Americans account – Americans made up nearly half of new Canadian citizenship approvals under Bill C-3’s expanded citizenship-by-descent rules, with 4,075 total approvals from Dec. 15, 2025 to Mar. 31, 2026. The figures reflect a sharp rise in second-passport interest and “Plan B
For a growing number of Americans, the decision to apply for Canadian citizenship isn’t just about ancestry. It’s also about control—having a document in hand before the future feels less predictable.
Between December 15. 2025 and March 31. 2026. Immigration. Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) granted Canadian citizenship to 4. 075 people under the citizenship-by-descent provisions in Bill C-3. Americans were the biggest group. accounting for nearly half of the new approvals—4. 075 approvals worldwide. with 1. 955 going to applicants who could trace their lineage to Canadian ancestors.
The numbers arrive with a kind of urgency. They reflect a shift in eligibility that Canada made after the Supreme Court ruled restrictions on citizenship-by-descent eligibility unconstitutional. Before Bill C-3, citizenship by descent was generally limited to the first generation born outside Canada. After the ruling, Canada expanded eligibility, allowing many descendants of Canadians previously excluded from citizenship to apply.
What follows is a surge. Of the applications approved in the first three months of the year. the vast majority of the American approvals—1. 955—were tied to people able to prove citizenship-by-descent through Canadian ancestors. Approvals for proof of citizenship-by-descent were up by more than 1. 000 per month overall this year. compared with 275 additional approvals in December 2025. before the new provisions came into effect.
No other nationality came close. Mexico ranked second with 900 approvals, followed by Bolivia with 195 and the United Kingdom with 140.
The expanded rules also changed the way IRCC’s broader citizenship work looked during the same period. Between December 15, 2025 and March 31, 2026, IRCC approved citizenship certificates for 13,310 people under the previous first-generation rules. Those included 6,135 people born in the U.S., 945 born in Mexico, and 720 born in the U.K.
The rush among Americans has been driven by two tracks that often run together: identity and uncertainty. For some, the documents are a direct tie to family history. “The documents themselves tell this story of your line of descent,” Bryan V., a Michigan resident, previously told Newsweek. “It is as much a journey of your past and where you came from and everybody before you as it is about tracking down documents.”.
For others, citizenship papers function like insurance.
Laurel. who preferred to keep her last name anonymous. told Newsweek that they were applying for a Canadian citizenship certificate so that their transgender daughter could have a passport that reflects her gender. The goal was simple and practical: make sure their family has options that fit who their daughter is.
That same practical logic—preparing for a less hospitable future—also appears in the way people describe “Plan B” planning for the United States. The surge in Canadian citizenship interest mirrors a wider trend of Americans exploring life abroad, as wealthier U.S. nationals increasingly pursue second residencies and “golden visas” to diversify their options amid political and economic uncertainty.
Public polling has suggested how widespread the restlessness has become. A November Gallup survey found that 1 in 5 Americans would have liked to emigrate in 2024, including 40 percent of women aged 15 to 44—a 400 percent increase on a similar poll taken 10 years earlier.
Online, that desire has found a home in communities like the “AmerExit” subreddit, which counts over 200,000 members. Posts include users asking for advice on leaving the U.S., sharing steps they’ve taken, and describing moves abroad.
Some Americans who said they have already left described doing so because they were escaping an antagonistic administration. Others said they fled gun violence and the threat of more-frequent. more-severe wildfires in the U.S. and then settled into what they described as a safer. more-relaxed lifestyle in Europe.
Taken together, the Canadian approval figures under Bill C-3 show how quickly a legal change can become a personal strategy. With Americans already accounting for nearly half of approvals issued under the expanded citizenship-by-descent rules. immigration experts expect demand for Canadian citizenship certificates to remain elevated throughout 2026 and beyond.
Canada citizenship by descent Bill C-3 dual citizenship second passport Americans abroad IRCC Supreme Court ruling AmerExit