An Act to amend the Citizenship Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts (S.C. 2014, c. 22)
Full Document:
Assented to 2014-06-19
5. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 5.1:
Marginal note:Citizenship by way of grant under section 5.1 — grandchild of person in service abroad
5.2 A person born outside Canada who was adopted by a parent referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) and who is either a citizen under prior legislation or the former Act — other than under any provision referred to in any of subparagraphs 3(3)(b)(i) to (viii) — or was granted citizenship under paragraph 5(2)(a) of this Act, as it read before April 17, 2009, or under subsection 5(1), (2), or (4) or 11(1) of this Act is deemed, as of the coming into force of this section, to have been granted citizenship under section 5.1:
(a) a parent one or both of whose parents, at the time of that parent’s birth, were employed outside Canada in or with the Canadian Armed Forces, the federal public administration or the public service of a province, otherwise than as a locally engaged person; or
(b) a parent one or both of whose adoptive parents, at the time of that parent’s adoption, were employed outside Canada in or with the Canadian Armed Forces, the federal public administration or the public service of a province, otherwise than as a locally engaged person.
Marginal note:2008, c. 14, s. 5
6. Section 7 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:No loss except as provided
7. A person who is a citizen shall not cease to be a citizen except in accordance with this Part or regulations made under paragraph 27(1)(j.1).
7. (1) The portion of subsection 9(1) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Renunciation of citizenship
9. (1) Subject to subsection (2.1), a citizen may, on application, renounce his citizenship if he
(2) Section 9 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):
Marginal note:Exception
(2.1) No application for renunciation may be made if the Minister has provided the applicant with a notice referred to in subsection 10(3) or has commenced an action under subsection 10.1(1) or (2) for a declaration in respect of the applicant until the Minister provides the applicant with his or her decision under subsection 10(5) or a final judgment has been rendered in that action, as the case may be.
Marginal note:Processing of application suspended
(2.2) If an application for renunciation is made and the Minister subsequently provides the applicant with a notice referred to in subsection 10(3) or commences an action under subsection 10.1(1) or (2) for a declaration in respect of the applicant, the processing of that application is suspended until the Minister provides the applicant with his or her decision under subsection 10(5) or a final judgment has been rendered in that action, as the case may be.
(3) Subsection 9(3) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Certificate of renunciation
(3) If an application under subsection (1) is approved by the Minister, the Minister shall issue a certificate of renunciation to the applicant and the applicant ceases to be a citizen after the expiration of the day on which the certificate is issued or any later day that the certificate may specify.
8. Section 10 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Revocation by Minister — fraud, false representation, etc.
10. (1) Subject to subsection 10.1(1), the Minister may revoke a person’s citizenship or renunciation of citizenship if the Minister is satisfied on a balance of probabilities that the person has obtained, retained, renounced or resumed his or her citizenship by false representation or fraud or by knowingly concealing material circumstances.
Marginal note:Revocation by Minister — convictions relating to national security
(2) The Minister may revoke a person’s citizenship if the person, before or after the coming into force of this subsection and while the person was a citizen,
(a) was convicted under section 47 of the Criminal Code of treason and sentenced to imprisonment for life or was convicted of high treason under that section;
(b) was convicted of a terrorism offence as defined in section 2 of the Criminal Code — or an offence outside Canada that, if committed in Canada, would constitute a terrorism offence as defined in that section — and sentenced to at least five years of imprisonment;
(c) was convicted of an offence under any of sections 73 to 76 of the National Defence Act and sentenced to imprisonment for life because the person acted traitorously;
(d) was convicted of an offence under section 78 of the National Defence Act and sentenced to imprisonment for life;
(e) was convicted of an offence under section 130 of the National Defence Act in respect of an act or omission that is punishable under section 47 of the Criminal Code and sentenced to imprisonment for life;
(f) was convicted under the National Defence Act of a terrorism offence as defined in subsection 2(1) of that Act and sentenced to at least five years of imprisonment;
(g) was convicted of an offence described in section 16 or 17 of the Security of Information Act and sentenced to imprisonment for life; or
(h) was convicted of an offence under section 130 of the National Defence Act in respect of an act or omission that is punishable under section 16 or 17 of the Security of Information Act and sentenced to imprisonment for life.
Marginal note:Notice
(3) Before revoking a person’s citizenship or renunciation of citizenship, the Minister shall provide the person with a written notice that specifies
(a) the person’s right to make written representations;
(b) the period within which the person may make his or her representations and the form and manner in which they must be made; and
(c) the grounds on which the Minister is relying to make his or her decision.
Marginal note:Hearing
(4) A hearing may be held if the Minister, on the basis of prescribed factors, is of the opinion that a hearing is required.
Marginal note:Notice of decision
(5) The Minister shall provide his or her decision to the person in writing.
Marginal note:Revocation for fraud — declaration of Court
10.1 (1) If the Minister has reasonable grounds to believe that a person obtained, retained, renounced or resumed his or her citizenship by false representation or fraud or by knowingly concealing material circumstances, with respect to a fact described in section 34, 35 or 37 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act other than a fact that is also described in paragraph 36(1)(a) or (b) or (2)(a) or (b) of that Act, the person’s citizenship or renunciation of citizenship may be revoked only if the Minister seeks a declaration, in an action that the Minister commences, that the person has obtained, retained, renounced or resumed his or her citizenship by false representation or fraud or by knowingly concealing material circumstances and the Court makes such a declaration.
Marginal note:Revocation for engaging in armed conflict with Canada — declaration of Court
(2) If the Minister has reasonable grounds to believe that a person, before or after the coming into force of this subsection and while the person was a citizen, served as a member of an armed force of a country or as a member of an organized armed group and that country or group was engaged in an armed conflict with Canada, the person’s citizenship may be revoked only if the Minister — after giving notice to the person — seeks a declaration, in an action that the Minister commences, that the person so served, before or after the coming into force of this subsection and while they were a citizen, and the Court makes such a declaration.
Marginal note:Effect of declaration
(3) Each of the following has the effect of revoking a person’s citizenship or renunciation of citizenship:
(a) a declaration made under subsection (1);
(b) a declaration made under subsection (2).
Marginal note:Proof
(4) For the purposes of subsection (1), the Minister need prove only that the person has obtained, retained, renounced or resumed his or her citizenship by false representation or fraud or by knowingly concealing material circumstances.
Marginal note:Presumption
10.2 For the purposes of subsections 10(1) and 10.1(1), a person has obtained or resumed his or her citizenship by false representation or fraud or by knowingly concealing material circumstances if the person became a permanent resident, within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, by false representation or fraud or by knowingly concealing material circumstances and, because of having acquired that status, the person subsequently obtained or resumed citizenship.
Marginal note:Effect of revocation
10.3 A person whose citizenship is revoked under subsection 10(2) or paragraph 10.1(3)(b) becomes a foreign national within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
Marginal note:Restriction
10.4 (1) Subsections 10(2) and 10.1(2) do not operate so as to authorize any decision, action or declaration that conflicts with any international human rights instrument regarding statelessness to which Canada is signatory.
Marginal note:Burden of proof
(2) If an instrument referred to in subsection (1) prohibits the deprivation of citizenship that would render a person stateless, a person who claims that subsection 10(2) or 10.1(2) would operate in the manner described in subsection (1) must prove, on a balance of probabilities, that the person is not a citizen of any country of which the Minister has reasonable grounds to believe the person is a citizen.
Marginal note:Inadmissibility
10.5 (1) On the request of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, the Minister shall, in the originating document that commences an action under subsection 10.1(1), seek a declaration that the person who is the subject of the action is inadmissible on security grounds, on grounds of violating human or international rights or on grounds of organized criminality under, respectively, subsection 34(1), paragraph 35(1)(a) or (b) or subsection 37(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
Marginal note:Party
(2) When a declaration is sought under subsection (1), the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness becomes a party to the action commenced under subsection 10.1(1).
Marginal note:Removal order
(3) A declaration that the person is inadmissible on one of the grounds referred to in subsection (1) is a removal order against the person under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act that comes into force when it is made, without the necessity of holding or continuing an examination or an admissibility hearing under that Act. The removal order is a deportation order as provided for in regulations made under that Act.
Marginal note:Procedure
(4) If a declaration is sought under subsection (1), the Court shall first hear and decide all matters related to the declaration sought under subsection 10.1(1). If the Court denies the declaration sought under subsection 10.1(1), it shall also deny the declaration sought under subsection (1).
Marginal note:Evidence
(5) If a declaration sought under subsection (1) is not denied under subsection (4), the Court
(a) shall assess the facts — whether acts or omissions — alleged in support of the declaration on the basis of reasonable grounds to believe that they have occurred, are occurring or may occur;
(b) shall take into account the evidence already admitted by it and consider as conclusive any finding of fact already made by it in support of the declaration sought under subsection 10.1(1); and
(c) with respect to any additional evidence, is not bound by any legal or technical rules of evidence and may receive and base its decision on any evidence adduced in the proceedings that it considers credible or trustworthy in the circumstances.
Marginal note:Single judgment
(6) The Court shall issue a single judgment in respect of the declarations sought under subsections (1) and 10.1(1).
Marginal note:No appeal from interlocutory judgment
10.6 Despite paragraph 27(1)(c) of the Federal Courts Act, no appeal may be made from an interlocutory judgment made with respect to a declaration referred to in subsection 10.1(1) or (2) or 10.5(1).
Marginal note:No appeal unless question stated
10.7 An appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal may be made from a judgment under section 10.1 or 10.5 only if, in rendering judgment, the judge certifies that a serious question of general importance is involved and states the question.
- Date modified: