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How to apply for Canadian citizenship by descent
Enter how many people in your family are applying and which relative was born in Canada: the tool totals the IRCC fees and the records to gather.
What will the proof of citizenship applications cost?
IRCC fees for the whole family
CA$75
| Certificates | 1 application × CA$75 |
| Birth records to show the line | 2 generations, you included, each with the parents named |
| Translations | None for US records in English |
| Apostilles | Not asked on the IRCC page |
Published processing time: not published for certificates on the pages read; a citizenship record search is shown at 19 months (October 21, 2026).
An application for Canadian citizenship by descent is, in almost every case, an application for a citizenship certificate. Since Bill C-3 took effect on December 15, 2025, a person born abroad before that date to a Canadian parent is in most cases a citizen by law, so there is nothing to grant: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada checks the family line and, if it holds, issues the certificate that proves it. The IRCC application page lets you apply online or on paper, but not both for the same person. You send proof of each parent-to-child link up to the relative born or naturalized in Canada, and proof that each Canadian in the line was a citizen. US records in English need no translation. The fee is CA$75 per person, child or adult, and each family member files a separate application. IRCC does not publish a certificate processing time in the data read on October 25, 2026.
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Which application you need
Most Americans who read about Bill C-3 expect to apply for citizenship. In fact, the reform made people born abroad before December 15, 2025 citizens by the effect of the law, as the IRCC page on the new rules explains. What you request is a citizenship certificate, the document Canada uses as proof of citizenship. It is the paper that lets you apply for a Canadian passport later. Other procedures exist for narrower cases. A child born abroad on or after the reform date whose parent born abroad has fewer than 1,095 days in Canada is not covered by the certificate route at all. A person who renounced Canadian citizenship and wants it back applies to resume it, for CA$530 as an adult. If you are not sure whether an ancestor was ever recorded as a citizen, a search of citizenship records costs CA$75.
Online or on paper
The proof of citizenship page offers two channels, and an applicant chooses one. Online, you answer the questions and upload your records as clear color copies. On paper, you download the application package, which holds the instruction guide, the forms and a checklist, and mail the file with clear color copies of your records. Fill in the forms in the name shown on your birth record, and explain any change of name with a marriage record or court order.
The records that prove the line
IRCC wants to see a chain without gaps. For each generation, a birth certificate that names the parents shows the link. For the person born in Canada, a provincial or territorial birth certificate shows the starting point; for someone naturalized in Canada, a citizenship certificate or naturalization record does the same. Records must come from the authority that issued them: a long-form certified copy from a US state vital records office is the safe choice, and the document checklist explains how to order one. Records in English or French are sent as they are. Anything in another language needs a full translation and a sworn statement from the translator, and a family member cannot do it, even a fluent one. The page read on October 25, 2026 does not ask for apostilles on US documents.
A short list for a typical American file through a grandparent born in Manitoba:
| Person | Record | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Grandparent | Manitoba birth certificate | Shows birth in Canada |
| Parent | US long-form birth certificate | Names the Canadian grandparent |
| You | US long-form birth certificate | Names your parent |
| Anyone whose name changed | Marriage record or court order | Links the names |
Fees and what they cover
The IRCC fee list sets the certificate at CA$75, and there is no family rate: a parent and three children pay four fees. The fee does not include the cost of US records, courier or a later passport. The tool at the top of the page gives the IRCC total for your family, and the cost calculator adds the US records.
How long it takes
IRCC estimates processing times through an online tool. In the data behind that tool, certificates are not published for certificates on the pages read; a citizenship record search is shown at 19 months (October 21, 2026). Plan for months rather than weeks, and do not book travel that depends on a Canadian passport before the certificate arrives. If your family line goes back three generations or more, the great-grandparent page explains what IRCC looks at, and the main Canada page covers who qualifies.