Ottawa, Canada

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In response to a court decision declaring that a "first-generation limit" in the statute was unconstitutional, Canada intends to reinstate the ability of citizens born abroad to transfer their citizenship to offspring who were born outside the nation.

After an Ontario court declared in December that the limit was unconstitutional, the federal government announced plans to modify the Citizenship Act, eliminating a "second-generation cut-off" imposed by the previous administration.

The immigration minister, Marc Miller, told reporters on Thursday, “We wanted to take this opportunity to continue to minimise differential outcomes as much as possible for children born abroad … compared to children born to Canadians [in Canada]. Not everyone is entitled to [citizenship], but for those who are, it needs to be fair."

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Stephen Harper's previous Conservative government restricted citizenship by descent to one generation in 2009 in response to criticism over the $85 million that was used to evacuate 15,000 Canadian citizens from Lebanon during the short-lived war with Israel in 2006. The Conservatives referred to these dual nationals as "Canadians of convenience."

Since that time, foreign-born Canadian citizens have been unable to transfer their citizenship to any offspring born outside of Canada, leading opponents to contend that this amounted to a two-tiered system of citizenship and to refer to the situation as a generation of "lost Canadians."

According to the proposed law, a person who was born outside of Canada may still transfer their citizenship provided they can prove they have a strong connection to the nation and have lived there for at least three years.

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The "substantial connection" phrase is intended to counter arguments made by opponents of immigration that many immigrants get passports, depart Canada, and then return to receive benefits.

Hailing the law, Jenny Kwan, a member of parliament and critic of immigration for the New Democratic party, stated, "Today is a historic day for lost Canadians and their families."

“This unjust law caused significant hardship and suffering to many Canadian families, separates families and rendered children stateless. It failed to recognize Canadians are global citizens who travel, study and work abroad, fall in love abroad and have families abroad,” she said.

Conservative MP Tom Kmiec stated in a statement that the immigration system is "falling apart." 

“Common sense Conservatives will fix our immigration system that the Liberals have broken,” he added. 

According to Statistics Canada, the country's population increased by over a million people in a span of nine months, reaching 41 million. The primary factor driving this expansion was temporary immigration.

(With inputs from agencies)