Your Ancestors Were Canadian. You Might Be Too.

Canada’s new Bill C-3 has made millions of Americans eligible for Canadian citizenship by descent. No requirement to have ever lived in Canada. No trips required. Just proof of your bloodline, and the right team to build your file.

Licensed & Regulated – Confidential Review –  Canada Choice Award Winner 2026

35+

Years in practice

Founded 1991

98%

Approval Rate

On files we accept

25,000+

Clients worldwide

From 50+ countries

Licensed

& Regulated

Member of CICC & CAPIC

You Are Not Alone In This

The Opportunity Is Real. So Is the Complexity.

Bill C-3 passed. Millions became eligible overnight. But qualifying and successfully claiming are two very different things.

1

You have Canadian ancestry but no idea where to start.

Most people with French-Canadian, Acadian, or Canadian roots have no idea this law applies to them. In states like New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, the number eligible runs into the hundreds of thousands. The first step is knowing you qualify.

2

You found ancestors online. But that won't be enough.

Ancestry.com, 23andMe, and genealogy websites cannot satisfy government requirements. You need official birth certificates, baptismal records, naturalization papers, and government-issued documents, in an unbroken chain. Archives are already backlogged. The clock is ticking.

3

The documentation burden is severe.

Following Bill C-3, Quebec’s Provincial Library and Archives received 1,700 requests in a single month, a 1,200% increase year over year. New Brunswick saw requests jump from 100 to 400 per month. Without expert help, you could wait years and still get it wrong.

4

You do not know who to trust

Anyone can call themselves an immigration consultant. Unlicensed advisors have cost families thousands of dollars and years of delays. Amir Ismail is RCIC #R412319. Licensed. Verified. Accountable with 35+ years of experience this field.

What Is Bill C-3

The Law That Changed Everything For Millions of Americans.

Bill C-3, An Act to Amend the Citizenship Act, received Royal Assent and came into force on December 15, 2025. It permanently abolished the “first-generation limit” that had previously cut off Canadian citizenship after one generation born outside Canada.

What that means in plain language:

If your parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, or any earlier ancestor, was a Canadian citizen, you may have automatically acquired Canadian citizenship on December 15, 2025. Provided you can prove the unbroken chain of descent through official documentation.

No requirement to have ever lived in Canada. No requirement to have ever visited. No lottery. No points system. No cap.

You either qualify or you don’t. We tell you honestly which it is.

Generations of Descent Now Eligible

December 15, 2025 The Date Everything ChangedVary by province and stream

3.1 Million+ Americans With Canadian Ancestry

  • Claim citizenship through parents, grandparents, or earlier ancestors
  • No prior Canadian residency required
  • No physical presence in Canada required (for those born before December 15, 2025)
  • Restores rights to descendants of “Lost Canadians” — women stripped of citizenship by historical marriage laws
  • Opens eligibility to Acadian and French-Canadian descendants across New England and Louisiana
  • Canadian passport is renewable for life

Eligibility at a Glance

Who Qualifies for Canadian Citizenship Under Bill C-3?

You likely qualify if:

  • You have a parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, or earlier ancestor who was a Canadian citizen
  • You were born before December 15, 2025 (no Canadian residency required)
  • You can establish an unbroken chain of descent through official government documents
  • You are a descendant of a “Lost Canadian”, a woman or unmarried individual who lost citizenship under pre-1977 discriminatory laws
  • You are a descendant of French-Canadian, Acadian, or Quebec heritage families.

YOU MAY FACE ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS IF:

  • You were born on or after December 15, 2025 (the Substantial Connection Test applies, your Canadian parent must prove 1,095 days of physical presence in Canada prior to your birth)
  • Your ancestral documentation has gaps, destroyed records, or untranslated church records in Latin or early French

IMPORTANT NOTE:
If you are passing citizenship to children born after December 15, 2025, your next move determines whether they inherit this status. Don’t leave this to chance.

Not certain where you stand? One session with our team gives you a clear, honest answer.

Licensed & Regulated – Confidential Review –  Canada Choice Award Winner 2026

Client Outcomes

What our clients say.

Your Roadmap

How the Canadian Citizenship by Descent Process Works with AIA

Six structured steps. We do the heavy lifting. You focus on what comes next.

step 1

Strategy Assessment & Program Selection

We review your family history, identify your qualifying ancestor, assess the strength of your descent chain, and give you an honest verdict. If you don’t qualify, we tell you upfront.

STEP 2

Ancestry Verification

We identify exactly which documents are needed to establish your unbroken chain of descent. Birth certificates. Baptismal records. Naturalization papers. Marriage records. We know what IRCC requires.

STEP 3

Archival Research and Document Retrieval

We guide how to navigate the backlogged provincial archives in Quebec, New Brunswick, Ontario, and across Canada and translate early French and Latin church records where required. This is where most applicants get stuck. We don’t.

step 4

File Preparation

We assemble your complete citizenship application package, every form, every document, every supporting piece of evidence, reviewed by two licensed consultants before submission.

STEP 5

Application Submission

We file your application with IRCC and manage all communication. We respond to any requests for additional information and track your file from submission to decision.

STEP 6

Citizenship Confirmation and Passport Support

Once your citizenship is confirmed, we guide you through obtaining your Canadian passport, one of the world’s strongest travel documents, renewable for life.

Why Families Choose AIA

35+ Years. 25,000+ Clients. No Shortcuts. No Guesswork.

Track record

35+ Years of Immigration Excellence

We have been navigating complex immigration law since 1991. We don’t take cases we can’t build correctly. If your file has gaps, we tell you what needs to be resolved before we proceed. Honesty over upselling, every time.

Two Experts on Every File

Rijah Amir, Amir’s daughter, is also a licensed immigration consultant. Complex citizenship by descent files benefit from dual expert review before submission. Most firms cannot offer this.

Nobody Knows Canadian Records Better

Our firm is Canadian. We know the provincial archive systems. We know which records survived the Acadian expulsion and which didn’t. We know how to navigate destroyed or damaged parish records. No US-based competitor can match this depth.

Offices Where Our Clients Are

Toronto · Dubai · Karachi. Our clients span five continents. Whether you are in New England, Florida, California, or anywhere in between, we serve you with the same standard of care.

We Think Beyond Your File

A Canadian passport is not just for you. We map how your citizenship status flows to your children, your estate planning, and your cross-border tax picture. We think generationally because the best outcomes are generational.

Frequently Asked Questions About Canadian Citizenship by Descent

No. If you were born before December 15, 2025, there is no requirement to have ever lived in or visited Canada. Your eligibility is based entirely on your ancestral descent chain. You need to prove that an ancestor was a Canadian citizen, not that you personally have any connection to Canada.

Bill C-3 places no generational limit. You can theoretically trace eligibility as far back as needed, provided you can document an unbroken chain of Canadian citizenship through official records. The legal burden of proof is strict, each generation must be verified through primary source documents.

The requirements vary by case, but typically include government-issued birth certificates, baptismal records, marriage records, naturalization papers, and citizenship certificates for each person in your descent chain. Information from commercial genealogy websites cannot be used on its own. Official government and church records are required.

This is common, particularly for Acadian descendants whose records were burned during the 1755 expulsion. Our team specializes in navigating exactly these situations, using alternative archival sources, court records, census data, and historical documentation to reconstruct the chain where primary records are missing.

For children born or adopted on or after December 15, 2025, the Canadian parent must demonstrate at least 1,095 days, three cumulative years, of physical presence in Canada at any time before the child’s birth. This test does not apply to individuals born before that date.

Processing times vary based on file complexity and archive availability. Given current archive backlogs, some provinces are handling 1,200% more requests than normal, early action is strongly recommended. The sooner your file is built, the sooner it can be submitted.

Once your citizenship is confirmed, children born before December 15, 2025 may inherit citizenship through your newly confirmed status. Children born on or after that date are subject to the Substantial Connection Test. We map this out family-by-family in your strategy assessment.

Citizenship by descent is not a form-filling exercise. IRCC scrutinizes the documentary chain carefully. A single gap, a missing marriage record, an untranslated baptismal certificate, an unverified name change, can result in refusal. With AIA, you benefit from 34 years of experience, two licensed consultants reviewing your file, and direct access to archival systems most applicants cannot navigate on their own. The cost of getting it wrong is far greater than the cost of getting it right.

Your Next Step

Ready to Find Out If You Qualify?

Book a private strategy session with Amir Ismail or Rijah Amir. In 60 minutes, you will know exactly where you stand, what documents you need, and what your path to Canadian citizenship looks like.

  • Your session is conducted by a licensed RCIC, not a junior assistant
  • Strictly confidential, everything discussed stays between us
  • Reviewed personally by Amir Ismail or Rijah Amir
  • One focused session. A clear answer. A real plan.
  • No vague advice. No runaround. Just the truth about your case.

Book Your Strategy Assessment

Select a time that works for you. Your session will be conducted by a licensed Canadian immigration consultant. Come prepared with what you know about your family history. We handle everything from there.

The Path Is Clearer Than You Think

Your Ancestors Were Canadian. It's Time You Were Too.

Bill C-3 is the most significant Canadian citizenship opportunity in a generation. The archives are backlogged. The eligible pool is enormous. The window to move efficiently is right now. One strategy session is all it takes to know exactly where your family stands.

Licensed and Regulated · RCIC #R412319 · Confidential · In Practice Since 1991

416-913-0230 – 647 835 0660 – info@amirismail.com