Citizenship certificate backlog leaves Canadians born abroad waiting up to 33 months

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) now faces a 33-month average processing time for citizenship certificates after a flood of applications triggered by Bill C-3, which allows anyone with a Canadian ancestor to apply. The department disclosed on Sept. 3 that 136,000 applications are pending, meaning children like Sofianne Sud, born abroad to Canadian parents, may not be able to enter Canada until they are three years old.

Families such as Pascal Sud’s in Montreal and Robert Woodrich’s, living in Switzerland, have been forced to seek visitor visas that are routinely denied because the children are considered Canadian and must travel on a Canadian passport. Immigration lawyer Christine Beltempo warned that the law’s uptake was predictable and has led to exponential processing delays. A spokesperson for Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab attributed the slowdown to overall application growth and pledged to train more staff and improve intake. Opposition figures, including Michelle Rempel Garner and Jenny Kwan, criticize the government for ignoring warnings and cutting IRCC resources, calling the backlog unacceptable.