Immigration Minister Says Having Canadian Ancestor Doesn’t Make One ‘Automatically Eligible’ for Citizenship

Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Lena Metlege Diab rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 26, 2026. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

Immigration Minister Lena Diab says people seeking Canadian citizenship by descent must prove their connection to Canada through each generation and that genealogy websites alone are not sufficient evidence.

Diab made the comments June 16 during Question Period in the House of Commons, when asked how many individuals had been given Canadian citizenship using inaccurate documents under a law passed last year that lets some people born before Dec. 15, 2025, obtain Canadian citizenship by descent if they can document a chain of descent to a Canadian citizen.

For those born after the law came into force, citizenship by descent can also extend beyond the first generation if the Canadian parent had a substantial connection to Canada, according to the text of Bill C-3, an Act to Amend the Citizenship Act.

Diab declined to give a number on how many had been issued citizenship certificates based on documentation later deemed insufficient by immigration officials, but said that standards for eligibility under the law must fully prove links to Canada “at each and every generation.”

“Just because you have a Canadian ancestor does not mean you’re automatically eligible for citizenship. You must definitively prove your link to Canada at each and every generation,” Diab said.

“Genealogy websites are not enough,” she added.

Demand Letter From Ottawa

An unknown number of individuals received letters over the weekend from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada directing them to surrender their citizenship certificates after immigration officials determined their applications lacked sufficient supporting documentation.

Some of those who received the letters demanding they surrender their citizenship certificates said they have already moved to Canada or received passports and are unsure what their current status is due to the surrender request.

Immigration lawyer Amandeep Hayer says one of his clients got the letter on June 13 and that the letter says the citizenship certificate must be given back to the government due to the individual’s application failing to provide adequate proof of Canadian family via original sources such as vital statistics, or for failing to explain why such documents had not been provided to the government.

Hayer estimated, based on discussions on social media, that at least several hundred individuals had received similar letters.

This development prompted Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner, who also serves as her party’s shadow minister on immigration, to ask how many citizenships had been issued using “bogus documents” since Bill C-3 became law in November of last year.

Diab declined to give a number but added that “my job is to safeguard the integrity of our citizenship program, and I will do everything necessary to protect that.”

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.