If you were born outside Canada between February 15, 1977 and April 16, 1981, you may have lost your Canadian citizenship on your 28th birthday without ever being told. Bill C-3 gives it back. The law took effect on December 15, 2025. IRCC calls this group the section 8 Lost Canadians. You do not need to apply to become a citizen again. You do need to apply for proof of citizenship to show it.
What was the section 8 age 28 rule?
The Citizenship Act that came into force on February 15, 1977 treated children born abroad in the second generation or later as citizens at birth. But they had to ask to keep it.
A Senate committee chronology published on December 5, 2024 puts it plainly. Citizenship was lost on the person’s 28th birthday if they did not apply to retain it, or applied and were not successful.
Most people in this group never knew the rule existed. There was no letter and no warning. The status simply ended.
Why does the 1977 to 1981 birth window matter?
Parliament repealed the retention rules on April 17, 2009 through Bill C-37. It replaced them with the first generation limit.
Only one group had already turned 28 by that date. IRCC describes them as people born between February 15, 1977 and April 16, 1981 who had already lost their citizenship before the section 8 rules were repealed in 2009.
If you were born on or after April 17, 1981, you turned 28 after the repeal. The age 28 rule never took your status away.
Did the earlier citizenship fixes already solve this?
No. This is the part most articles get wrong.
The 2009 and 2015 amendments left this group out. The same Senate chronology states that those who had already turned 28 and lost citizenship under the former section 8 rules did not have their citizenship restored.
IRCC briefing material from March 2025 is just as clear. It states that the Bjorkquist court declaration does not restore citizenship to section 8 Lost Canadians.
Bill C-71, introduced on May 23, 2024, would have covered this group. It died on the Order Paper when Parliament was prorogued. Until December 2025 the only route was a discretionary grant, and IRCC recorded only about 35 to 40 people a year coming forward.
What exactly does Bill C-3 change?
Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025), received royal assent on November 20, 2025. It is now Statutes of Canada 2025, chapter 5. The changes took effect on December 15, 2025.
IRCC told the House immigration committee that the bill will also give citizenship to section 8 Lost Canadians. The clause that blocked them, the one about failing to apply to retain citizenship under former section 8, is repealed.
Do I have to apply to get my citizenship back?
No. IRCC’s position is that the status returns on its own. Its briefing says that those who become citizens automatically under Bill C-3 can apply for proof of citizenship to confirm their citizenship status.
That difference matters a great deal in practice. You are a citizen in law. You still cannot show it at a border, to an employer, or to a passport office until you hold a citizenship certificate.
So treat the certificate as the real goal. The status is already yours.
How do I prove I am in this group?
You file a proof of citizenship application. The file has to connect you to your Canadian parent and show your birth abroad.
That means certified vital records, not printouts from an ancestry website. Our guide to citizenship by descent documents and the IRCC rules that cause refusals sets out what officers accept.
Plan for a long wait. Our breakdown of proof of Canadian citizenship processing times explains the current queue and the urgent processing route.
If your parent or grandparent also lost status, read our overview of Lost Canadians and how Bill C-3 reaches them.
What should I do next?
Start with three checks. Was your birth outside Canada between February 15, 1977 and April 16, 1981? Did you turn 28 before April 17, 2009? Was your Canadian parent also born outside Canada?
If the answer to all three is yes, you are very likely a section 8 Lost Canadian.
You can test your situation in a few minutes with our Canadian citizenship eligibility quiz. For the full picture of how descent claims work after Bill C-3, see our main guide to Canadian citizenship by descent.
Where this gets complicated
Two cases need care. The first is a claim where the anchor ancestor’s records are missing or were destroyed. The second is a family where more than one generation lost status at different times under different rules.
In both cases the order you file matters, and a weak first application can slow everything behind it.
Amir Ismail is a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant, RCIC #R412319. If you think you fall in the 1977 to 1981 window, or you have already been refused once, Book Your Strategy Assessment and we will map the evidence you need before you file.
Sources: IRCC briefing to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, October 2, 2025; Senate committee chronology on Lost Canadians, December 5, 2024; IRCC Minister transition binder on citizenship by descent, March 2025; Parliament of Canada LEGISinfo record for Bill C-3, 45th Parliament.
