Canada moves to revoke residency permits in sudden policy shift: Details
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The Canadian government has suddenly suspended the validity of thousands of citizenship certificates issued late last year under the "Lost Canadians" law. Holders are now required to urgently return the documents for additional verification, according to CBC News.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has begun sending emails demanding the immediate return of the certificates received. An unknown number of people worldwide have received the notices.
Authorities are questioning the rights of the new citizens. Registrar Peggy Sang is personally signing these requests.
"The purpose of this letter is to inform you that I have information in my possession that indicates that you may not be entitled to hold a Canadian certificate of citizenship," the official notice states.
Officials cite problems with the documents. They claim that some papers did not come from original sources. People must now prove their roots again.
Who is under scrutiny
The situation concerns the so‑called "Lost Canadians." These are people born abroad but with Canadian ancestors. In November of last year, Parliament passed bill C-3, which opened the way to a passport for descendants of Canadians in the second and subsequent generations.
Under the new rules, 4,075 people have already received certificates. Half of them reside in the United States. In total, about 115,000 people may be eligible for the status.
For many, this decision has shattered plans. For example, one woman from Maine received her certificate in March. She had already put her US house up for sale, as she was planning to move to Nova Scotia.
The woman wanted to leave the US due to political instability.
"It no longer feels safe to be in America, especially as a woman or if you're on the spectrum or you're a person of colour … there are so many different reasons that people are not wanted here," she explained.
The woman is now forced to halt the sale of her property. She is gathering new evidence for the Canadian government.
Legal chaos and backlogs
Lawyers are calling the situation unprecedented. Usually, authorities verify documents before issuing status, so the mass recall of already issued certificates seems strange.
"It's almost as if they realized there were some errors made at some point in some files and they are not comfortable with the certificates that were issued," said Montreal immigration lawyer Lisa Middlemiss.
Another issue is that people have already begun working or studying in Canada on the basis of these documents. Now their status is uncertain.
The system is working slowly, and the backlog for obtaining certificates is growing rapidly:
- In May 2025, the wait time would have been 5 months;
- Now the term has increased to 15 months;
- There are 82,000 applications in the queue.
Lawyers are preparing lawsuits. They consider the ministry's actions unlawful. Certificate holders are promised that their documents will be returned only after they undergo re‑verification and prove their eligibility under the law.
What else is worth knowing about emigration
In one of the EU countries, there were calls to strip Ukrainians of temporary protection. The further stay of Ukrainians in the country was called into question due to alleged dissatisfaction among local citizens and political disputes over their role in the economy.
