LOSS OF CITIZENSHIP

General principle

13. A citizen continues to be a citizen unless the person's citizenship is lost in accordance with this Part.

Automatic loss

14. A person who acquires citizenship because the person was born, outside Canada, of a parent having , at the time of the person's birth, citizenship either as a result of the parent's birth outside Canada after February 14, 1977 or as a result of the registration under prior legislation, after that date, of the parent's birth outside Canada loses citizenship on attaining 28 years of age, unless the person applies to retain citizenship and has resided in Canada for at least 1,095 days during the six years before so applying.

Renunciation of citizenship

15. (1) The Minister shall, on application, allow a citizen to renounce their citizenship, if the citizen

    (a) is a citizen of a country other than Canada or, if the application is accepted, becomes a citizen of another country;

    (b) is not a minor;

    (c) is not prevented from understanding the significance of renouncing citizenship by reason of the person having a mental disability; and

    (d) resides outside of Canada .

Waiver on compassio-
nate grounds

(2) If the Minister believes that there are compassionate grounds for doing so, the Minister may waive the application of paragraph (1)(c) or (d) to the person.

Revocation order

16. (1) The Governor in Council may make an order revoking the citizenship or renunciation of citizenship of a person if the Governor in Council is, on the report of the Minister, satisfied that a person has obtained, retained, renounced or resumed citizenship by false representation or fraud or knowingly concealing material circumstances.

Effective date

(2) The revocation takes effect on the day that the Governor in Council specifies in the order.

Presumption

(3) For the purposes of this section, a person is deemed to have obtained or resumed citizenship by false representation or fraud or by concealing material circumstances if the person was admitted to Canada for permanent residence by false representation or fraud or by knowingly concealing material circumstances and, because of that admission, the person subsequently obtained or resumed citizenship.

Notice of decision

17. (1) The Minister shall not make a report mentioned in subsection 16(1) unless the Minister notifies the person who is to be the subject of the report that the report is to be made and

    (a) the person does not, within 30 days after the sending of the notice, request the Minister to refer the matter to the Federal Court - Trial Division; or

    (b) if the person does, within 30 days after the sending of the notice, request the Minister to refer the matter, the Federal Court - Trial Division determines, on a balance of probabilities, that the person has obtained, retained, renounced or resumed citizenship by false representation or fraud or by knowingly concealing material circumstances.

Statement in notice

(2) The notice must state that the person to whom it is sent may, within 30 days after the sending, request the Minister to refer the matter to the Federal Court - Trial Division.

Final decision

(3) A decision of the Federal Court - Trial Division made under subsection (1) is final and, despite any other Act of Parliament, is not subject to appeal.

Annulment order

18. (1) If the Minister is satisfied that a person has, after the coming into force of this Act, obtained, retained, renounced or resumed citizenship in contravention of section 28 or by using a false identity, the Minister may, by order, declare that the obtention, retention, renunciation or resumption of citizenship is, and always has been, void.

Notice of decision

(2) The Minister shall not make an order unless the Minister, at least 30 days before making it, notifies the person who is to be the subject of the order.

Statement in notice

(3) The notice must state that the person may, within 30 days after the date on which it was sent, make written representations to the Minister about the proposed order.

Informing person on annulment

(4) On making an order under subsection (1), the Minister shall inform the person who is the subject of the order that the order has been made and advise them of their right to apply for judicial review under section 18.1 of the Federal Court Act.

Limitation period

(5) The Minister may not make an order under subsection (1) more than five years after the day on which the citizenship was granted, retained, renounced or resumed, as the case may be.

PART 3

RESTORATION OF CITIZENSHIP

Resumption of citizenship

19. (1) The Minister shall, on application, grant citizenship to a person who has lost their citizenship and

    (a) whose citizenship was not revoked or annulled under this Act or prior legislation; and

    (b) who was lawfully admitted to Canada for permanent residence after the loss of citizenship and continues from that admission to be a permanent resident and, in the two years immediately before applying for citizenship, resided in Canada as a permanent resident for at least 365 days.

Deemed residence in Canada

(2) Despite subparagraph 2(2)(c)(i), a day on which an applicant for citizenship is a permanent resident residing with the applicant's spouse who is a citizen engaged, other than as a locally engaged person, for service or employment outside of Canada in or with the Canadian armed forces or the public service of Canada or of a province, is deemed to be a day on which the applicant resided in Canada for the purposes of paragraph (1)(b).

Citizenship for certain women

20. A woman who notifies the Minister, in writing, that she elects to become a citizen shall be granted citizenship, effective from the day the Minister receives the notice, if the woman

    (a) because of a law in force in Canada at any time before January 1, 1947 had, by reason only of her marriage or the acquisition by her husband of a foreign nationality, ceased to be a British subject; and

    (b) would have been a citizen, if the Canadian Citizenship Act, chapter C-19 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1970, were in force immediately before her marriage or the acquisition by her husband of a foreign nationality.

PART 4

PROHIBITIONS

Public Interest

Report of Minister

21. (1) If the Minister is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe that it is not in the public interest for a person to become a citizen, the Minister may submit a report to the Governor in Council recommending that the person not be granted citizenship or be allowed to take the oath of citizenship.

Notice of intention

(2) The Minister shall not submit a report unless the Minister, at least 30 days before submitting it, notifies the person who is to be the subject of the report.

Statement in notice

(3) The notice must include a summary of the grounds contained in the report and state that that person may, within 30 days after the date on which the notice was sent, make written representations to the Minister about those grounds.

Order of the Governor in Council

22. (1) Despite any other provision of this Act, if the Governor in Council is, on receiving a report under section 21, satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe that it would not be in the public interest for the person who is the subject of the report to become a citizen, the Governor in Council may, by order, prohibit the grant of citizenship to that person or the taking of the oath of citizenship by that person.

Effect

(2) The Minister is, on the making of the order, deemed to reject any application for the grant or resumption of citizenship made by the person who is the subject of the order.

Order final and binding

(3) The order is final and, despite any other Act of Parliament, is not subject to appeal to or review by any court.

Effective period

(4) The order is effective for five years after the date it is made.

Conclusive proof

(5) Despite anything in this Act or any other Act of Parliament, the order is conclusive proof of the matters stated in it.

National Security

Definitions

23. (1) In this section, ``Review Committee'' and ``threats to the security of Canada'' have the meanings assigned to those expressions by section 2 of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act.

Report to Review Committee

(2) The Minister may report to the Review Committee about any person who, in the opinion of the Minister, should not be granted citizenship, take the oath of citizenship or be issued a certificate of renunciation because there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person has engaged or will engage in

    (a) an activity that constitutes a threat to the security of Canada; or

    (b) an activity that is part of a pattern of criminal activity planned and organized by a number of persons acting together to encourage the commission of an indictable offence under any Act of Parliament.

Notice

(3) The person who is the subject of a report shall, within 10 days after the report is made, be notified by the Minister that the report has been made and that the Governor in Council may, following an investigation, make a declaration about that person under section 27.

Application of Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act

(4) The Review Committee shall investigate the grounds on which the report is based and, for that purpose, subsections 39(2) and (3) and sections 43, 44 and 48 to 51 of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act apply, with any modifications that the circumstances require, to the investigation as if

    (a) the investigation were conducted in relation to a complaint made under section 42 of that Act; and

    (b) the references to ``deputy head'' were references to the Minister.

Summary statement

(5) The Review Committee shall, as soon as practicable, send to the person who is the subject of the report a statement summarizing the information available to the Review Committee so as to enable that person to be informed as much as possible of the circumstances giving rise to the report, having regard to whether, in the opinion of the Review Committee, the summarized information may be disclosed without injury to national security or to the safety of persons.

Report

(6) On completion of its investigation, the Review Committee shall report to the Governor in Council on the investigation. The Review Committee shall, when it is convenient to do so, provide the report's conclusion to the person who is the subject of the report.

End of investigation

(7) If the Review Committee is of the opinion that it cannot perform the duties described in subsections (4), (5) and (6), it shall stop the investigation and give notice to the Minister and the person to whom the investigation relates.

Appointment of retired judge

24. (1) The Governor in Council may appoint, for a period of three to five years, a retired judge of a superior court to perform the duties and have the powers and functions of a Review Committee referred to in subsections 23(4), (5) and (6). The Governor in Council shall, before making the appointment, consult with the Prime Minister of Canada, the Leader of the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and the leader of any other party having at least 12 members sitting in that House.

Tenure and renewal

(2) The Governor in Council may not remove a retired judge appointed under subsection (1) except for cause. The appointment may be renewed at the end of its term.

Remunera-
tion

(3) A retired judge appointed under subsection (1) is entitled to receive, for each day on which the judge performs duties and exercises functions or powers, the remuneration that the Governor in Council fixes.

Moving and travel expenses

(4) The judge is entitled to be paid any moving expenses and travel expenses that the judge reasonably incurred to perform those duties and exercise those functions or powers outside their place of residence.

Reference

25. (1) The Minister may refer a matter that a Review Committee has stopped investigating under subsection 23(7) to a retired judge appointed under subsection 24(1). The Minister shall provide the retired judge with a copy of the report referred to in subsection 23(2) and send the notice referred to in subsection 23(3) to the person who is the subject of the report.

Application of subsections 23(4), (5) and (6)

(2) Subsections 23(4), (5) and (6) apply to the retired judge as if the judge were the Review Committee.

Annual report

26. (1) A retired judge appointed under subsection 24(1) shall submit an annual report every year, on or before September 30, to the Solicitor General of Canada on the judge's activities for the preceding fiscal year.

Tabling in Parliament

(2) After receiving the report, the Solicitor General shall cause the report to be laid before each House of Parliament within the first 15 days that that House is sitting.

Declaration

27. (1) After considering the report made by the Review Committee under section 23, the Governor in Council may declare that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person who is the subject of the report has engaged or will engage in an activity mentioned in paragraph 23(2)(a) or (b).

Effect

(2) The Minister is, on the making of the declaration, deemed to reject any application for the grant or resumption of citizenship or for a certificate of renunciation made by the person who is the subject of the declaration.

Declaration final and binding

(3) The declaration is final and, despite any other Act of Parliament, is not subject to appeal to or review by any court.

Effective period

(4) The declaration is effective for five years after the date it is made.

Conclusive proof

(5) Despite anything in this Act or any other Act of Parliament, the declaration is conclusive proof of the matters stated in it about the application or the notice.