Confusion spreads as Ottawa defends orders to surrender citizenship certificates

The flag flies over the Prime Minister's Office near Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

OTTAWA — The immigration department says it’s working “as quickly as possible” to resolve questions about citizenship by descent claims — even as some claimants say they did everything Ottawa asked them to do.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says “a few dozen” people who got citizenship certificates under the new citizenship by descent law received letters from the department over the weekend demanding they surrender them.

They include health psychologist Bridget Burnett, who said she has already sold her family home in Colorado ahead of moving her life and practice to Victoria next week. She said the movers are coming on June 24.

Burnett received a citizenship certificate under Canada’s citizenship by descent law. Over the weekend, she received an email from IRCC telling her she needs to surrender the document that says she’s a Canadian.

“I called IRCC first thing Monday morning and it was very clear that the worker, although very kind and very supportive, had no idea what was going on. Couldn’t tell me what was missing from my file, if anything was missing for my file. Didn’t know what I was supposed to do. Couldn’t really help give any guidance with my move,” Burnett said.

“They really just didn’t know what was going on, if it was an error with the physical certificate, if it’s something in my file or if it’s an error in the system.”

A statement issued by IRCC Wednesday evening says “the department is reviewing how this occurred” and is not in a position to provide additional details while that review is ongoing.

Following the passage of bill C-3 last year, people born before Dec. 15, 2025 can claim citizenship by descent so long as they can prove generation-by-generation direct lineage to a Canadian.

Burnett said she has a Canadian social insurance number and bank account and already has purchased a home in B.C. She has not obtained a Canadian passport yet.

IRCC says it is in the process of telling affected passport holders they cannot use the travel document.

Immigration Minister Lena Diab said Wednesday that citizenship by descent claimants must prove Canadian lineage generation-by-generation with “verified, authenticated” documents. On Tuesday during question period, Diab said that “genealogy websites are not enough.”

The IRCC letters viewed by The Canadian Press all say the claimants either failed to provide documents from original sources or did not provide a written explanation of why source documents were not obtained, with evidence of attempts to obtain them.

IRCC quietly updated its online guidance document Wednesday to state that documents submitted in support of a citizenship by descent claim must be provided by an original authority, like a provincial archive.

The updated guidance says that if a birth certificate is not available, alternatives like a census record or a certified baptismal certificate can be accepted.

Burnett said her mother and child also both received letters directing them to surrender their citizenship certificates.

She said she’s baffled by the order because she submitted a certified census record from 1861 from Library and Archives Canada showing her great grandfather was a British subject in Canada. She said she also submitted an email from the New Brunswick archives saying it does not have a copy of her great-grandfather’s birth certificate — something that was not uncommon at the time.

“In December of 2025, I received an email from IRCC saying that my application had been sent to the program support unit for more thorough review. And if anything was needed from me, they would reach out to me before completing my file. And they did not ever reach out me,” Burnett said.

“So I felt like, OK, they have every single thing they could possibly need to understand my chain and ancestry. And then in February, my mother, myself and my biological son received our Canadian citizenship certificates and we proceeded with buying a house.”

Burnett said her adopted son’s application is still pending through a different process.

Lisa Middlemiss, a Montreal citizenship and immigration lawyer, said the changes made to the IRCC’s online guidance are confusing because department officials previously told lawyers that while certified copies are preferred, any evidence that supports an application would be considered.

“I think that the government has realized that the surrender letters that were issued to a number of new citizens were unacceptable to the Canadian public and that they are trying to make clear what they require to process these applications,” she said.

“I think it’s a numbers game. I think they’re just receiving so many that this is one way that they’re trying to pare down the numbers of people who can apply.”

An immigration official confirmed earlier this week that nearly 4,100 people have received citizenship by descent under the new law that took effect on Dec. 15, 2025.

Department data shows about 82,000 people are waiting for a citizenship certificate decision but does not break that number down based on type of application.

Middlemiss said that by asking for certified baptismal records and original sources, the federal government will add to major backlogs at provincial and national archives.

The Archives of Ontario said in a statement Thursday that it has seen a large spike in the number of requests for certified copies of birth, marriage and death records. The archive said it received nearly 1,200 requests in May 2026, up from just 165 in May 2025.

As IRCC reviews what is happening in the citizenship by descent program, Middlemiss said she hopes it remembers that it’s dealing with people’s lives.

“This is just a syndrome of what is happening at IRCC, in a sense, a disconnect with people’s actual lives,” she said.

Middlemiss said no one at the department, including the minister, is explaining what happened.

“I think every Canadian should be appalled by these letters,” she added.

The department says everyone with citizenship claims under review will have a chance to supply more documentary evidence.

Time may not be on Burnett’s side. Her family’s home in the U.S. has been sold and they are moving in less than a week.

“This felt like a very responsible, certain and wonderful opportunity for our family that was safe and stable and very clear,” she said. “And it became very, very overwhelming and anxiety-producing to then feel like I don’t know what’s going to happen with my record.

“Am I allowed to travel in and out of the country? I do need to come back and forth to the United States. And so am I going to be allowed to do that while this is all paused and in limbo? I don’t know. I have more questions than answers right now.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2026.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press