On this page, you will find:
- Tanner’s Story
- The Search
- Advice for Others
- Looking Ahead
- Starting a Claim of Your Own
Tanner is a professional genealogist who spends his working life tracing other people’s families. When Bill C-3 came into force on December 15, 2025, he knew almost immediately that he had a claim of his own: a line on his mother’s side running back to a Quebec City family that settled in Wisconsin in the 1840s.
His ancestors were part of the wider 19th-century movement of French Canadians from Quebec into the United States, and like many Americans with that heritage, he found that knowing about a Canadian ancestor and documenting one to IRCC’s standard are two different tasks. Tanner has since submitted his application for a citizenship certificate, the document that confirms Canadian citizenship, as a client of the Law Offices of Colin R. Singer.
Immigration.ca asked him what it was like to turn his professional skills on his own family, which records were hardest to find, and what he would tell other Americans who suspect they have Canadian roots. His answers appear below as he gave them, edited only for formatting.
Tanner’s Story
When did you first realize you might have a claim to Canadian citizenship, and what was your reaction?
When the legislative changes under Bill C-3 took effect, the genealogical community started talking about it right away. As a professional genealogist, this quickly overlapped into my workday. Right away, I knew I qualified through my maternal side, I just needed to obtain the correct documentation, per the IRCC standards.
Who is your Canadian ancestor, and what do you know about their story?
Peter Gagnon was born in Two Rivers, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin in 1849. His parents, Joseph Gagnon and Marie Boisvert, were both born in Quebec City but had moved to Wisconsin just years before Peter’s birth. As such, under Bill C-3, Peter was himself a Canadian Citizen.
The Gagnons descend from the settling brothers of Quebec City, of which every Gagnon in North America does (or so they say). Peter was a mayor of Two Rivers, and I am certain that the thousands of his descendants are anxiously awaiting the AOR number as we speak.
What made you decide to actually start the process?
Watching far-right politics engulf both the U.S. and Brazil has changed everything for us. Brazil was supposed to be our backup plan—my partner’s home. Instead, we’re watching the world slide backward as a wave of reactionary left-wing power attempts to roll back decades of civil rights. As an atheist gay man who believes fiercely in marriage equality and reproductive freedom, living in the U.S. right now with my immigrant partner is an exhausting, nerve-wracking reality.
Meanwhile, at work, I often research individuals who should have gotten out of their respective homelands as violent political movements began wreaking havoc on them and their families. While they may have not had the funds or the foresight, their stories encouraged me to ensure that I have plenty of options when it comes to my own getting out, if ever the need presents itself.
Have you had the chance to visit the specific town or province your Canadian ancestor was from? If so, what was that experience like?
I recently visited Vancouver, British Columbia. I have another ancestor who lived in Vancouver Island, fought with the RAF during the First World War, and worked in nearly all of Victoria’s bars and pubs in the 1910s, even boxing in illegal matches before catching a ferry with his winnings to visit his relatives in Washington state, outpacing the constables, and the magistrate, with whom he was well acquainted.
How did your immediate family react when you told them they might be eligible for Canadian citizenship, too?
Politically, myself and the members of my family are very different. They go as far as even referring to Canada as the 51st State, an homage to their Trumpian ideals. One brother was interested, but not willing to put forth the funds for the venture. My second to third cousins, also descendants of Peter Gagnon, have been interested, going as far as ordering their own respective records to begin their own process.
The Search
You work in family history professionally. Did that make tracing your own roots easier, or did anything still surprise you?
I had the majority of the documentation already. What I had not expected was the rigorous back and forth with the IRCC requirements. Within the first three months of the Bill’s enactment, I decided it would be best to go through the process with a legal representative, so I did not have to worry about keeping up with the ever-shifting requirements.
What was the hardest record to find, and how did you eventually track it down (or are you still looking)?
Church parish records are the most difficult. I can order U.S. county/state/city records all day, everyday, as the clerks have legal duty to fulfill those requests.
When it comes to churches, it is difficult to find where the record is held. Does the diocesan archive have it? If the parish is the same where your ancestor was baptized, it might be straight forward. However, record loss or the destruction of a church, or renaming of a parish are tricky hurdles to overcome. Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and call.
Once you know where the record is, unlike a city/county/state clerk, the parishes in the U.S. have no legal duty to fulfill your request (perhaps their duty is merely spiritual – though even that seems to be in question as few respond at all).
Additionally, parish offices are under-funded, or they just don’t prioritize fulfilling record requests or certifications. Their tune can change if you mention providing a donation.
Frustratingly, it feels to me that many to-be Canadians will have to hash it out with various church parish secretaries before they ever get the record needed to meet the IRCC requirements.
Did you discover anything about your family you didn’t know before?
I discovered that Joseph Gagnon, my anchor ancestor, became a U.S. citizen in 1852, three years after Pete Gagnon’s birth. Therefore, Peter was born to a Canadian Joseph, whereas Peter’s siblings born after 1852 would not be eligible for citizenship under Bill C-3.
As a professional, you usually have some detachment from the research. Was it a more emotional experience doing this kind of deep dive into your own bloodline?
As a professional genealogist navigating today’s complex political climate, looking back into the historical record offers a strange kind of reassurance—a reminder that our current fractures and family rifts are far from unprecedented. Researching Southern families in the U.S. and seeing how parents disowned children over pro-abolitionist ideals makes history feel intensely immediate and validating. I even uncovered a case where the children ultimately cut ties with their father after he caved and joined the Confederacy simply to protect his property from local militias. Those children got out, choosing their integrity over property and lineage. Their father chose property over his children’s ideals; they chose their ideals over him.
Beyond the direct line for citizenship, are there any lingering “brick walls” in your Canadian family tree that you are still dying to break through?
Even as a professional genealogist, I have my own brick walls, including on my Canadian lineages. There is only so far back that one can go, documentarily. To be honest, it seems the further you go back in Quebec City, the more alike everyone seems to have been. Thus, it gets quite boring. Nonetheless, I am hoping to visit Quebec City in the near future, for an ancestral trip. I am sure that within a stone’s throw in either direction at any given time there will be cousins who descend from the founding Gagnon brothers. Maybe then, digging into the research will feel more interesting.
Have the recent news and legal changes surrounding Canada’s “Lost Canadians” and citizenship-by-descent laws impacted your timeline or urgency?
I don’t think the hangups from the IRCC side of things have had much of an impact on me personally. It is the politics in the U.S. that impact my sense of urgency for the process. I have done my job, submitted my application, and I have done what I can to open up an opportunity to change my circumstances should Plan B need to be taken.
Advice for Others
What’s the most common mistake you think people make when they start tracing their Canadian roots?
The most common mistake people make is simply taking other people’s word for various events (birth, marriage, and death). Never trust online trees unless the facts contain a primary source. Sourcing is the key to genealogical research, and it is the main qualifier for meeting the IRCC’s regulations.
What would you tell an American who suspects they have a Canadian ancestor but doesn’t know where to begin?
Start building your family tree! If you are lucky enough to have living grandparents, ask them questions, too! Census records are a great resource for birthplace details. If you have an ancestor who was born in Canada and living in the U.S., the census will tell you so. Then, you have to seek additional records to determine where exactly they were born. But asking questions and getting your research into a family tree is the best first step!
Looking Ahead
If your citizenship is confirmed, when do you plan to relocate to Canada, or is it more about securing it for yourself and your family?
If the political climate does not settle in the U.S., I will be relocating to Canada after my citizenship is confirmed.
What does having Canadian citizenship mean to you personally?
Last week, I was flying home to Florida and the gate agent noticed my Canada Soccer shirt that I bought during the World Cup.
“Are you from Canada?” she asked.
I froze. I don’t yet have an AOR number, but I submitted the application and, according to the IRCC, I meet the qualifications!
“No,” I said, not having time to tell my story before the people in line behind me would get annoyed.
“Yes,” I could have said, though geographically I am not personally from Canada.
To me, the Citizenship and the passport tell that story. Again, not of me personally, but of me, historically.
Are you brushing up on your Canadian trivia, watching hockey, or trying out any Canadian traditions while you wait for the paperwork to clear?
Of course. My favorite question to ask my fellow Americans is “How many Canadian Provinces can you name off?” Their answer is usually “What is a Province?”
If you could go back in time and ask your Canadian ancestor one question about their life or their decision to leave Canada, what would it be?
I would go back in time and ask my Canadian ancestors why, after hundreds of years, they decided to leave Quebec and go to Wisconsin.
Starting a Claim of Your Own
Tanner’s experience reflects what many applicants find. A family connection to Canada is often easy to sense and much harder to prove. A claim rests on records that establish every link in the line, and on how the citizenship rules applied to each generation, which can turn on dates and details that are easy to overlook.
Americans who believe they may have a Canadian ancestor can start with immigration.ca’s free citizenship by descent assessment. For a review of a family’s documents and the strength of a claim, book a private, confidential consultation.