Citizenship Revocation
Termination or revocation of Citizenship
This section encompasses the protocols, processes, and guidelines employed by officials at IRCC. It’s displayed on the department’s website as a gesture to stakeholders.
The capacity to cancel an individual’s citizenship based on false information has been a part of citizenship legislation since the inception of the Canadian Citizenship Act in 1947. This tool is vital for safeguarding the legitimacy of Canadian citizenship.
On June 19, 2017, Bill C-6, titled An Act to Amend the Citizenship Act and to Implement Consequential Amendments to Another Act, attained Royal Assent, amending the provisions concerning citizenship revocation.
Subsection 10(1) of the Citizenship Act empowers the Minister to rescind an individual’s Canadian citizenship or their renunciation of citizenship if it was secured, maintained, forsaken, or reinstated through any of the following means:
- misleading representation
- fraud
- conscious concealment of crucial details
Following the amendments made by Bill C-6, the Federal Court has now assumed the role of decision maker in cases of citizenship revocation, unless the individual under revocation prefers the Minister to preside. This is applicable to all revocation cases, including those tied to security, violations of human or international rights, or organized criminal behavior.
Refer to the Procedure for Canceling Canadian Citizenship for insights on the handling of revocation cases.
Can My Citizenship Be Annulled?
Canadian citizenship may be revoked if you hold dual citizenship (possess at least one other citizenship) and won’t be left stateless upon the annulment of your Canadian citizenship.
Canadian citizenship can solely be revoked for convictions related to immigration or terrorism-related offenses.
Revocation of Canadian Citizenship
Since March 28, 2015, the possibility to revoke Canadian citizenship due to immigration fraud and terrorism-related charges was established. Before this date, revoking citizenship was exceedingly intricate.
However, in 2017, the citizenship law underwent another revision. If the government seeks to revoke your citizenship, you have the option to have your case managed by the courts instead of IRCC.
Cancellation of Canadian Citizenship Due to Immigration or Citizenship Deception
Under current legislation, your Canadian citizenship could be voided due to false statements or deliberate withholding of information on your citizenship application, or for engaging in other forms of citizenship or immigration deceit.
Cancellation of Canadian Citizenship Due to Misrepresentation on Citizenship Application
When completing your citizenship application, honesty is paramount. Deliberately altering personal information, life details, or circumstances, or intentionally excluding such information from your application, may lead to prosecution for citizenship fraud. In such cases, omissions are often treated as equivalent to falsehoods.
If you are lawfully prosecuted for citizenship fraud and convicted of violating the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, your Canadian citizenship could be revoked.
Note that this is a protracted process:
- investigation into your situation
- decision to proceed with prosecution
- prosecution process
- verdict
- cancellation of citizenship
- issuance of departure or deportation orders.
It’s likely to take years for this process to conclude, and with legal representation (which can be costly), there may be numerous opportunities to appeal decisions throughout the journey. Thus, being caught lying or withholding information on your citizenship application doesn’t guarantee immediate loss of citizenship. Nonetheless, eventual loss is probable. DO NOT PROVIDE FALSE INFORMATION ON YOUR CITIZENSHIP APPLICATION.
Other Reasons for Immigration Fraud Leading to Cancellation of Canadian Citizenship
Canada considers immigration fraud to be any deliberate deception or omission of information during applications for entry to Canada, temporary residency, permanent residency, or citizenship.
If caught lying or withholding information at any phase of your immigration to Canada and are successfully prosecuted for this offense, you might forfeit your citizenship (if you became a Canadian citizen after deceiving on your application or misrepresenting yourself, but before being caught).
Cancellation of Canadian Citizenship Due to Terrorism or Treason
Your Canadian citizenship might also be revoked if you are convicted of any of these offenses:
- terrorism
- high treason
- offenses linked to espionage (the severity depends on the type of sentence imposed)
or if you serve in the armed forces of a foreign country currently engaged in an “armed conflict” with Canada (note that the law does not specify “war”).
Here are definitions to help comprehend these vague terms:
‘Terrorism’ implies “an action or omission done “in whole or in part for a political, religious, or ideological purpose, objective, or cause” intended to intimidate the public or compel an individual, government, or organization to act or abstain from acting, if the action or omission intentionally results in specified severe harm. Specified harms encompass causing death or significant bodily injury, endangering life, creating a serious risk to health or safety, causing significant property damage accompanied by one of the aforementioned harms, and, under specific circumstances, causing considerable interference or disruption to an essential public or private service, facility, or system.”
- ‘High Treason’ signifies “Every person commits high treason who, in Canada,
kills or attempts to kill Her Majesty, or inflicts any bodily injury on her leading to death or destruction, cripples or injures her, or confines or restricts her;
launches an act of war against Canada or prepares for such an act; or
assists an adversary at war with Canada, or any armed forces against which Canadian Forces are engaged in hostilities, whether or not a state of war exists between Canada and the nation whose forces they are.”
- ‘Treason’ means “Every person commits treason who, in Canada,
employs force or violence with the intent of overthrowing the government of Canada or a province;
communicates or provides access, without legal authority, to a foreign state’s agent other than Canada, military or scientific information or any draft, blueprint, model, article, note, or document of a military or scientific nature that they know or should know could be utilized by that state to the detriment of Canada’s safety or defense;
conspires with any individual to commit high treason or to engage in any activity mentioned in paragraph (a);
forms an intention to participate in any activity amounting to high treason or noted in paragraph (a) and displays that intent through an overt act; or
conspires with any individual to engage in any activity mentioned in paragraph (b) or forms an intention to engage in any activity noted in paragraph (b) and demonstrates that intent through an overt act.”
- ‘Spying offense’ refers to espionage against the Canadian government for another sovereign government.
First, you must be convicted of any of these offenses; only then can your citizenship be revoked. Similar to immigration fraud, the procedure for revoking citizenship is lengthy, as there is an appeal process your lawyer can utilize to contest the decision and advocate for retaining your citizenship.