were easy — she ordered them online from the Vermont Department of Health in about a week.
Marie's Quebec birth certificate took longer. Sarah ordered it through the DEClic! portal (Quebec's online vital records system). Because Marie was born in 1942, the record was available. It arrived in about 5 weeks.
The marriage certificate connecting Marie Tremblay to Marie Johnson was the trickiest part. The marriage took place in Vermont, so Sarah ordered it from the Vermont town clerk's office.
The Result
Sarah submitted her CIT 0001 application with all supporting documents. Total cost: $75 CAD (government fee) plus about $150 in document ordering fees. She's now waiting for her citizenship certificate — estimated processing time of 11 months.
Key Takeaways
- Bill C-3 is retroactive. Sarah was born in 1992 — decades before the law changed — and she's now recognized as having been a Canadian citizen since birth.
- You don't need to have known about your citizenship. Neither Sarah nor her father Robert ever knew they were Canadian citizens.
- The documents are the hard part, not the form. The CIT 0001 application itself is straightforward. Gathering the right certificates takes the most time.
- Start ordering documents NOW. Provincial certificates can take 4-8 weeks. Don't wait until you've filled out the form.
Does This Apply to You?
If any of your grandparents — or even great-grandparents — were born in Canada, you may already be a Canadian citizen. MaplePass can assess your eligibility in under 2 minutes and generate a personalized document checklist based on your specific family situation.