BILL C-16 - First Reading

	2nd Session, 36th Parliament, 48 Elizabeth II, 1999
	The House of Commons of Canada
	BILL C-16
	An Act respecting Canadian citizenship
	Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
	SHORT TITLE
Short title	1. This Act may be cited as the Citizenship of Canada Act.
	INTERPRETATION
Definitions	2. (1) The definitions in this subsection apply in this Act.
``certificate of citizenship'' « certificat de citoyenneté »	``certificate of citizenship'' means a certificate of citizenship issued under an Act of Parliament on or after January 1, 1947.
``certificate of naturaliza- tion'' « certificat de naturalisation »	``certificate of naturalization'' means a certificate of naturalization issued under any Act in force in Canada at any time before January 1, 1947.
``certificate of renunciation'' « certificat de répudiation »	``certificate of renunciation'' means a certificate of renunciation issued under an Act of Parliament on or after February 15, 1977.
``citizen'' « citoyen »	``citizen'' means a Canadian citizen.
``citizenship'' « citoyenneté »	``citizenship'' means Canadian citizenship.
``citizenship official'' « fonctionnair e de la citoyenneté »	``citizenship official'' means a Citizenship Commissioner, the Registrar of Canadian Citizenship and any other person to whom the Minister delegates powers, duties or functions under this Act.
``Minister'' « ministre »	``Minister'' means the member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada that the Governor in Council designates as the Minister for the purposes of this Act.
``minor'' « mineur »	``minor'' means a person who is less than 18 years of age.
``permanent resident'' « résident permanent »	``permanent resident'' has the meaning given to that expression by subsection 2(1) of the Immigration Act.
``prior legislation'' « législation antérieure »	``prior legislation'' means any law about naturalization or citizenship in force in Canada at any time before the coming into force of this section.
Interpreta- tion	(2) For the purposes of this Act,
	(a) a person born on a Canadian ship as defined in section 2 of the Canada Shipping Act or on a Canadian aircraft as defined in subsection 3(1) of the Aeronautics Act is deemed to be born in Canada;
	(b) a person who is registered as an Indian under the Indian Act and who is not a citizen is deemed to be a permanent resident on their registration; and
	(c) a person resides in Canada if the person
	(i) is physically present in Canada, and
	(ii) is not, under an enactment in force in Canada, subject to a probation order, on parole or confined in a penitentiary, jail, reformatory or prison.
	PART 1
	THE RIGHT TO CITIZENSHIP
	Citizens of Canada
Persons who are citizens	3. A person is a citizen if the person was, immediately before the coming into force of this section, a citizen or acquires citizenship in accordance with this Act.
	Citizenship at Birth
Acquisition at birth	4. (1) A person acquires citizenship at birth if
	(a) the person is born in Canada; or
	(b) the person is born outside Canada of a parent who is a citizen at the time of the birth, unless the parent's citizenship was acquired because the parent was born, outside Canada, of a father or mother who was a citizen at the time of the parent's birth and whose citizenship was also acquired as a result of the father's or mother's birth, as the case may be, after February 14, 1977, outside Canada.
Birth in Canada - exception for children of foreign diplomats, etc.	(2) Paragraph (1)(a) does not apply to a person if, at the time of the person's birth, neither of the person's parents is a citizen or lawfully admitted to Canada for permanent residence and one of the parents is
	(a) a diplomatic or consular officer or other representative or employee in Canada of a foreign government;
	(b) an employee in the service of a person referred to in paragraph (a); or
	(c) an officer or employee in Canada of a specialized agency of the United Nations or an officer or employee in Canada of any other international organization to whom there are granted, by or under any Act of Parliament, diplomatic privileges and immunities certified by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to be equivalent to those granted to persons referred to in paragraph (a).
Deserted child	(3) If a person who appears to be less than seven years of age is found in Canada as a deserted child, paragraph (1)(a) is deemed to apply to the person, unless, within seven years of the finding, it is proved that the person was not born in Canada.
Child born after death of parent	(4) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b) and subsection (2), if a child is born after the death of either of the child's parents, the child is deemed to have been born before the death of that parent.
	Grant of Citizenship
General principle	5. A person acquires citizenship on being granted citizenship by the Minister and taking the oath of citizenship. The requirement of taking the oath of citizenship does not apply to a person referred to in section 8, 11 or 20 or a person who is less than 14 years of age.
Adults	6. (1) The Minister shall, on application, grant citizenship to a person who
	(a) is at least 18 years of age;
	(b) has been lawfully admitted to Canada for permanent residence and continued to be a permanent resident and has, during the six years immediately before applying for citizenship, resided in Canada for at least 1,095 days, calculated in the following manner, namely,
	(i) the person is deemed to have resided in Canada one half of a day for every day that the person has resided in Canada, up to a maximum of 365 days of deemed residence, during the period
	(A) beginning on the day on which that determination was made and ending on the day before the person became a permanent resident if the person has, under the Immigration Act, been determined by the Convention Refugee Determination Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board to be a Convention refugee, or
	(B) that the person is a visitor or a permit holder, as the case may be, if the person is a visitor or has a permit within the meaning of the Immigration Act, and
	(ii) for every day during which the person has resided in Canada after lawful admission to Canada for permanent residence, the person is deemed to have resided in Canada for one day;
	(c) has an adequate knowledge of one of the official languages of Canada; and
	(d) has an adequate knowledge of Canada and of the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship.
Waiver on compassio- nate grounds	(2) If the Minister believes that there are compassionate grounds for doing so, the Minister may waive
	(a) in the case of any person, the requirements of paragraph (1)(c) or (d);
	(b) in the case of a minor, the requirement
	(i) respecting age set out in paragraph (1)(a),
	(ii) respecting length of residence in Canada set out in paragraph (1)(b), or
	(iii) to take the oath of citizenship; and
	(c) in the case of any person who is prevented from understanding the significance of taking the oath of citizenship by reason of a mental disability, the requirement to take the oath.
Minors	7. The Minister shall, on application, grant citizenship to a permanent resident who is a minor at the time of the application and the child of a citizen.
Adoptees	8. The Minister shall, on application, grant citizenship to a person who, after February 14, 1977, was adopted by a citizen while the person was a minor child and whose adoption
	(a) was in the best interests of the child;
	(b) created a genuine relationship of parent and child;
	(c) was in accordance with the laws of the place where the adoption took place and the laws of the country of residence of the adopting citizen; and
	(d) was not intended to circumvent the requirements under any enactment for admission to Canada or citizenship.
Direction by Governor in Council	9. In order to alleviate a situation of special and unusual hardship or to reward services of an exceptional value to Canada, the Governor in Council may, after being informed by the Minister of the situation or the services, direct the Minister to grant citizenship, without delay, to a person.
Minister may deem permanent residency	10. The Minister may, for the purposes of this Act, deem a person who is in Canada and who has resided in Canada for at least 10 years to be or to have become a permanent resident as of the day the Minister specifies.
Statelessness - bloodline connection	11. The Minister shall, on application, grant citizenship to a person who
	(a) is born outside Canada after the coming into force of this section;
	(b) has a birth parent who is a citizen at the time of the birth;
	(c) is less than 28 years of age;
	(d) has resided in Canada for at least 1,095 days during the six years immediately before applying for citizenship;
	(e) has never acquired, or had the right to acquire, citizenship of any country; and
	(f) has not been convicted of an offence against national security.
	Rights and Obligations of Citizens
Rights and obligations	12. A citizen, whether or not born in Canada, is entitled to all rights, powers and privileges and is subject to all the obligations, duties and liabilities to which a person who is a citizen at birth is entitled or subject and has the same status as that person.
	PART 2
	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 section, 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.