Lost Canadians & Bill C-37: Your 2026 Guide to Citizenship Rules

By Abhi Mehta, Founder of Canada Citizen Center and Immigration Writer

A comprehensive analysis of Canada's Bill C-37, its impact on "Lost Canadians," and the latest 2026 rules for second-generation citizenship. Learn who is affected and how to apply.

Nearly two decades after its historic implementation, a landmark Canadian law continues to reverberate for families around the world. Bill C-37, which came into effect on April 17, 2009, was designed to rectify decades of discriminatory and arbitrary citizenship laws that had stripped or denied Canadian status to hundreds of thousands of individuals, collectively known as "Lost Canadians." The bill automatically granted or restored citizenship to many born outside Canada who had been unfairly excluded. However, the legislation also created new challenges, most notably by instituting a "second-generation cut-off" that prevented these new citizens from passing on their status to their own children born abroad. As of 2026, the legacy of Bill C-37 is once again at the forefront, following recent court rulings and new legislation aimed at creating a more inclusive definition of who is, and can be, a Canadian citizen.

Key Takeaways

  • Bill C-37 (2009): This legislation retroactively granted Canadian citizenship to individuals born abroad to a Canadian parent between 1947 and 1977 who were previously denied due to complex or discriminatory rules. It also restored citizenship to many who had lost it.
  • Second-Generation Cut-Off: A key provision of Bill C-37 (and its 2015 successor, Bill C-6) was that parents who acquired their Canadian citizenship by descent (i.e., born outside Canada to a Canadian parent) could *not* automatically pass that citizenship on to their own children born abroad.
  • Unconstitutional Ruling (2023): In 2023, a landmark court decision found the second-generation cut-off to be unconstitutional, violating the Charter rights of Canadians abroad.
  • New Legislation (2025): In response, the Canadian government passed Bill S-7 in late 2025, which amended the *Citizenship Act* to allow parents to pass on citizenship to their children born abroad, provided they can demonstrate a "substantial connection" to Canada.
  • Who is Affected Now: You may be eligible for citizenship if you are a child of a Canadian parent who was also born abroad and who couldn

Canada Citizen Center is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.