Lost Canadians Online

The new site is really working well. Although I do have a web development background I was a bit intimidated at the thought of running a fair sized web community on my own server (as opposed to running it turn-key at Ning) but it is doing awesome. I had to learn a little more PHP scripting than I would have liked, but hey the more ya know.. right?
So all, enjoy the site and please let me know of any bugs.

Welcome to the new Lost Canadians site. The forums are located in the forums tab to the upper right.
The entries you see below are blog posts.

The “Main Forum” is the general forum and similar to what we had at our previous site. The main forum is a “group” we all belong to.
If you wish to get email notifications of responses to your posts or comments you MUST go to the group tab and choose a group (forum)  and select the kind of email notifications you want.

Please note that our new email address is “contact@” this domain name.

Enjoy

I am exploring where I might fit into Bill C-37 and came upon this site. My details are:

Mother born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1915

Came with her family to Southern California in 1923

Met and married my father (who was born 1905 in Blackpool, England) in California in 1937

I was born in Hollywood, California in Feb 1948 and hold only a US Passport and have never applied elsewhere

Both parents died May 1990 — my mother remained a citizen of Canada and my father remained a British citizen

Is my reading of C-37 correct that I may apply for Canadian Citizenship, as I am a first generation born abroad (USA) to a Canadian citizen — being born after Jan 1947? Am I entitled to dual citizenship or just Canadian? What would be my advantages? I currently live in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, about 100 miles south of the Canadian border.

Thanks anyone/everyone — it’s very nice to be here.

Nancy Wrigley James

Having stumbled across this site a couple of months ago, and having done a fair amount of reading on Canadian citizenship issues, I wonder about an alternative interpretation of those who naturalized in another country, the U.S. in particular, between 1921 and 1947.

When I look at the Canadian Nationals Act of 1921, it not only defines who is a Canadian National, it also lays out a very specific procedure for renouncing one’s Canadian nationality. It allowed for some flexibility in who/where/etc., but stated that “the declarant shall transmit his declaration to the Secretary of State of Canada and upon the Secretary of State being satisfied of the sufficiency of the declaration and that it has been duly executed, it shall be filed of record, whereupon the declarant shall cease to be a Canadian National, and a certified copy of the declaration shall be forwarded to the declarant with an endorsement thereon that the original declaration has been filed of record.”

It seems to me that if that procedure was not followed, a person renouncing in a ceremony unrecognized by the Canadian government, would not in fact “cease to be a Canadian National.” Such a person, then, would seem to have become a Canadian Citizen on January 1, 1947.

I realize that this is not the current interpretation being followed, but I wonder if others think there might be something to this.

In my case, this would change my status, as my grandfather, who died in 1948, would then have been a citizen, as well as my mother, born outside Canada. Since I was born before 1977, I would likewise be a Canadian citizen, according to what I have read.

On July 10th in Ottawa I met with Mary-Ann Hubers, Acting Director of Citizenship Legislation and Policy. The e-mail below was sent on July 13th.

Dear Ms Hubers:

Thank you for meeting with me on Tuesday to discuss the Lost Canadians and possible changes to the Citizenship Act. In this e-mail I want to review and elaborate on the main points we discussed.

 1.     Lost Canadians

 Your Minister has stated that he intends to take steps to rectify the status of the remaining Lost Canadians, including the pre-1947 group, who were excluded from Bill C-37 of 2008. We want him to know that we will hold him to that promise and are prepared to make a constructive contribution to any discussion of possible changes to the Citizenship Act. We naturally prefer a political solution. If, however, that is not forthcoming or the solution offered is unsatisfactory to us, the case of Scott v. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration will go forward, followed if necessary by more cases representing other categories of still-excluded Lost Canadians. (I have personally done some preparatory work on two of those cases.) In that event, the Minister would do well to consider the political consequences of using the courts to exclude people from citizenship, after a lifetime in Canada, solely because of the date and circumstances of their birth. He should also be aware that if Lord Black of Crossharbour is eventually allowed to resume his citizenship while the remaining Lost Canadians are still excluded, the government will have some explaining to do.

 2.     Excluded War Bride children

 Some War Bride children are still excluded from citizenship solely because they were born out of wedlock. This continuing exclusion is insulting, unconscionable and politically indefensible. In my view it is also unlawful. We now have two precedents (see attachments) in which a child born abroad out of wedlock to parents who later married was ruled to be a natural-born Canadian citizen. The first ruling, which I showed you on Tuesday, was made in 1948, the year of Jackie Scott’s arrival in Canada and of her parents’ marriage. Since the facts in all three cases are essentially the same, I believe the two precedents are equally applicable to Ms Scott’s case.

 I have pointed out that Order in Council P.C. 1945-858 gave immediate Canadian domicile to the arriving military dependants (i.e., War Brides and children), exempting them from the usual waiting period of five years under the Immigration Act. From this I conclude that any War Bride child who was in Canada on December 31, 1946 but is excluded from citizenship by the continuing application of the discriminatory provisions of section 4 of the Canadian Citizenship Act 1946, is included under section 9 as a Canadian citizen ‘other than natural-born’.

 We still have several such cases outstanding. One of them is a 25-year veteran of the Royal Canadian Navy whose citizenship was never questioned at any time during his service. If my interpretation of the law is correct, I see no reason why these cases should not be settled quickly.

 3.     Proposed limitation of citizenship by ius soli

 The Minister has proposed that in future only children born in Canada to a parent who is a citizen or a permanent resident should have the right to citizenship by ius soli. I recalled that Lucienne Robillard had made a similar proposal when she was Minister in the 1990s. Nothing came of it.

 This proposal if enacted would be the most radical change in our citizenship law since 1947. It should be undertaken only after the widest possible consultation. In the U.K., as I pointed out, the British Nationality Act 1981 was preceded by a Green Paper in 1977 and a White Paper in 1980.

 I have serious reservations about this proposal. It could create a large group of people who were born in Canada and know no other country as their home, but are excluded from citizenship. What would be the long-term political and social consequences? And would this or any future government have the political will to deport people born in Canada to countries they have never seen?

 There are also administrative implications for governments both federal and provincial. If a Canadian birth certificate is no longer proof of citizenship, every Canadian would presumably have to apply for a Certificate of Canadian Citizenship to get a passport or a provincial document (e.g., health card) for which proof of citizenship is now required. The resulting inconvenience and delay could have political consequences for both levels of government. We cannot have newborns waiting weeks or even months for a health card!

 Thank you again for meeting with me. I look forward to learning more about the government’s plans.

Yours sincerely,

 Robert Addington

My French grandmother’s family in Canada goes back to the 1630s. My grandfather was First Nations, born outside of Winnipeg. My mother was born in Canada in 1911. Later she moved to the US and in 1930 married a US citizen. After I was born, she became a US citizen. In 2011, my application for my Canadian citizenship certificate was denied. I was told that my mother had lost her status as a British subject when she married my father. She not only was “never a Canadian citizen,” but also was stateless for over 20 years. Had it been my father who was born in Canada and married a US citizen, I would have my Canadian citizenship certificate in hand today.

Liz,

yes, second generation are those children born outside Canada to a Canadian citizen.

Richard

My buddy was born USA in ’68. Her mother born Canada in ’42, moved to USA after Jan 1 1947 and became citizen on USA in 1960 and married a Yank.

Is my buddy a Canadian?? :>

I have been searching online for an answer for this and found this website, here is my situation

I was born in 1980 in the states and have lived in the states since.  My mom was born in Val’dor, Canada and after a little research and the Canada cizitizen packet being completed two weeks ago I have come up with a few questions.

1.  I currenlty live in Gerogia in the United States and once my citizenship is approved I wanted to move myself and family to Vancover and was wondering should I wait to get their sponsorship packet aproved before we moved.

2.  If we moved out there before would my family be covered under Canadian helath care

3.  If we moved out there after the sponsorship how long would it take for them to be covered under Canadian health care

4.  Can my children attend Canadian schools before sponsorship is approved or should we wait untill after

5.  Once my citizenship is completed can my kids apply for thier citizenship

I appreciate everyones help with this and hopefully within the next few months I can call myself a Canadian. 

i was born in january of 1963

given up for adoption an was adopted in late 1963 by an american couple and now a usa citizen.

am i still considered a canadian citizen and dual citizenship.

also would my kids be also.

how can i get proof and documents i need.

  thaks to whoever can help…