Carney says new Canadians told to surrender citizenship documents deserve answers

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday people who were told to surrender their proof of citizenship deserve an explanation and he will “be following up to ensure they get that.”

Immigration Minister Lena Diab said Tuesday she ordered an investigation into citizenship claims related to Bill C-3 as soon as she became aware that “something” had happened to some files.

Her department has said “a few dozen” people who became citizens by descent under C-3 received emails earlier this month telling them to surrender their citizenship documents.

The department has not said exactly how many people were told to hand over their citizenship certificates.

“I have instructed the department the second I found out there was something, I wasn’t sure what it was, to investigate,” Diab said Tuesday when asked what prompted the emails.

During a wide-ranging press conference to mark the end of the parliamentary sitting in Ottawa on Thursday, Carney was asked whether people who were told to surrender their proof of citizenship deserve a timely explanation.

“The simple answer is yes and I’ll be following up to ensure they get that,” Carney said.

Bill C-3 allows anyone born before Dec. 15, 2025 with a provable link to a Canadian direct ancestor to make a citizenship claim.

The bill was passed after a December 2023 Ontario Superior Court ruling declared the old first-generation cutoff for citizenship by descent was unconstitutional. The Liberal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not appeal that ruling.

Diab said Tuesday the department is not finalizing any citizenship by descent claims related to C-3 expansion while the investigation takes place.

Nearly 4,100 successful citizenship claims related to this new law are now being reviewed, she said.

People who were told to surrender their citizenship proof and successfully applied for Canadian passports were also told to send back their travel documents, as they are no longer valid.

Affected people who moved to Canada after receiving citizenship proof are still able to work while their claims are reviewed.

The department has said it will give affected people an opportunity to provide more evidence to back their citizenship claims.

Some who were told to surrender their citizenship proof received followup emails last weekend reconfirming they are in fact Canadian citizens.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 25, 2026.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press