Canada Immigration News – Important Changes to Canada’s Citizenship Act to Come Into Effect Next Week
October 4, 2017 by Hugo O’Doherty
Permanent residents of Canada can enjoy a quicker, simpler citizenship naturalization process after key measures contained in Bill C-6, Changes to the Citizenship Act, come into effect next week on October 11.
Speaking in Brampton, Ontario on October 4, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Ahmed Hussen, stated that changes have been long awaited by permanent residents who have been eagerly awaiting these changes. C-6 had been passed into law last June, but some of its most important provisions did not come into effect immediately. The government had stated that some elements of C-6 would come into effect in the fall (autumn).
“We want all permanent residents in Canada to become citizens. That’s our wish, because we value Canadian citizenship, we understand we are a community that continues to welcome people from all over the world. And we understand the importance and the positive role that immigrants play in our economy, in our society, and in our cultural life,” Minister Hussen said.
“We have a responsibility to ease their path to Canadian citizenship,” he added.
Among the changes that come into effect on October 11 are measures covering the number of days that an applicant must spend as a permanent resident before applying for citizenship, and how those days may be counted.
Previously, applicants for citizenship had to amass 1,460 days (four years) of residence in Canada within a six-year period, all of it on permanent status, before applying for citizenship.
Following the changes, the applicants are only required to have amassed 1,095 days (three years) of residence in Canada over a five-year period before becoming eligible. Further, individuals who spent time in Canada on work or study staus or as a protected person before becoming a permanent resident may count up to 365 days of this time as a temporary resident towards their overall residency days. In such cases, each actual day spent in Canada on such a temporary status is counted as a half-day (in other words, for every two days spent in Canada on eligible temporary status, one day may be counted towards citizenship eligibility, up to a maximum of 365 days).
For citizens-to-be who came to Canada to work or study, this important change may reduce the amount of time one has to spend in Canada as a permanent resident before being eligible for citizenship, in some cases from four years down to as little as two years.
In addition, as of next week the government will no longer require applicants for citizenship to be physically present in Canada for 183 days or more in four out of the six years preceding their application.
“With these changes, with the ease of the physical presence requirements, for example, and the flexibility that we are introducing to those requirements means that permanent residents will be able to apply for citizenship sooner, but they will also be able to have the flexibility to do so,” stated Minister Hussen.
Other changes to the Citizenship Act will also come into effect on October 11, 2017.