Jeff Kaufman's Writing

You May Already Be Canadian

2026-02-19 · 13:00 UTC ·1 min read

Brief

Jeff Kaufman learned he is a Canadian citizen after Bill C-3 removed the generational limit for citizenship by descent; his lineage traces to a thrice-great-grandmother. He plans to apply for a Citizenship Certificate and is gathering records (including Consular Reports of Birth Abroad) linking each generation. Kaufman estimates roughly 5–10% of Americans could qualify, with narrow caveats.

Why it matters

Bill C-3 reinstates Canadian citizenship by descent with no generational limit; Jeff Kaufman (published 2026-02-19) discovered a thrice-great-grandmother born in Canada makes him a citizen.

Key details

  • Kaufman will apply for a Citizenship Certificate and is collecting multi-generation records (including Consular Reports of Birth Abroad for his mother and grandmother); he estimates ~5–10% of Americans may now qualify, though exclusions include births after 2025-12-15 and any ancestor's renunciation.
Source evidence

title: You May Already Be Canadian
contenttype: article
publication: Jeff Kaufman's Writing
published: 2026-02-19T13:00:00+00:00
sourceurl: https://www.jefftk.com/p/you-may-already-be-canadian

word_count: 270

I learned a few weeks ago that I'm a Canadian citizen. This was
pretty surprising to me, since I was born in the US to American
parents, both of which had American parents. You don't normally
suddenly become a citizen of another country! But with Bill
C-3 , anyone with any Canadian ancestry is now Canadian. [1] In my case my mother 's, mother 's, father 's mother 's mother was Canadian. While that is really quite far back, there isn't
a generational limit anymore. Possibly you're also a Canadian citizen? Seems worth checking! With
how much migration there has been between the US and Canada, and
citizenship requiring only a single ancestor, this might mean ~5-10% of
Americans are now additionally Canadian, which is kind of nuts. I very much think of myself as an American, and am not
interested in moving to Canada or even getting a passport. I am
planning to apply
for a Citizenship Certificate , though, since it seems better to
have this fully documented. This means collecting the records to link
each generation, including marital name changes, back to my
thrice-great grandmother. It's been a fun project! I'm currently
waiting to receive the Consular
Report of Birth Abroad records for my mother and grandmother,
since they were both born outside the US to American parents. [1] This is slightly too strong. For example, it doesn't apply if
you're born after 2025-12-15 (I'm guessing you weren't), and no one in
the chain can have renounced their Canadian citizenship. But the
caveats all exclude very few people. Comment via: facebook , lesswrong , mastodon , bluesky