I learned a few weeks ago that I’m a Canadian citizen. This was
pretty surprising to me, since I was born in the US to American
parents, both of which had American parents. You don’t normally
suddenly become a citizen of another country! But with Bill
C-3, anyone with any Canadian ancestry is now Canadian. [1]
Possibly you’re also a Canadian citizen? Seems worth checking! With
how much migration there has been between the US and Canada, and
citizenship requiring only a single ancestor, this might mean ~5-10% of
Americans are now additionally Canadian, which is kind of nuts.
I very much think of myself as an American, and am not
interested in moving to Canada or even getting a passport. I am
planning to apply
for a Citizenship Certificate, though, since it seems better to
have this fully documented. This means collecting the records to link
each generation, including marital name changes, back to my
thrice-great grandmother. It’s been a fun project! I’m currently
waiting to receive the Consular
Report of Birth Abroad records for my mother and grandmother,
since they were both born outside the US to American parents.
[1] This is slightly too strong. For example, it doesn’t apply if
you’re born after 2025-12-15 (I’m guessing you weren’t), and no one in
the chain can have renounced their Canadian citizenship. But the
caveats all exclude very few people.
You May Already Be Canadian
Link post
I learned a few weeks ago that I’m a Canadian citizen. This was pretty surprising to me, since I was born in the US to American parents, both of which had American parents. You don’t normally suddenly become a citizen of another country! But with Bill C-3, anyone with any Canadian ancestry is now Canadian. [1]
In my case my mother’s, mother’s, father’s mother’s mother was Canadian. While that is really quite far back, there isn’t a generational limit anymore.
Possibly you’re also a Canadian citizen? Seems worth checking! With how much migration there has been between the US and Canada, and citizenship requiring only a single ancestor, this might mean ~5-10% of Americans are now additionally Canadian, which is kind of nuts.
I very much think of myself as an American, and am not interested in moving to Canada or even getting a passport. I am planning to apply for a Citizenship Certificate, though, since it seems better to have this fully documented. This means collecting the records to link each generation, including marital name changes, back to my thrice-great grandmother. It’s been a fun project! I’m currently waiting to receive the Consular Report of Birth Abroad records for my mother and grandmother, since they were both born outside the US to American parents.
[1] This is slightly too strong. For example, it doesn’t apply if you’re born after 2025-12-15 (I’m guessing you weren’t), and no one in the chain can have renounced their Canadian citizenship. But the caveats all exclude very few people.