![\"03_18_canadians_01\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/077c9157e3c9e46ea8784e918f68b8ce.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nThe Canadian government appears to have been sending out letters to people across the globe who recently obtained citizenship, ordering them to return their certificates, sparking widespread confusion on social media.<\/p>\n
According to posts on Reddit and local reports, Canadian authorities allegedly sent letters to people on\u00a0Saturday\u00a0who appear to have obtained their citizenship certificates in 2026, after Bill C-3 passed in December 2025, which\u00a0ended\u00a0the first-generation limit that had\u00a0blocked thousands of people from applying for citizenship.<\/p>\n
Losing citizenship would make someone a foreign national, and this could result in their removal from the country and a 10-year ban on reapplying for any status in Canada, according to the legal website lawyerinfo.ca.<\/p>\n
IRCC \u201cActively Reviewing Files\u201d<\/p>\n
The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) told Newsweek that it is \u201caware that a limited number of people who obtained a citizenship certificate under C-3 have been notified that their file is under review.\u201d<\/p>\n
The IRCC said that the purpose of the review is to \u201cdetermine, through an individualized process, whether the certificate was properly issued based on the evidence required by law,\u201d adding this was a \u201cnecessary and important safeguard, and all affected individuals will have an opportunity to provide additional documentary evidence in support of their case.\u201d<\/p>\n
The IRCC said that if the review confirms that the individual is entitled to the certificate, it will be returned, and that it was \u201cactively reviewing the affected files and taking the necessary steps to ensure they are assessed fairly, consistently and in accordance with the law.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis situation concerns the processing of individual cases and\u00a0is not directly related to recent legislative changes,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
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A Canada Border Services Agency logo is seen on a worker during a tour of the Infield Terminal at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, December 8, 2015.<\/p>\n
(Reuters)What Is Bill C-3?<\/p>\n
Bill C-3 is a 2025 Canadian law that amended the Citizenship Act to overhaul how citizenship is passed down to people born abroad. It came into force on December 15, 2025, after a court ruling found parts of the previous law unconstitutional.<\/p>\n
The most important change was ending the long\u2011standing first\u2011generation limit, which had prevented Canadians born outside the country from passing citizenship to their children if those children were also born abroad.<\/p>\n
Bill C-3 instead introduced <\/a>a new system requiring a \u201csubstantial connection\u201d to Canada\u2014meaning the parent of the child had to typically spend at least three years in Canada before the child\u2019s birth or adoption in order for that child to qualify for citizenship.<\/p>\n A hand holding a Canadian passport in Vancouver, Canada, on March 18, 2025.<\/p>\n The law was seen as notable because it offered the chance of obtaining citizenship to thousands who had been denied citizenship despite having clear ties to the country\u2014particularly Canadians living abroad with their families, or those with children born outside of Canada.<\/p>\n The IRCC told Newsweek that to \u201cprotect the value of Canadian citizenship, we brought in Bill C-3\u2014creating fair, modern rules for citizenship by descent and a requirement that citizenship applicants clearly prove their connection to Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIndividuals seeking proof of citizenship through a Canadian ancestor must establish the chain of parent-child relationships through each generation and provide solid evidence to support their claim,\u201d it said, adding that \u201chaving Canadian ancestry does not automatically mean entitlement to citizenship.<\/p>\n Who Is Affected? Cladice Awatia Tsafack receives a Canadian flag from Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marc Miller, left, after becoming a Canadian citizen during a citizenship ceremony in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024.<\/p>\n Between April 2025 and March 2026, 285,500 new citizenships were granted in Canada, according <\/a>to IRCC\u2019s latest data. This suggests that tens of thousands of people could be affected if this applies to those who received their citizenship after Bill C-3 passed.<\/p>\n What Does the Letter Say?<\/p>\n In what appears to be an example of the letter on Reddit, seemingly sent by Peggy Sun, Registrar of Canadian Citizenship, the opening reads that a legislative provision \u201cauthorizes me to require the surrender of a certificate of citizenship where I have reasonable grounds to believe that the holder of the certificate may not be entitled to it,\u201d adding that the receiver was believed to potentially \u201cnot be entitled to hold a Canadian certificate of citizenship.\u201d<\/p>\n The letter continued with reasoning, \u201cThe following are the reasons leading to this assessment:<\/p>\n \u201c1. The documentation submitted in support of your proof of citizenship application is not from the original course authorities responsible for creating or maintaining historical records, such as civil registries, vital statistics agencies or other authorized government bodies.<\/p>\n \u201c2. When source documents are not available and\/or when an applicant is unable to obtain documents from a source authority, then the applicant must provide:<\/p>\n \u201ci. A written explanation outlining why the source documents cannot be obtained; and<\/p>\n \u201cii. Submit evidence of efforts made to obtain the documents\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n The letter added that as the required documentation was \u201cnot submitted with your proof of citizenship application, I am requiring the surrender of your certificate of citizenship.\u201d It continued that the recipient\u2019s citizenship status was now \u201cunder review.\u201d<\/p>\n At the end, it added that there would be a chance for the recipient to \u201crespond with further documentary evidence related to your application.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShould the final decision be that you are entitled to the certificate of citizenship, then it will be returned to you,\u201d it concluded.<\/p>\n Reddit Reaction: A Megathread of Info-Gathering<\/p>\n Users on Reddit have been frantically taking to the platform to ask questions and share what they know about the situation, with one user even starting <\/a>a \u201cmegathread,\u201d gathering people together to pool their knowledge about what was going on.<\/p>\n One user said <\/a>they were \u201cterrified\u201d upon receiving the letter, and asked for \u201chelp\u201d online. Another user said <\/a>they were \u201cvery confused\u201d because all the documents they submitted had been \u201clegitimate.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/790412fdc50f0f12f7b49efaf5d1c7e5.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Cladice](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/24da67da65e1708c10256a12a1a8d9b9.jpeg\"\/)
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