Millions of Americans are now eligible for Canadian citizenship and many are applying ‘just in case’
Posted For: AriesTonto
When Donald Trump was first elected president in 2016, New York State resident Ellen Robillard briefly considered applying for Canadian citizenship. Her mother had been born in Nova Scotia, which meant she might qualify.
Robillard, a Democrat, said she was discouraged by the election results at the time. But she dropped the idea after learning that her young son would not qualify for citizenship under a Canadian law that prevented Canadians born abroad from passing citizenship to children who were also born outside the country.
In 2023, however, Canadian courts ruled that law unconstitutional. Changes to eligibility took effect in December, creating a new pathway to Canadian citizenship for many Americans.
Robillard, 52, is now applying for citizenship along with her son after the first-generation limit was removed.
Since the criteria for citizenship expanded with the passage of Bill C-3 of Canada’s Citizenship Act, millions of Americans may now be eligible to claim Canadian citizenship. The amendment reversed a “first-generation” limit imposed by Canada’s Conservative government in 2009.
As the leader of her local Democratic Committee in a suburb of Rochester, New York, Robillard says she worries about political tensions and the possibility of violence.
Robillard is an outspoken activist in her town of about 3,000 people. She says she has received veiled threats on social media and was once followed home after attending a protest.
She says the political divisions have taken a personal toll, contributing to burnout, depression and insomnia, and causing disagreements with friends and family. She says she has become increasingly disillusioned with life in the United States.
“I really don’t recognize my world anymore,” Robillard says.
A spring trip to her mother’s birthplace in Nova Scotia last year helped reconnect her with her Canadian heritage and strengthened her interest in pursuing citizenship.
“The experience of being there was so interesting. I felt like a different person there. It was so much less stressful. Everyone was nicer,” she says. “I observed so many positive interactions between people and it just made my heart so full to be there.”
The revised law will also allow her to pass on citizenship to her son, who is now 19. Given the political climate in the United States, both are gathering the necessary documents as a backup plan.
“If things start deteriorating here with our economy, I know that I can just get in the car and go. It’s an option anyway.”
Since the bill was passed, Ottawa-based regulated immigration consultant Cassandra Fultz says the number of American clients she handles has increased sharply, from about 10 applications a month to around 100. Applicants who can prove direct lineage from a Canadian citizen may be able to claim citizenship going back generations, such as through a grandparent or great-great-grandparent.
However, if the chain of citizenship was broken because an ancestor renounced their Canadian citizenship, eligibility ends there.
Fultz, who holds both American and Canadian citizenship, says she has received inquiries from Americans after every U.S. election cycle regardless of which party wins. In the past, interest would usually spike in November and fade by January. This time, she says, the demand has remained steady.
“There’s been a very steady increase in interest in moving to Canada since November 2024, which is unprecedented. I’ve never seen this in my 17 years in the industry,” Fultz says. “Usually people just get over it. But it’s already nearing the midterms and people are very interested, even two years later.”
Archives in Canada are also seeing increased demand. At the National Library and Archives of Québec, requests from the United States for marriage, death and baptismal records rose from about 100 in February 2025 to roughly 1,500 in February this year.
Processing time for Canadian citizenship certificates for applicants in the United States is currently about 10 months, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Around 50,900 people are waiting for decisions.
Rachel Rabb left the United States in 2018, believing she was escaping anti-immigrant policies and fears of racial violence during President Trump’s first administration. She settled in Latin America and now divides her time between Costa Rica and Mexico.
Rabb, who is biracial with an African American father and an Irish-German mother, said she felt safer abroad and believed she would not face harassment because of her race.
After President Trump’s re-election in 2024, however, she says some of her concerns returned. She points to a U.S.-backed military strike against a cartel leader in Mexico earlier this year that was followed by retaliatory violence that left more than 60 people dead.
President Trump has since signed a proclamation promising additional military strikes across parts of Latin America, something Rabb worries could bring further instability to the region.
When she learned that Canada had revised its citizenship rules and expanded eligibility, she began researching her family history online.
She discovered that her great-great-grandmother had been born in Peterborough, Ontario, giving her a possible claim to Canadian citizenship.
“It was heaven-sent to discover that I have this Canadian ancestry, given the current political climate,” Rabb says.
Rabb, 34, says she does not plan to return to the United States for now.
“I don’t plan to return to the US at the moment. It’s just too dangerous,” she says. “So many people are targeted, even if you just look Latino, or if you look like you might be an immigrant. They’re even arresting US citizens and allies. It’s a very scary time right now because anyone can be targeted.”
If conditions in Latin America worsen, she says Canada would be her next option.
Fultz notes that many Americans applying for Canadian citizenship are not planning to move immediately. Instead, they want official proof of citizenship as a backup option.
Not all applications are politically motivated. Common reasons include family reunification, job opportunities, international study or reconnecting with family heritage.
Timothy Beaulieu of New Hampshire says his interest in Canadian citizenship comes primarily from his family’s history.
“It could be the best president ever in office in the US and I would still apply with as much passion,” he says.
Beaulieu began exploring his French-Canadian roots in his early twenties while spending time with his grandfather. The family’s heritage traces back to Quebec through his great-grandfather.
“It was like a new world was open,” says Beaulieu, now 45.
He became involved in Franco-American cultural groups and traveled frequently to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Montreal. During those visits he discovered poutine — fries topped with cheese curds and gravy.
Inspired by the dish and the culture surrounding it, he founded PoutineFest in 2016, organizing outdoor poutine festivals across New England, a region with an estimated two million people of French-Canadian descent.
Large numbers of Francophone Canadians migrated to New England between 1840 and 1930 as farmland in Quebec became scarce and textile mill jobs became available in the United States.
“I feel like Quebec and Canada are part of our family, it’s the motherland now,” Beaulieu says. “It really means a lot to me to be able to feel more connected to the place where our family came from.”
Others interested in citizenship are also exploring Canadian culture and history. Some applicants say they are interested in learning more about Canada’s Indigenous cultures and its political system.
Aaron Lowry, who runs the fast-growing Facebook page “Canadian Citizenship by Descent,” was among the first Americans to receive citizenship after a temporary bill followed the court ruling. That measure was later replaced by Bill C-3.
Since becoming a Canadian citizen in 2024, the Ann Arbor, Michigan resident has traveled throughout Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime provinces and has taken a deep interest in Canadian politics and history.
“I really enjoy learning about Canadian civics and how the parliamentary system works,” he says. “I find the relationship between the British monarch and Canada very interesting.”
Not everyone in Canada supports the expanded citizenship rules. Some critics argue that the changes favor Americans with limited connections to Canada while immigrants living and working in the country can face lengthy and complicated citizenship processes.
Others object to Americans treating Canadian citizenship as a “Plan B.”
Fultz says the changes were necessary because the previous law was ruled unconstitutional and discriminatory by Canadian courts. The amendment also restores citizenship to so-called “Lost Canadians,” people who either lost or were unable to obtain citizenship under outdated rules.
“Basically, the outcome of this case is that a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian,” she says. “We don’t have multiple tiers of citizenship here, where if you’re naturalized you can do one thing but if you’re born in Canada you can do another. This is about fostering and enhancing equitability.”
She also notes that many of the Americans applying are highly educated professionals.
“These applicants include doctors, lawyers and graduates from top universities,” Fultz says. “These are quite literally our cousins. I just don’t see a downside.”
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