Ciudadanía por descendencia: prueba de conexión sustancial (Proyecto de ley C-3, en vigor)

CA-DSC-02 es la ruta de ciudadanía por descendencia regida por la prueba de conexión sustancial según la Ley de Ciudadanía s.3(3), reemplazada por S.C. 2025, c. 5 (Proyecto de ley C-3) s.1(8) y en vigor desde 2025-12-15 (Orden del Consejo SI/2025-129, P.C. 2025-928). Para un niño nacido fuera de Canadá a partir del 2025-12-15 de un padre canadiense que era ciudadano por descendencia o por ciertas categorías de subvenciones y nacido en el extranjero, la ciudadanía por descendencia se confiere solo si ese padre canadiense acumuló al menos 1095 días de presencia física en Canadá en cualquier momento antes del nacimiento del niño. La ruta existe porque el anterior límite absoluto de primera generación (FGL), un límite incondicional de segunda generación sin mecanismo de escape, promulgado por el Proyecto de Ley C-37 (S.C. 2008, c. 14), fue declarado inconstitucional en Bjorkquist et al. contra el Fiscal General de Canadá, 2023 ONSC 7152, y reemplazado por el Parlamento con esta prueba de conexión condicional. A partir del 1 de junio de 2026, la prueba está vigente, no pendiente: cualquier formulación que trate al C-3 como un proyecto de ley en espera de aprobación, o que atribuya la reforma al proyecto de ley C-71 caducado, es incorrecta.

The substantial-connection test applies, and must be satisfied, only when ALL of the following are present: (1) the child was born outside Canada on or after 2025-12-15; (2) at the time of birth at least one parent (other than an adoptive parent) was a Canadian citizen, so the core s.3(1)(b) descent grant is engaged; and (3) that Canadian parent's own citizenship was itself by descent (born abroad) or by an enumerated grant/historical category that triggers s.3(3). Where the test applies, the child acquires citizenship by descent only if a Canadian parent accumulated at least 1,095 days of cumulative physical presence in Canada at any time before the child's birth (IRCC: 'cumulative physical presence.. before the applicant's birth or adoption'). The 1,095 days need not be continuous and may be drawn from any period of the parent's life before the birth. If a Canadian parent meets the 1,095-day threshold (or the Crown-service exception applies), the child is a citizen by descent from birth and applies only for a proof-of-citizenship certificate. If no Canadian parent meets it, the child does not acquire citizenship by descent.

Because a qualifying child is a citizen by descent from birth (s.3(7)(h)), the operational step is an application for a proof-of-citizenship certificate, not a grant. Core evidence: the child's foreign birth certificate naming the Canadian parent; the Canadian parent's proof of citizenship (citizenship certificate, or evidence of their own descent line where the parent is themselves born abroad); and documentary proof that a Canadian parent accumulated at least 1,095 days of physical presence in Canada before the child's birth — e.g., entry/exit records, school/employment/tax records, lease or residency evidence covering the relevant years. Where genetic parentage may be questioned (assisted reproduction), evidence of the biological parent-child link is material given the genetic-link interpretation of descent in Kandola v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2014 FCA 85. Where the Crown-service carve-out is relied on, evidence of the parent's or grandparent's employment abroad with the Canadian Armed Forces, federal public administration, or a provincial public service is required. As of 2026-06-01 the precise C-3 proof-of-citizenship document checklist for this cohort should be confirmed against the live IRCC proof-of-citizenship pages.

1. Determine whether s.3(3) applies: confirm the child was born abroad on or after 2025-12-15 and that the engaging Canadian parent's citizenship was itself by descent/abroad (if the parent was born in Canada or naturalized in Canada, the case is first-generation CA-DSC-01 and no connection test applies). 2) Establish the parent's 1,095 days of cumulative physical presence in Canada before the birth (or confirm the s.3(5) Crown-service exception). 3) Gather the child's foreign birth certificate, the parent's proof of citizenship, and the physical-presence evidence. 4) Apply to IRCC for a proof-of-citizenship certificate for the child (the application proves, it does not grant, citizenship). 5) IRCC assesses the descent line and the connection evidence; if satisfied, it issues a citizenship certificate confirming the child has been a citizen since birth. There is no oath, language test, knowledge test, or residence-in-Canada requirement for the child, because citizenship arises by operation of law, not by grant. Applications that were in progress under the 2025 interim s.5(4) measure are now processed under the in-force C-3 rules with no new certificate application required.

This route is operationalized through the proof-of-citizenship (citizenship certificate) application rather than the adult/minor grant stream, so the load-bearing processing metric is the IRCC proof-of-citizenship processing time, which IRCC posts on its live processing-times tool. As of 2026-06-01 a precise same-day month-count for the proof-of-citizenship stream was not captured from a live widget read (the IRCC processing-time widget returned a load error at fetch on 2026-06-01); the figure should be re-pinned from the live IRCC processing-times page before being hard-cited. For context, the adult citizenship GRANT processing time was about 13 months on the canada.ca-indexed render against a 12-month service standard in the IRCC 2026-27 Departmental Plan — but that grant figure is a different stream and should not be substituted for the proof-of-citizenship time applicable to this descent route. Newly created cohorts under C-3 may also experience longer initial processing as IRCC works through volume. Always verify the current proof-of-citizenship processing time on the IRCC tool at the date of application.

La ciudadanía por descendencia surge por aplicación de la ley, por lo que no hay ninguna tarifa de concesión por el estatus en sí; el costo es la tarifa de solicitud de prueba de ciudadanía (certificado de ciudadanía), que es 75,00 CAD según la lista de tarifas del IRCC (actual a partir de la fecha de modificación de la lista de tarifas del 30 de abril de 2026). Esto es distinto y mucho más bajo que el total de la subvención de naturalización de adultos de 653,00 CAD (530,00 CAD de procesamiento más la tasa de derecho de ciudadanía de 123,00 CAD, habiendo aumentado el RCF a 123,00 CAD a partir del 31 de marzo de 2026) y la subvención menor de 100,00 CAD, ninguna de las cuales se aplica a un reclamo de descendencia por operación de ley. Una búsqueda en los registros de ciudadanía, que a veces se utiliza para comprobar el historial de estatus de los padres, cuesta CAD 75,00. Las tarifas se indexan periódicamente según la Ley de Tarifas de Servicio, por lo que la tarifa de prueba de CAD 75,00 debe reconfirmarse con la lista de tarifas vigente del IRCC en el momento de la solicitud. En Canadá no existe una vía para obtener la ciudadanía por descendencia basada en la inversión o la compra acelerada; la única tarifa es la tarifa estándar de prueba de ciudadanía.

La disposición operativa es la Ley de Ciudadanía, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-29, s.3(3) (nota marginal 'No aplicable - después de la primera generación'), reemplazada por Una ley para modificar la Ley de ciudadanía (2025), S.C. 2025, c. 5, artículo 1(8). La sección 3(3) establece una excepción a la concesión de ascendencia básica en la sección 3(1)(b): el párrafo (1)(b) no se aplica a una persona nacida fuera de Canadá en o después del día en que C-3 entró en vigor cuando (a)(i) un padre era ciudadano por descendencia o por una subvención enumerada/categoría histórica y nació fuera de Canadá, y (a)(ii) ninguno de los padres que era ciudadano estuvo físicamente presente en Canadá durante al menos 1095 días antes de la nacimiento; el párrafo (b) aplica la regla análoga para los padres que eran ciudadanos según las disposiciones históricas enumeradas de la Ley de Ciudadanía Canadiense. La fecha de entrada en vigor se fijó en el 15 de diciembre de 2025 mediante Orden del Consejo SI/2025-129 (P.C. 2025-928, de fecha 11 de diciembre de 2025) dictada en virtud del artículo 7 de la Ley de modificación. La exclusión del servicio de la Corona se encuentra en el artículo 3(5). Un niño que satisface la prueba es ciudadano por descendencia según el artículo 3(1)(b) y se considera ciudadano desde su nacimiento según el artículo 3(7)(h).

Citizenship by descent is conferred by operation of law under s.3(1)(b) read with s.3(3) and s.3(7)(h); no Ministerial grant decision creates the status. IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada), under the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, administers the proof-of-citizenship process and makes the operational determination of whether the descent line and the 1,095-day connection (or the s.3(5) exception) are established on the evidence. That determination is an administrative decision reviewable by the Federal Court (the 'Court' for purposes of the Citizenship Act under s.2(1)) on the presumptive reasonableness standard set in Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65; correctness is reserved for limited categories such as constitutional questions and general questions of law of central importance. Because the status arises automatically, an IRCC officer's role is to verify entitlement, not to exercise discretion to grant — distinguishing this route from the discretionary s.5(4) special grant.

An IRCC refusal of a proof-of-citizenship application on the basis that the s.3(3) substantial-connection test is not met — for example, a finding that a Canadian parent fell short of 1,095 days, or that the s.3(5) Crown-service exception does not apply — is reviewable by way of an application for judicial review to the Federal Court under s.2(1) ('Court' means the Federal Court). The reviewing court applies the presumptive reasonableness standard from Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65, asking whether the officer's decision is justified, transparent and intelligible on the evidence, including the physical-presence record. A constitutional challenge to the operation of the new s.3(3) connection test would attract a correctness analysis, but the test as enacted is Parliament's remedial response to Bjorkquist, 2023 ONSC 7152, which struck only the prior absolute cut-off and did not pronounce on a conditional connection test. As of 2026-06-01 no in-force decision has been identified striking down the new substantial-connection test; no prediction is made about any future challenge.

Several edge cases recur. (1) Assisted reproduction: under Kandola, 2014 FCA 85, descent under s.3(1)(b) requires a genetic parent-child link, so a child born abroad with no genetic connection to the Canadian parent may not acquire citizenship by descent even where the connection days are met — a fact-specific issue best assessed with counsel. (2) Counting borderline 1,095 days: presence is cumulative across the parent's whole life before the birth and need not be continuous; partial-day and entry/exit reconstruction can be decisive near the threshold. (3) Two Canadian parents: the days of either parent can satisfy the test (the statute asks whether neither parent who was a citizen met the threshold), so combining is unnecessary but having two potential qualifying parents adds resilience. (4) Death of the linking parent: s.3(1.5) cures cases where a linking parent or grandparent died before C-3 came into force. (5) Birth exactly on 2025-12-15 or after falls within this prospective route; a birth before that date falls under CA-HIS-04 retroactive restoration. (6) A child caught by the test is not stateless merely by reason of the exclusion unless they hold no other nationality, in which case the s.5(5) route (CA-SPC-03) may be relevant.