Canadian Nationality Law - History of Canadian Citizenship

History of Canadian Citizenship

After Canadian Confederation in 1867, the country's nationality law closely mirrored that of the United Kingdom and all Canadians were classified as British subjects. Section 91(25) of the British North America Act, 1867 (now the Constitution Act, 1867), however, gave the Parliament of Canada authority over "Naturalization and Aliens". The Immigration Act, 1910, for example, created the status of Canadian citizen. This distinguished those British subjects who were born, naturalized, or domiciled in Canada from those who were not, but was only applied for the purpose of determining whether someone was free of immigration controls. The Naturalization Act, 1914, increased the period of residence required to qualify for naturalization in Canada as a British subject from three years to five years. A separate additional status of Canadian national was created under the Canadian Nationals Act, 1921, in order that Canada could participate in international fora separately from the UK.

Canadian independence was obtained incrementally over the ensuing years. In 1931, with the Imperial Parliament's ratification of the Statute of Westminster, the United Kingdom ceased to have legislative control over Canada. At that time, Canada's naturalization laws consisted of a hodgepodge of confusing acts, which still retained the term British subject as the designation for Canadian nationals. This eventually conflicted with the nationalism that rose amongst Canadians following the Second World War and the accompanying desire to have Canada's sovereign status reflected in distinct nationalistic symbols. This, plus the muddled nature of existing nationality law, prompted the enactment of the Canadian Citizenship Act, 1946, which took effect on 1 January 1947. On that date, Canadian citizenship was conferred on most Canadians classified as British subjects. Subsequently, on 1 April 1949, Canadian nationality law was extended to Newfoundland, upon the British colony joining Canada as a province.

Canadian nationality law was substantially revised on 15 February 1977, when the new Citizenship Act came into force. From that date, multiple citizenship became legal. However, those who lost Canadian citizenship before that date did not automatically have it restored until 17 April 2009, when Bill C-37 became law.