I have received several questions about whether Jason Kenney is breaking international law by revoking peoples’ Canadian citizenship. Specifically, many readers want to know whether international legal norms permit a country to render someone stateless. For those who are not familiar with the term “statelessness,” it refers to individuals who are not a citizen of… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Citizenship
Understanding the Citizenship Revocation Process
Between 1977 and 2010 only 63 people had their citizenship revoked. In July, 2011, Jason Kenney, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (“Minister Kenney“), announced that as many as 1,800 Canadians could be stripped of their citizenship because they obtained their citizenship fraudulently. The 1,800 individuals were identified following a three-year investigation by the RCMP, other… Continue Reading
Changes to Language Requirements
New Language Requirements for Citizenship and PNP Applications Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) has introduced new language requirements for citizenship applications and certain provincial nominee applications. For citizenship applications, the changes will introduce objective language requirements for most applicantions. For certain provincial nominee program (“PNP”) applications, the changes will introduce mandatory language testing. The Citizenship… Continue Reading
Wilfred Laurier on Immigration [Updated - Correction]
The above picture of Wilfred Laurier, a former Prime Minister of Canada and member of the Liberal Party of Canada, is currently making the rounds on the internet accompanied by his famous passage: In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes a Canadian and assimilates… Continue Reading
CIC Bans People from Wearing the Veil During Citizenship Oaths
Citizenship and Immigration Canada has released Operational Bulletin 359 - Requirements for candidates to be seen taking the Oath of Citizenship at a ceremony and procedures for candidates with full or partial face coverings. The OB has received much media publicity. Pursuant to it, all citizenship candidates will be informed that they will be required to… Continue Reading
Proposed Citizenship Language Requirements
On October 15, 2011, the Canadian government published a notice in the Gazette proposing amendments to the language requirements to obtaining Canadian citizenship. The Citizenship Act requires that applicants for an adult grant of Canadian citizenship demonstrate that they have an “adequate knowledge” of either English or French. Currently, language requirements are largely assessed through… Continue Reading
When a Law Contradicts Itself
As much as we know that the people who write our laws are perfect, they can sometimes write things that seem contradictory. For example, s. 5(4) of the Citizenship Act states that: Special cases (4) In order to alleviate cases of special and unusual hardship or to reward services of an exceptional value to Canada, and… Continue Reading
The Conservative Party of Canada and Stripping People of Citizenship
The governing Conservative Party of Canada is having their convention from June 9-11. One of the measures that the party will be debating is whether to adopt as official party a policy that would strip people of their citizenship if they take up arms against the Canadian Armed Forces or its allies. The proposal reads:… Continue Reading