Canadian Citizenship

Canadian citizens around the world are known for their contributions, achievements, sense of belonging, pride, and appreciation of their multiculturalism and rich aboriginal heritage.

Becoming a Canadian citizen by naturalization can be a happy and exciting moment; however, it will require some time and preparation that can lead to some stress and frustration.

In Canada, you are allowed, as a citizen, to have dual citizenship, subject to the laws of any other country where you are a citizen. As an example, countries like China, India, Japan, Norway and Austria, permit dual citizenship only when a child obtained citizenship in another country by birth.

How to obtain Canadian citizenship?

Canadian citizenship is generally acquired when a person is born:

• In Canada*
• Outside Canada to a Canadian parent**
• Outside Canada and is adopted by a Canadian

There is another instance when people can become a Canadian citizen and that is when the person that applies for a grant of citizenship (naturalization)***

*Exception: children of diplomats born in Canadian soil.

**First generation only

***The minister has the discretion to grant Canadian citizenship to any person under special cases. As an example, the following are the only honorary persons that have been granted Canadian citizenship:

Raoul Wallenberg, Swedish diplomat (posthumously, 1985)

Nelson Mandela, South-African revolutionary, philanthropist (2001)

Dalai Lama, spiritual leader (2006)

Aga Khan, spiritual leader, philanthropist (2010)

Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese Activist (2012)

Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani activist and Nobel Prize Laureate (2017)

Requirements to Apply for Canadian Citizenship

A permanent resident (PR) of Canada may be eligible to apply for Canadian citizenship (naturalization) when the following criteria is met:

Time spent in Canada

Live in Canada as a permanent residence for 1095 days (or 3 years) in the 5 years preceding the application. This time is called the Physical presence and does not have to be continuous. Furthermore, applicants may use some time spent in Canada as a Temporary Resident or protected person to meet the physical presence requirement. There is a physical presence calculator made available by IRCC.

! The PR card of the applicant does not need to be valid to apply for Canadian citizenship.

Filing Canadian Income Tax 

Have filed income tax returns with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for a 3-year period minimum in the 5 years before the application. This requirement applies if an applicant is required to file taxes by law.

Proof of Language Skill

Provide proof of language skills of CLB 4 or higher in English or French for applicants aged 18 to 54 years old. The specific factors measured here are speaking and listening.

The proof accepted for citizenship purposes may be:

Approved Language Test results

• IELTS: General training. Please note the IELTS Academic is not accepted as proof for Canadian citizenship.
• Celpip-G: General Test. (If test was taken before March 31, 2014, the score needs to be 2H or higher in speaking and listening).

You can book your IELTS test (In Canada ONLY) by clicking on the logo below. You will benefit from free resources to practice and prepare for your upcoming exam:

Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) or Cours de Langue pour les Immigrants au Canada (CLIC)

• Certificate of completion on or after November 1, 2012.
• Training between January 2008 and October 2012. This is marked in the citizenship application form. There is no document proof needed.

Proof of provincial language programs from Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba or Saskatchewan

This varies depending on the province. Check with the province’s language program for more details.

Diploma, certificate or transcript of secondary or post-secondary program attendance inside or outside of Canada

If this proof is not in English or French then it must be accompanied by a certified English or French translation.

! The language test results can be submitted if they meet with the parameters set above. Even if they are expired, they will be accepted. 

Citizenship Test

Pass a test on the rights and the responsibilities of a Canadian and knowledge of Canada. You can prepare by using the Canadian study guide Discover Canada.

! Even if you’re not ready to apply, you can still learn a lot about Canada by reading this guide. We highly recommend that you start reading it.

Citizenship Oath

Take the citizenship oath at the citizenship ceremony. This last step is for applicants that have passed the language and the citizenship test.