Birth in Canada (jus soli)

CA-BTH-01 is the jus soli (right-of-the-soil) route to Canadian citizenship. Under s.3(1)(a) of the Citizenship Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-29, a person is a citizen if born in Canada after 14 February 1977. Citizenship arises automatically and by operation of law at the moment of birth; no application, oath, or grant is required, and the parents' immigration status is irrelevant. A child of visitors, foreign students, temporary foreign workers, refugee claimants, or undocumented persons is equally a citizen if born on Canadian soil. The single statutory exception, at s.3(2), narrowly removes citizenship from children of certain foreign diplomats/consular/UN officers where neither parent was a citizen or permanent resident. Births on Canadian-registered vessels and aircraft are deemed births in Canada (s.2(2)(a)). Canada is one of only two G7 states (with the United States) retaining near-absolute jus soli. The 2025 descent reform (Bill C-3, S.C. 2025, c. 5, in force 15 December 2025) did NOT touch s.3(1)(a) or s.3(2); birth-on-soil citizenship is stable as of 2026-06-01.

There is NO fee to acquire citizenship by birth — jus soli costs nothing because it is automatic. Fees attach only to OPTIONAL documents (amounts in CAD, current as of 2026-06-01): a citizenship certificate (proof of citizenship) is $75.00; a search of citizenship records is $75.00. These are documentary-service fees, not a price of citizenship. For contrast (these do NOT apply to a jus soli citizen): the adult naturalization grant total is $653.00 ($530 processing + $123 Right of Citizenship Fee, the RCF having risen to $123 effective 2026-03-31), and a minor grant is $100.00 — but a person born in Canada never pays these because they did not naturalize. A Canadian passport carries its own Passport Canada fee, separate from any citizenship fee. Fees are indexed annually under the Service Fees Act, so the $75 certificate fee may adjust in future years.

The operative provision is Citizenship Act s.3(1)(a): 'Subject to this Act, a person is a citizen if (a) the person was born in Canada after February 14, 1977.' The 14 February 1977 boundary marks the coming into force of the modern statute (S.C. 1974-75-76, c. 108, in force 15 February 1977), later revised into R.S.C. 1985, c. C-29. Births before that date are governed by the historical chain (s.3(1)(d) onward; see CA-HIS-01), but jus soli on Canadian soil has been a constant feature since well before 1977. Two adjacent provisions complete the framework: s.2(2)(a) deems a birth on a Canadian-registered vessel (Canada Shipping Act, 2001 s.2) or aircraft (Aeronautics Act) to be a birth in Canada; and s.3(2) supplies the sole carve-out for diplomats' children. Citizenship is an area of exclusive federal jurisdiction under s.91(25) of the Constitution Act, 1867 ('Naturalization and Aliens'); no province, including Quebec, has any citizenship-granting power, so jus soli applies uniformly across all provinces and territories.