Cody Sibley was born and raised in Louisiana, however he at all times felt his household shared robust ties to Canada because of his Acadian ancestors from Nova Scotia.
Sibley mentioned that as an eighth-generation descendant of Acadians, his household’s roots could possibly be traced again to “technology zero,” Agathe Doucet, who was baptized on Jan. 19, 1710, in Nova Scotia.
He mentioned Doucet married to Pierre Pitre in 1727, however the couple’s lives had been turned the wrong way up in 1755 when British troopers arrived at their doorways and ordered their expulsion; like many Acadians, they ended up in Louisiana, the place the neighborhood went on to turn out to be often called Cajuns.
Sibley is now amongst a surge of Individuals combing via genealogical data within the hopes of discovering a Canadian ancestor — some, like Sibley’s, courting again lots of of years, lengthy earlier than Canada formally existed. They plan to make use of the knowledge to assert Canadian citizenship, beneath not too long ago launched authorized adjustments that take away the so-called “first-generation restrict” on citizenship for folks born or adopted outdoors Canada to a Canadian citizen.
As phrase of the adjustments unfold, doc requests from would-be residents have swamped archives throughout Canada.
The idea being pursued by the wave of would-be Canadians is that the adjustments to the Citizenship Act, often called Invoice C-3, that took impact in December imply citizenship was handed down mechanically via generations of descendants subsequently born outdoors Canada.
“I’m not solely certain how nearly all of Canadians really feel about this. However I believe it’s a extremely fascinating factor that the Canadian Parliament did,” mentioned Sibley, who now lives in Portland, Ore., and has been looking via beginning certificates, baptism data, and family tree websites to show an unbroken chain of Canadian ancestors.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada spokesman Matthew Krupovich cautioned that whereas the current adjustments prolong entry to Canadian citizenship by descent, having “distant Canadian ancestry alone doesn’t make somebody mechanically eligible.”
However the claimants’ hopes are supported by some immigration legal professionals and consultants.
British Columbia immigration lawyer Amandeep Hayer mentioned that after the Canadian Citizenship Act got here into impact on Jan. 1, 1947, anyone born in Canada earlier than or after then — alive or lifeless — grew to become Canadian.
What number of generations might somebody with Canadian ancestors return to assert citizenship beneath the current adjustments to the act? Hayer mentioned the reply is “limitless in the meanwhile,” so long as they’ve paperwork proving an unbroken chain of descent to the unique Canadian ancestor.
“I even have someone whose ancestor was an aide to one of many Fathers of Confederation get accredited. So, that offers you an thought of how far again we’re going,” mentioned Hayer.
Hayer mentioned descendants of the Acadians are additionally amongst those that will profit from the legislation — so long as they’ve paperwork to show their claims.
Toronto-based immigration advisor Rod Chalmers agreed, saying that as “loopy” as it could appear, there isn’t any authorized cutoff on the variety of generations so long as somebody can show an “uninterrupted authorized chain.”
Due to this fact, “we most likely have tens of millions of Individuals who are actually Canadians who don’t even comprehend it,” mentioned Chalmers.
Archivists throughout Canada say their once-quiet domains are actually overwhelmed with requests from the U.S. following the Citizenship Act adjustments.
Claire-Hélène Lengellé, director of communications for Quebec’s provincial library and archives, mentioned they’re experiencing “an distinctive quantity” of requests as U.S. residents with Quebec‑born ancestors search licensed copies of significant data.
Lengellé mentioned in April alone, they obtained round 1,700 requests — greater than 12 occasions larger than the 56 requests on the similar time final 12 months.
“We can not predict how lengthy this unprecedented surge in requests will final, however all requests might be processed,” mentioned Lengellé.
Provincial archivist of New Brunswick, Joanna Aiton Kerr, mentioned archivists observed the surge start in December.
Aiton Kerr mentioned they initially had no thought what had triggered it, earlier than they realized it was linked to the legislation change.
“Usually, we might have about 100, 150 requests for any kind of genealogical analysis in the midst of a month. However now we’re getting about 300 to 400 a month, and we’re assured that they’re immediately associated to U.S. residents looking for documentation that they want for citizenship,” mentioned Aiton Kerr.
Aiton Kerr mentioned they now have 1,700 requests in backlog.
“It will be great if we had further employees and sources to assist us, nevertheless it’s not attainable on this present fiscal setting,” mentioned Aiton Kerr. “So, persistence, persistence. We recognize it very a lot,” she added.
‘IT’S NOT A JOKE TO US’
On-line family tree teams have been flooded with tales of individuals looking for and discovering Canadian ancestry — and, they hope, their very own Canadian citizenship.
When The Canadian Press reached out to a social media group for citizenship claimants, dozens responded.
There was Stephen Redmond, from Tennessee, who claims a Canadian ancestor who was a pivotal determine in New France; Jeffrey Lensman, from Salt Lake Metropolis, whose great-great-grandfather was born in Quebec in 1838, however ventured west to seek for gold and ended up in Montana; and San Francisco Bay-area resident Leah Larkin who mentioned that as a Cajun who grew up in southern Louisiana, the implementation of Invoice C-3 might restore a number of the dignity stripped from her ancestors.
“I tear up generally on the thought that I can in some way restore my Acadian ancestors again to their homelands,” mentioned Larkin.
“Even when I by no means transfer to Canada, I’ll have restored what’s only a actually highly effective connection to a spot the place we had been dispersed from within the 1700s,” mentioned Larkin.
Redmond, 38, lives in McEwen, about an hour’s drive from Nashville, Tenn., and has by no means set foot in Canada. He mentioned his five-times great-grandfather was French-Canadian fur-trader Jacques Timothé Boucher, who moved from New France and have become lieutenant-governor of the Illinois Territory, earlier than transferring to Nashville the place he is named the “first citizen.”
However Redmond traces his Canadian heritage additional again, to his eight-times great-grandfather Pierre Boucher, founding father of Boucherville, Que.
“It sort of jogs my memory of ‘The Princess Diaries,’ the place Mia (performed by Anne Hathaway) had no thought who she was after which discovered her historical past was vital. I’ll not get her fairy story ending, however I’m grateful to know the place I got here from,” mentioned Redmond.
Not the entire would-be beneficiaries of the current legislation adjustments date their Canadian histories again thus far.
Mariam Watson from Indianapolis, Ind., mentioned her grandmother, Asako Uyeda, was born in New Westminster, B.C., in 1921 to Japanese immigrant mother and father.
Watson mentioned Uyeda, who attended the College of B.C., “self-deported” to Japan someday after 1942, with Watson guessing it was attributable to anti-Japanese sentiment amid the Second World Warfare.
Uyeda later met an American army officer in Japan, and so they settled down in the USA. However Watson mentioned her grandmother at all times talked about eager to return to Canada, which she referred to as house.
“She by no means forgot it. It was very particular to her,” Watson mentioned.
Along with the legislation adjustments, a number of claimants cited the political ambiance in the USA for looking for Canadian citizenship.
Sibley mentioned he thought it could be “good to have another exit technique” within the type of Canadian citizenship amid the present political local weather.
Lensman mentioned he needed Canadian citizenship not solely to honour his household background but additionally as a result of he was “feeling more and more unsafe the place I’m in Utah, a really Conservative state.”
In Pittsburgh, Pa., Maria Dutilly mentioned her great-grandmother, migrated to the U.S. from Mont-Joli, Que., in 1903, a part of the “Nice Hemorrhage” when virtually 1,000,000 French Canadians fled their hometowns for the U.S.
She mentioned one of many driving forces behind her citizenship software was “who’s within the White Home presently.”
She mentioned many Individuals are involved about their security beneath the administration of President Donald Trump, however turning into a Canadian citizen provides her an alternative choice.
“I need to guarantee Canadians that a variety of Individuals, we’re doing this out of the utmost respect, and we’re so appreciative of the IRCC for doing this. It’s not a joke to us, and we’ll alter, we’ll adapt, we’ll love maple syrup,” mentioned Dutilly.
‘I LOVE OUR PRIME MINISTER’
Whether or not the claimants qualify as Canadian residents will not be a easy matter.
Krupovich mentioned every software could be reviewed on a “case-by-case” foundation, and set up that every ancestor on which the declare relied “grew to become, or would have turn out to be, a Canadian citizen beneath Canadian citizenship laws.”
“Candidates should present paperwork proving each that their parental ancestor was Canadian and that they’re immediately associated via every technology,” mentioned Krupovich.
These paperwork embrace beginning certificates, citizenship or naturalization certificates, or different official data, whereas documentation from on-line family tree web sites “can’t be used by itself to show a declare to citizenship.”
The legislation change got here in response to a 2023 ruling in Ontario Superior Court docket that declared the first-generation restrict to citizenship by descent was unconstitutional. The federal authorities didn’t attraction the choice, and amended the Citizenship Act in response.
Proving Canadian ancestry can contain digging via light paperwork, and frequent lifeless ends and roadblocks. Descendants of the Acadians have been challenged by the destruction of paperwork within the torching of church buildings within the 1700s.
Sibley mentioned he was pursuing Catholic baptismal data, a course of that would take 4 months, however which he discovered “weirdly enjoyable in a means.”
Lensman mentioned when his grandfather was born in Montana in 1902, his beginning was unrecorded besides by the baptismal document of his childhood church.
“The document was in Latin, however I might nonetheless acknowledge the main points. For my software, I needed to rent an IRCC-approved translator to supply the English translation,” mentioned Lensman.
Immigration advisor Chalmers mentioned the pursuit was interesting to a very good puzzle solver.
“I’m certain there are folks up until 3:30 within the morning on Ancestry … and these different websites, simply yawning, nevertheless it’s so thrilling,” mentioned Chalmers, “Since you’re discovering out about you. What’s extra thrilling than you?”
Hayer mentioned his agency was getting 15 to 30 calls a day from Individuals exhibiting curiosity within the Invoice C-3.
“I’ll be blunt, this has been my most profitable 12 months thus far, and it simply appears to be rising in the meanwhile,” mentioned Hayer.
Alaska Airways flight attendant Nicolas Volant mentioned he discovered about his probably qualification for Canadian citizenship in a telephone name along with his sister in February.
“She was, ‘Hey, did you simply see this new Canadian legislation?’ We’re Canadians,’” mentioned Volante.
Their grandmother was born in 1904 in Coaticook, Que., and in her late teenagers, she moved to Easthampton, Mass.
“I bear in mind her going again house, all of her household, her mother and father, and her brothers and sisters are all buried in Canada, and he or she by no means grew to become an American citizen,” mentioned Volante.
He mentioned he plans to submit his software for a citizenship certificates by the tip of the month, and he and his siblings had been “ecstatic” on the probability to be Canadians.
He mentioned he is able to transfer to Canada as quickly as his software is accredited.
“I imply, this simply feels deeply acknowledging, and I really like our prime minister (Mark Carney), and I name him my prime minister,” mentioned Volante.
Larkin, in the meantime, says she’ll be blissful merely to be accepted as a Canadian.
“For the Canadian folks, I’m actually grateful that you’ve got gone again in time and accepted us, accepted the Acadians as a part of your tradition, your tribe,” mentioned Larkin.
“Even when I by no means transfer there, I’ll simply be proud to be Canadian.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Could 19, 2026.
Nono Shen, The Canadian Press
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