CANADA — Being able to work, go to school or just travel in a country are a lot easier with citizenship. Canada recently made it a lot easier to get that.

“[We] speak the same language, almost the same food,” said Rosanna Berardi, the managing partner at Berardi Immigration Law. “It’s a very easy transition.”

Canada is seeing a lot more citizen requests from the land of the free and the home of the brave.

“If you wanted to move to another country, Canada from the U.S. would be the easiest,” Berardi said.

Requirements to get citizenship now extend not just from from parent to child, but to any grandparents, going back multiple generations.

“Obviously I’m biased as an immigration lawyer, but the more citizenships you can have, the better,” said Berardi. “It just opens up so many employment opportunities, education opportunities. We’re a global world.”

That also means you need to prove the link back.

“The Canadian government is not going to do that for you,” said Berardi.

That is why places like the Lincoln Pelham Public Library in Canada, where some archives are stored, are seeing a lot more action.

“Somebody who’s really passionate about their family history is a rare breed,” said Amanda Knapper, chair for the Niagara Peninsula Branch of Ontario Ancestors.

Since January, they have seen requests go up 30% compared to their entire last year. Most of the requests are specific to birth and baptism.

They have a dedicated volunteer for these requests. That’s not the case everywhere.

“Some of the other branches within the province have actually refused to take the requests, and aren’t interested in that,” said Knapper. “They don’t have the volunteers.”

That’s because the further back you go, the harder it gets. If the staff isn’t there to support it, that’s a lot of work.

“In 1869, the Canadian government at the time said, ‘we want all births to be registered with the province. Sounds like a great idea,'” said Bill Young, a research and cemetery contact lead for the Niagara Peninsula Branch of Ontario Ancestors. “[But] you know, there are stats that even in the 1890s, they only had 80% of births being registered.”

That’s where the hunt begins.

“It is kind of like solving a mystery,” said Knapper.

They look for any records of ancestors, and even different spellings.

“Maybe your ancestor […] changed an E to an O or an A to an I,” Knapper said.

Even with all that, there’s still one big “if.”

“If they were religious, which most people were, then you go to birth and baptism records with churches, which is great… if they survived,” explained Young.

It’s a bit of knowledge and a bit of luck.

“For the most part, it’s probably about a 50-50 chance depending on when,” said Knapper.

Getting all that is still just the beginning.

“We always suggest that you consult with a professional geneologist and that you talk with an attorney who specializes in these type of applications so that they can get specific information about what they need,” she added.

But if they can help, they’re happy to.

“I am Canadian. Obviously I love Canada,” said Knapper. “The more Canadians we have, the better, as far as I’m concerned.”

Despite some stories about getting their paperwork and their citizenship within a matter of months, Berardi says hold your horses. It already took a while to get a Canadian passport.

Add that in with the influx of applications and nobody should be planning their summer vacation around having this done by then.