A new law in Canada means that millions of Americans might qualify for dual citizenship as a “Lost Canadian.” And that’s led to a surge in applications.<\/p>\n
Immigration lawyers on both sides of the border have been overwhelmed with requests from Americans seeking help with proof of citizenship applications, according to The Associated Press. (1)<\/p>\n
“Lost Canadians” refers to people who “lost or never obtained citizenship because of certain outdated rules in earlier citizenship laws,” according to the Canadian government. (2)<\/p>\n
While many of those cases were resolved through earlier legislative changes, there was still a group that remained “lost,” including descendants of other Lost Canadians.<\/p>\n
And, in the U.S., there could be millions of them, Amandeep Hayer \u2014 an immigration attorney based in Vancouver, British Columbia \u2014 told The Associated Press. (1)<\/p>\n
Previously, Canadian citizenship could only be passed down from a parent to a child. But Bill C-3 extends access to citizenship to anyone who can prove they have a direct Canadian ancestor, including a grandparent or great-grandparent \u2014 or beyond (2).<\/p>\n
The bill passed into law on December 15, 2025, which means you can now apply for a proof-of-citizenship certificate, so long as you can provide proof of lineage. The application fee is $75 CAD, equivalent to about $55 USD (3).<\/p>\n
Tens of thousands of Americans are already exploring this process, driven by anything from politics to job opportunities.<\/p>\n
“When I first heard about the bill, I couldn’t believe it,” Maureen Sullivan of Naples, Florida, told The Associated Press. “It was like this little gift that fell in my lap.” (1)<\/p>\n
After her nephew in Minnesota encountered federal officers near his high school during the immigration crackdown, Sullivan sees Canadian citizenship as an option if things “really go south” in the U.S.<\/p>\n
For Nick Wallick, it’s about job opportunities. The film school graduate in Seattle told KING 5 News that he suspects he has French-Canadian heritage \u2014 and that dual citizenship means he could easily access Vancouver’s booming film industry without the need for a work visa (4).<\/p>\n
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Terry Preshaw, an immigration lawyer in Everett, Washington, told KING 5 News that her phone has been ringing “off the hook” since the new law came into effect. She went from having four clients seeking Canadian citizenship last year to more than 50 so far this year.<\/p>\n
But that doesn’t mean Americans with direct Canadian descendents have immediate plans to move. Rather, Preshaw said it’s like insurance \u2014 it’s there “just in case something catastrophic happens.”<\/p>\n
While Canadians are generally a “welcoming people,” Fen Hampson, Professor of International Affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa, told The Associated Press that they may look twice at those with thin ties who are “becoming Canadians of convenience.” (1)<\/p>\n
Read More: This $1B private real estate fund is now accessible to non-millionaires. Start investing with just $10<\/a><\/p>\n As a dual American-Canadian citizen, you have the right to live, work and study in Canada without the need for a work permit or visa. As an added bonus, citizenship by descent doesn’t come with a residency requirement (meaning you don’t have to live in Canada first).<\/p>\n It also means you can hold property in both countries and are exempt from foreign buyer bans in Canada.<\/p>\n You could also be eligible for domestic tuition rates at Canadian universities. For the 2025\/2026 academic year, tuition fees averaged $7,734 CAD per year for Canadian undergraduate students, compared to $41,746 CAD per year for international undergraduate students, according to Statistics Canada. (5)<\/p>\n But you don’t automatically receive access to Canada’s publicly funded healthcare system, so you can’t just cross the border to get medical services for free. Since health coverage falls under the jurisdiction of the provinces and territories, you’ll first need to meet the residency requirements of the province or territory in which you reside.<\/p>\n For example, if you move to Toronto, you’ll receive coverage through the province’s Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP). To be eligible, your primary residence must be in Ontario, and you’ll need to be physically present in the province for at least 153 days in a 12-month period. (6)<\/p>\n And even if you move to Canada permanently, you’re still required to file an annual U.S. tax return and report your worldwide income to the IRS. (8) That’s because the U.S. taxes Americans based on citizenship, not residency \u2014 one of only two countries in the world to do so (the other is Eritrea).<\/p>\n Canada’s Foreign Tax Credit (FTC) and Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) can help you to avoid double taxation. But you’ll also want to understand the tax implications for your American and\/or Canadian investment and retirement accounts.<\/p>\n If you’re planning a permanent move, you may want to consult with a cross-border tax specialist and dual-licensed financial advisor.<\/p>\n To obtain Canadian citizenship under the new law, you’ll need to provide proof of your ancestor’s Canadian citizenship. (If you don’t have access to those documents, such as birth certificates or old passports \u2014 there could be additional costs to tracking them down.)<\/p>\n The processing time for applications is around 10 months and, as of April 7, about 56,300 people are awaiting a decision, according to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada website. (8)<\/p>\n Once you have the certificate, you can then apply for a Canadian passport on the website. (9)<\/p>\n Join 250,000+ readers and get Moneywise\u2019s best stories and exclusive interviews first \u2014 clear insights curated and delivered weekly. Subscribe now.<\/a><\/p>\n We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n Associated Press (1)<\/a>; Government of Canada (2)<\/a>,(3)<\/a>,(8)<\/a>,(9)<\/a>; KING 5 News (4)<\/a>; Statistics Canada (5)<\/a>; CIC News (6)<\/a>; Internal Revenue Service (7)<\/a><\/p>\n This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com<\/a> under the title: Millions of Americans can now claim Canadian citizenship for $55 \u2014 and some see it as ‘insurance’<\/a><\/p>\n This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new law in Canada means that millions of Americans might qualify for dual citizenship as a “Lost…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20545,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8726,17,311,10329,10328,811,4210,8442,7704,1672],"class_list":{"0":"post-20544","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-americans","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-citizenship","11":"tag-canadian-universities","12":"tag-citizenship","13":"tag-dave-ramsey","14":"tag-dual-citizenship","15":"tag-maureen-sullivan","16":"tag-robert-kiyosaki","17":"tag-statistics-canada"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}