When Bill C-3, Citizenship-by-Descent came into effect in December 2025, the federal government took a predictable victory lap. By dismantling the “first-generation limit” that stripped citizenship from thousands of children born abroad to Canadian parents, politicians hailed the legislation as the ultimate remedy for the “Lost Canadians.”
But a right delayed is a right denied. Nine months into this new legislative era, the high-minded promises of Bill C-3 are colliding with the harsh reality of bureaucratic paralysis at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
A Failure of Statutory Duty
IRCC is failing to scale its operational capacity. Processing times for a simple Confirmation of Citizenship application—which hovered between ten and 12 months earlier this year—have deteriorated rapidly. The backlog has swelled to nearly 140,000 pending files, pushing official delays up to 33 months. If this trajectory holds, applicants could soon face wait times exceeding four years just to receive a piece of paper confirming a legal status they already hold by right.
This transcends mere administrative frustration; it is a massive failure of statutory duty. Unlike discretionary immigration visas, which the minister can cap or pause at will to manage annual quotas, issuing a citizenship certificate is a mandatory legal obligation. Section 12(1) of the Citizenship Act explicitly dictates that “The Minister shall… issue a certificate of citizenship to them.” In Canadian law, the word “shall” imposes a mandatory obligation. If an applicant is factually a Canadian citizen, the government must issue the proof regardless of application volumes. The state cannot quietly impose a quota on recognizing its own citizens simply by understaffing its department.
Ottawa cannot claim it was ambushed by the influx. The historic 2023 Bjorkquist court decision—which struck down the old citizenship cut-off as unconstitutional—handed the government a clear mandate and a generous two-year runway to prepare. Demographers and immigration experts explicitly warned of a coming surge, particularly from Americans with deep ancestral ties to Quebec, Ontario, and the Maritimes.
Charter Breaches and the Courts
For professionals seeking cross-border employment, students applying to universities, and families trying to relocate, these delays are severe economic roadblocks. Because travel documentation is practically required to cross borders, extreme delays in confirming citizenship actively infringe on the Section 6 mobility rights of applicants under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Furthermore, administrative delays stretching to three years or more for a mandatory statutory confirmation are arbitrary and grossly disproportionate to the task of verifying historical records. This opens the door for applicants to claim violations under Section 7 (Life, Liberty and Security of the Person) and general provisions regarding fundamental justice. The question now is not whether Ottawa should process these applications faster, but whether the Federal Court will force its hand.
Enter the Writ of Mandamus
An applicant waiting 18 months in the backlog—in the absence of other extenuating factors—likely has sufficient standing to force IRCC to render a decision. They can do this by seeking a writ of mandamus, an extraordinary legal remedy where the Federal Court compels a government decision-maker to perform a public legal duty. A successful mandamus application does not order IRCC to approve a person’s citizenship; it simply orders the department to do its job and make a decision within a legally binding timeframe (typically 30 to 90 days).
To prove a processing delay is illegal under the established legal test for mandamus (the Apotex standard), a case is evaluated against several criteria:
- Nature of the Duty: Issuing a Confirmation of Citizenship is a mandatory statutory duty, not a discretionary visa.
- Unreasonable Delay: For a standard proof of citizenship claim involving clear lineage, a delay of 18+ months is arguably beyond the norm of reasonableness.
- Exhausted Remedies: The applicant must show they have tried raising Webforms, GCMS note requests, or inquiries via their legal representative.
- Lack of Justification: The government must provide a specific, satisfactory reason for the idle file. “We have a big backlog” or “lack of staff” are routinely rejected by the Federal Court as valid excuses for extreme delays.
- Prejudice: The applicant must show the delay causes actual harm, such as an inability to exercise Charter mobility rights to enter Canada.
- Clean Hands: The hold-up must be entirely on IRCC’s end, not due to missing response forms or incomplete documentation from the applicant.
Individual applicants must first issue a formal notice demanding a decision on their file once processing delays exceed standard norms. This demand letter gives IRCC a reasonable deadline—typically 30 to 60 days—to render a decision. If the government ignores the demand or fails to act, the applicant can file in Federal Court to have a judge compel performance, proving once again that bureaucratic incompetence is not a valid legal excuse for suspending a citizen’s rights.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a citizenship-by-descent applicant applying for a confirmation of citizenship who is waiting longer than 18 months in the backlog, force IRCC to render a decision?
Yes. By stalling applications for this period, IRCC functionally perpetuates the very Charter violation it was ordered to correct. By stonewalling a C-3 applicants’ ability to prove and exercise their citizenship, IRCC is guilty of treating these specific citizens—identifiable solely by their foreign birth—as second-class compared to citizens born on Canadian soil who face no such barriers.
As well, Ottawa is effectively preventing applicants from exercising their Charter mobility rights.
What is a writ of mandamus and how does it work?
A writ of mandamus is a Federal Court order requiring a government department to perform a legal duty. In citizenship cases, it can require IRCC to decide an application within a court-imposed deadline. To win a mandamus order, an applicant must prove three things: the delay is prima facie unreasonable, the applicant is not at fault for the hold-up, and the government lacks an adequate justification for the delay.
How long is too long to wait for proof of Canadian citizenship?
There is no fixed legal threshold. Courts consider the expected processing time, the length of the delay, the reasons for it, and whether the applicant contributed to the delay.
Does a large IRCC backlog justify long delays?
Federal Court decisions increasingly indicate that bureaucratic failure and administrative understaffing alone are not enough to justify prolonged delays. The government generally cannot rely solely on its own operational problems to defend unreasonable processing times.
Does publishing guidelines advising applicants of long processing times, erase a legal right to a decision in a reasonable time frame?
No. Publishing a 2, 3 or 4-year processing timeline does not erase your legal right to a decision in a reasonable time frame, nor does it shield the government from being challenged in court.
Does mandamus guarantee Canadian citizenship?
No. Mandamus does not determine the outcome of an application. It simply requires IRCC to make a decision within a reasonable period.
Can the Federal Court force IRCC to hire more citizenship officers?
Generally, no. Canadian courts will not direct the federal government on staffing or budget decisions. However, they can require IRCC to make a decision on an individual application if an unreasonable delay is established.
Can IRCC impose caps, quotas or close the Citizenship-by-descent initiative?
No. Section 12(1) of the Citizenship Act explicitly dictates that “The Minister shall, on application by a person, determine whether they are a citizen and, if they are… issue a certificate of citizenship to them”. Citizenship is a fundamental legal status, not an immigration program subject to intake quotas.
Further reading on Canadian citizenship by descent
- Canadian citizenship by descent: do you qualify? — check which generation your Canadian ancestor sits in, and take the free eligibility assessment.
- How to claim Canadian citizenship by descent — the proof-of-citizenship application process under Bill C-3.