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Bill C-18

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First Reading

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	Certificates
Certificate of citizenship	35. (1) The Minister shall, in accordance with the regulations, issue a certificate of citizenship to new citizens and, on application, issue a certificate of citizenship to current citizens.
Certificate of renunciation	(2) The Minister shall issue a certificate of renunciation of citizenship to an applicant whose application is approved. The applicant loses their citizenship at the end of the day on which the certificate is issued or the later day that the Minister specifies in the certificate.
Surrender of certificate	36. (1) The Minister may, by order, require a person in possession of a certificate issued under this Act or any prior legislation to surrender it to the Minister, if the Minister believes, on reasonable grounds, that the person is not entitled to the certificate or has obtained it in contravention of this Act or any prior legislation.
Compliance with notice	(2) The person who is the subject of an order shall, without delay, surrender the certificate to the Minister.
Order not statutory instrument	(3) An order under subsection (1) is not a statutory instrument for the purposes of the Statutory Instruments Act.
Cancellation of certificate	37. (1) The Minister may cancel a certificate issued to a person under this Act or any prior legislation if the Minister determines that the person is not entitled to it or obtained it in contravention of this Act or the prior legislation.
Return of certificate	(2) The Minister shall return a certificate to the person who surrendered it to the Minister if the Minister determines that the person is entitled to it.
Evidence of declarations	38. (1) A declaration made under this Act or any prior legislation may be proved in a legal proceeding by the production of the original declaration or a copy of it that the Minister certifies to be a true copy. The declaration or copy so produced is conclusive evidence of the matters stated in it and of the declarant's having made the declaration on the date appearing in it.
Evidence of certificates	(2) A certificate of citizenship, a certificate of naturalization, a certificate of renunciation or another document issued by the Minister that is evidence of the citizenship status of a person in Canada may be proved in a legal proceeding by the production of the original certificate or the other document, or a document that the Minister certifies as containing the same information as the original certificate or other document.
	Offences
Definition of ``certificate''	39. (1) In this section, ``certificate'' means a certificate of citizenship, a certificate of naturalization, a certificate of renunciation or another document issued by the Minister as evidence of a person's citizenship.
Offences	(2) Every person is guilty of an offence who
	(a) in connection with anything under this Act, makes a false representation, commits fraud or knowingly conceals any material circumstance;
	(b) obtains or uses a certificate of another person to personate that other person;
	(c) knowingly permits their certificate to be used by another person to personate them; or
	(d) whether or not for profit, traffics or offers to traffic in certificates or possesses any certificate for the purpose of trafficking.
Punishment	(3) Every person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (2) is liable
	(a) on conviction on indictment, to a fine of not more than $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years, or to both; or
	(b) on summary conviction, to a fine of not more than $1,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than six months, or to both.
Offence and punishment	(4) A person is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to a fine of not more than $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years, or to both, if the person
	(a) without lawful authority, issues or alters a certificate;
	(b) counterfeits a certificate; or
	(c) uses, acts on or causes or attempts to cause any person to use or act on a certificate, knowing it to have been unlawfully issued or altered or to have been counterfeited.
General offence	(5) A person who contravenes a provision of this Act or the regulations for which no punishment is provided in the provision or other related provisions is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and is liable to a fine of not more than $1,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than six months, or to both.
Offences respecting citizenship officials	40. (1) Every person is guilty of an offence who
	(a) being a citizenship official, wilfully makes or issues any false document or statement about a matter relating to their duties under this Act or accepts, agrees to accept or induces or assists any other person to accept any bribe or other benefit concerning a matter relating to their duties under this Act or wilfully fails, in any other manner, to perform their duties under this Act;
	(b) being a citizenship official, contravenes any provision of this Act or the regulations or knowingly induces, aids or abets or attempts to induce, aid or abet any other person to do so;
	(c) gives, offers or promises to give any bribe or consideration of any kind to, or makes any agreement or arrangement with, a citizenship official to induce them in any way not to perform their duties under this Act;
	(d) not being a citizenship official, personates one, holds themself out to be one, or takes or uses any name, title or description, or acts in any other manner, that may reasonably lead any person to believe that the person is one; or
	(e) obstructs or impedes a citizenship official in the performance of that official's duties under this Act.
Punishment	(2) Every person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable
	(a) on conviction on indictment, to a fine of not more than $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years, or to both; or
	(b) on summary conviction, to a fine of not more than $1,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than six months, or to both.
Offence committed outside Canada	41. (1) An act or omission committed outside Canada that would, if committed in Canada, be an offence under this Act is an offence under this Act.
Jurisdiction	(2) A proceeding in respect of an offence under this Act that is alleged to have been committed outside Canada may be dealt with by a court having jurisdiction over similar offences in the place in Canada where the accused is found in the same manner as if the offence had been committed in that place, or by any other court to which jurisdiction has been lawfully transferred.
Limitation period	42. (1) No proceedings in relation to an offence under this Act or the regulations may be instituted by way of summary conviction more than three years after the time when the Minister became aware of the subject-matter of the proceedings.
Declaration of Minister	(2) A written declaration appearing to have been issued by the Minister that certifies the day on which the Minister became aware of the subject-matter of any proceedings is admissible, without proof of the signature or of the official character of the person appearing to have signed it, as evidence of the matters stated in it.
	Regulations
Regulations	43. The Governor in Council may make regulations
	(a) respecting the procedures, evidence - including medical evidence to establish parentage - and time requirements for applications under this Act;
	(b) respecting the evidence - including medical evidence to establish parentage - and time requirements for the provision of such evidence for the notice referred to in section 20;
	(c) specifying who may make an application under this Act on behalf of a minor;
	(d) fixing fees for
	(i) making applications under this Act,
	(ii) issuing certificates under this Act,
	(iii) providing certified or uncertified copies of documents from the records kept in the course of the administration of this Act or any prior legislation,
	(iv) taking oaths, solemn affirmations or declarations under this Act or the regulations,
	(v) searching records referred to in subparagraph (iii) and providing documents related to those searches, and
	(vi) making changes to the records referred to in subparagraph (iii);
	(e) providing for the waiver or remission of fees referred to in paragraph (d);
	(f) providing for criteria to determine whether a person meets the requirements of paragraphs 7(1)(c) and (d) and, for that purpose, authorizing the Minister to set questions that apply those criteria;
	(g) providing for the factors to be considered in determining whether the criteria set out in section 9 have been met;
	(h) respecting the abandonment and withdrawal of applications under this Act;
	(i) defining what constitutes a relationship of parent and child for the purposes of determining entitlement to citizenship under any provision of this Act;
	(j) prescribing procedures and time requirements for the purposes of taking the oath of citizenship and the circumstances in which the grant of citizenship made to a person lapses as a result of failure to take the oath of citizenship;
	(k) prescribing the powers, duties and functions of the Registrar of Citizenship referred to in subsection 44(2);
	(l) providing for the number of copies of a certificate or declaration or other document made or issued under this Act or any prior legislation that a person is entitled to have;
	(m) respecting the sending of notices and other documents under this Act, including the requirements for the proof of their sending and the deeming of dates of their having been sent; and
	(n) generally, to carry out the purposes and provisions of this Act.
	Delegation of Minister's Powers
Delegation of authority	44. (1) Anything that is required to be done or that may be done by the Minister under this Act or the regulations may be done on behalf of the Minister by any person that the Minister, in writing, authorizes to act on the Minister's behalf, without proof of the authenticity of the authorization.
Registrar	(2) The Minister may designate any officer or employee of the department over which the Minister presides to act as Registrar of Citizenship for the purposes of this Act.
Limitation	(3) Only a citizen may act as Registrar of Citizenship or determine a person's status as a citizen or a person's entitlement to acquire, retain, renounce or resume citizenship under this Act.
	Disclosure
New citizen's name	45. The name of a new citizen may, unless the new citizen objects, be disclosed by the Minister to the Speakers of the Senate and the House of Commons, for use by a member of Parliament in whose region or electoral district the new citizen resides to congratulate the new citizen on acquiring their citizenship.
	Documentary Requirements
Forms	46. (1) The Minister may prescribe the form of applications, certificates and other documents required for the purposes of this Act.
Applications and notices	(2) The Minister may prescribe the manner and place in which applications are to be made or notices are to be given under this Act.
	PART 6
	STATUS OF CERTAIN PERSONS IN CANADA
	Status
Citizen of the Commonweal th	47. (1) Every person who, under an enactment of a Commonwealth country other than Canada, is a citizen or national of that country has in Canada the status of a citizen of the Commonwealth.
Citizen of Ireland	(2) Any law or regulation of Canada, unless it provides otherwise, has the same effect in relation to a citizen of Ireland who is not a citizen of the Commonwealth as it has in relation to a citizen of the Commonwealth.
British subject	48. In any enactment that continues in force in Canada after the coming into force of this section, a reference to the status of British subject is to be regarded as a reference to the status of Canadian citizen or citizen of the Commonwealth, or both, as the intent of the provision may require.