Canada has made obtaining citizenship via family history easier than ever. As of December, Canada quietly expanded citizenship by descent eligibility beyond the first generation. According to Travel + Leisure, the change is timely as many Americans are looking to obtain second passports and citizenship in other countries as the Trump Administration continues promulgating an alt-right agenda.
“There’s no limit on how many generations you can go back, as long as you can prove it,” Canadian immigration consultant Cassandra Fultz told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
In order to prove citizenship by descent, applicants must submit birth or baptismal certificates and marriage certificates to the Canadian government. Descent is not the only way to get citizenship in Canada. T+L reports that people from other countries can also obtain citizenship by being permanent residents in Canada for three out of five years. They also must show proof of filing necessary income taxes in Canada, and speaking English or French, as per the government’s website. You must also pass a citizenship test and take an oath of citizenship. CBC reports thousands of Americans are now looking to complete this process.
Archivist Sarah Hanahem at the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BanQ) office in Montreal said inquiries for records have increases substantially this year. “In January 2025, we had 32 requests for certified copies of vital records and this year in January 2026, we’ve had over 1,000,” she told CBC. Most of these requests were made by Americans.
The Canadian passport is currently ranked as the 7th most powerful in the world by T+L, tying with Australia, Czechia, Latvia, New Zealand, Slovakia, and Slovenia, and offering visa-free access to over 182 destinations.
