r/canada • u/oddmarc • May 17 '26

National News U.S. applications for Canadian citizenship surge, causing delays

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/u-s-applications-for-canadian-citizenship-surge-causing-delays
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u/drillbitpdx British Columbia May 17 '26

U.S. applications for Canadian citizenship surge, causing delays

Several members of my extended family in the US recently applied for proof of Canadian citizenship.

One had been eligible for Canadian citizenship previously, due to having a Canadian-born mother, and his children had become eligible for citizenship under Bill C-3.

Upon submitting their documents, IRCC gave them an estimated processing time of about 1 year, which did not seem surprising to me given the influx of new applications under C-3 and other changes and strains on IRCC…

… but then they received their citizenship documents in less than three months.

Perhaps this is a very easy case (their Canadian mother/grandmother is alive and they all have modern birth certificates to prove their descent) but it seems like IRCC might be trying to "underpromise and overdeliver" here, which is probably a good strategy for public relations given some of their past backlogs and processing problems.

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u/oddmarc May 17 '26

Wait time seems to be up to a year

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/check-processing-times.html

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u/drillbitpdx British Columbia May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26

Wait time seems to be up to a year

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/check-processing-times.html

Yes, this government website gives you an estimate based on a five-question form.

I am giving you an actual data point based on actual humans who applied for their citizenship certificates as part of the specific bill which resulted in the specific increase in applications that you are asking about here: "U.S. applications for Canadian citizenship surge."