U.S. applications for Canadian citizenship surge, causing delays

Applicants for Canadian citizenship certificates now have to wait a year, because of a surge of interest from Americans interested in taking advantage of new Canadian citizenship rules, according to the Canadian government’s processing-time estimator.U.S. applications surged during the first few months of 2026, with millions south of the border estimated to be eligible for Canadian citizenship based on their ancestry, after Canada changed its citizenship law.Demand from U.S. citizens added 14,000 applicants to the queue. That includes a large concentration of people who live in New England, where an estimated three million Americans are eligible due to Canadian ancestry arising from mass migration south from 1870 to 1930, as previously reported by National Post.The wait will be shorter for applicants who filed in December 2025, before the American surge.Under the change, if a citizenship applicant was born before December 15, 2025, and can trace his or her lineage back to a Canadian ancestor, they are automatically eligible to apply for proof of Canadian citizenship.Americans who obtain dual citizenship with Canada can benefit from citizenship of both countries, including the right to enter Canada and settle here permanently if they wish.Some are looking for the certificate to enable them to apply for a Canadian passport.

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The federal government calculates processing times for proof of Canadian citizenship certificates by looking at when an application was made, the number of current applications, the staffing capacity to process the and the volume of new applications that the department anticipates will be coming.This estimate is refreshed monthly.Applicants can look up current processing time, based on when they submitted their application, using the government’s processing times tool.In some cases, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada may be able to process applications faster than normal. IRCC says people can apply urgently for a citizenship certificate for reasons such as avoiding situations of harm or hardship due to race, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity.Other reasons include travel because of death or serious illness in the family, and the applicant is unable to get a passport in your other nationality, renouncing foreign citizenship, employment or education, accessing social benefits such as a pension, health care or a social insurance number.

• Millions of New Englanders may now be eligible for 'proof' they are Canadian citizens
• 'Exceptional' number of Americans want to become Canadian citizens

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