History of Canadian Nationality Law - Canadian Citizens and Canadian Nationals, 1910-1947

Canadian Citizens and Canadian Nationals, 1910-1947

Canadian citizenship was originally created under the Immigration Act, 1910, to designate those British subjects who were born, naturalized or domiciled in Canada. All other British subjects required permission to land. "Domicile" was defined as having been resident in Canada for three years, excluding any time spent in prisons or mental institutions.

The status of all British subjects in the Empire (whether by birth or naturalization) was standardized by the Imperial British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914, which was adopted in Canada by the Naturalization Act, 1914. As a result, the period of residence required to qualify for naturalization was increased from three years to five years.

A separate status of "Canadian national" was created under the Canadian Nationals Act, 1921, which was defined as being a Canadian citizen as defined above, their wives, and any children (fathered by such citizens) that had not yet landed in Canada.

After the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931, whereby each self-governing dominion of the British Empire was henceforth considered equal in status to all the others, with the Crown becoming one that is shared and operating independently in each realm rather than as a unitary British Crown under which all the dominions were subordinate, the monarchy thus ceased to be an exclusively British institution. Because of this Canadians, and others living in countries that became known as Commonwealth Realms, were known as subjects of the Crown. However in legal documents the term "British subject" continued to be used.

Prior to 1947, Canada issued two types of passports: those to British subjects by birth (coloured blue), and those to naturalized British subjects or citizens (coloured red).