Indigenous peoples — citizenship vs Indian Act registration (parallel framework)

CA-IND-01 is not a distinct citizenship-application pathway. It is the parallel-framework route that clarifies how Canadian citizenship interacts with the legal status of Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, Metis) persons, and corrects the most common fabrication trap in this area. The single load-bearing proposition is that there is NO separate Indigenous citizenship category and NO Indigenous exclusion under the Citizenship Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-29. An Indigenous person born in Canada after 14 February 1977 is a Canadian citizen by jus soli under s.3(1)(a) exactly as any other person born on Canadian soil; pre-1977 births run through the s.3(1)(d) and the historical chain. Three frameworks must be kept rigorously separate: (1) CITIZENSHIP under the Citizenship Act (federal, IRCC); (2) Indian Act REGISTRATION ('Indian status') under the Indian Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. I-5 (a federal identity-and-entitlement registration administered by Indigenous Services Canada, which is NOT citizenship); and (3) cross-border mobility theories (the Jay Treaty 1794, NOT recognised in Canadian domestic law per Francis 1956; and s.35 Aboriginal-rights, left open by Watt v. Liebelt). As of 2026-06-01, conflating any of these is an error. Bill C-3 (S.C. 2025, c. 5, in force 2025-12-15) did not alter s.3(1)(a) jus soli and created no Indigenous-specific provision.

No fee attaches to BEING a citizen by jus soli — an Indigenous person born in Canada is a citizen from birth at no cost. Where documentary proof is sought, the IRCC fee list (ircc.canada.ca/english/information/fees/fees.asp, date-modified 2026-04-30) sets a citizenship certificate (proof of citizenship) fee of CAD 75.00 and a search of citizenship record fee of CAD 75.00; these are the same fees any citizen pays for proof and are not Indigenous-specific. There is no Indigenous discount, surcharge, or special grant fee. (For reference, the ordinary adult grant total is CAD 653.00 = CAD 530 processing + CAD 123 RCF after the 2026-03-31 RCF increase, and the minor grant is CAD 100.00 — but those apply to s.5(1)/s.5(2) grants, not to a person who is already a citizen by birth.) Indian Act registration and the Secure Certificate of Indian Status are administered by Indigenous Services Canada under a separate (and generally no-fee) ISC process, which is outside IRCC's fee schedule and is not asserted from training data here.

Three distinct instruments anchor this route. (1) Citizenship Act s.3(1)(a) (laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-29/section-3.html): 'a person is a citizen if the person was born in Canada after February 14, 1977' — unrestricted jus soli with no ethnic, racial, or Indigenous condition or exclusion. (2) Indian Act s.6 (laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/i-5/section-6.html): governs entitlement to be REGISTERED as a Status Indian — a federal registration distinct from citizenship, administered by Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), reformed by Bill S-3 to remove sex-based inequities (in force 2017-12-22 and 2019-08-15). (3) Constitution Act, 1982, s.35 (laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-15.html): recognises and affirms existing Aboriginal and treaty rights — the constitutional home of any Indigenous cross-border-mobility claim, distinct from citizenship. Citizenship itself is an EXCLUSIVE FEDERAL jurisdiction under Constitution Act, 1867 s.91(25) ('Naturalization and Aliens'), and 'Indians, and Lands reserved for the Indians' is a separate federal head under s.91(24). Daniels v. Canada (Indian Affairs and Northern Development), 2016 SCC 12, held that Metis and non-status Indians fall within s.91(24) federal jurisdiction — a division-of-powers ruling that does NOT confer registration or alter citizenship (s.91(25)). The Jay Treaty (1794) Art. III is NOT self-executing in Canadian law (Francis v. The Queen, 1956 CanLII 79 (SCC)). As of 2026-06-01 none of these instruments creates an Indigenous citizenship route.