On Tuesday, November 7, 2006, Citizenship and Immigration Minister, Monte Solberg confirmed that Ottawa is reviewing the rules governing dual citizenship. The issue came up in the aftermath of the evacuation of 15,000 Canadians from Lebanon last summer during the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict, at an approximate cost of $63 million. Many of those Canadians hold dual citizenship and some have returned to Lebanon. The minister raised the issue of the priviledges and responsibilities of citizenship and whether Canadians holding dual citizenship and living abroad should qualify for social programs.

Dual citizenship is defined simply as being a citizen of two nations. In general, countries define citizenship based on one's descent, place of birth, marriage, and/or naturalization. That is, you might be a citizen of a given country if you were born on the territory belonging to a certain country (jus soli, Latin for “right of the soil”), if one or both of your parents were citizens of that country (jus sanguinis , Latin for “right of the blood”), if you married a citizen of the country or if you or your parents went through a formal legal process of naturalization. Each nation has its own rules for granting citizenship. An estimated 90 countries in the world permit dual citizenship.

Canada has recognized multiple citizenship since 1977. That is, Canadian citizens have the right to hold citizenship of another countries. Immigrants who obtained Canadian citizenship also have the right to retain their previous nationality, if their country permits dual citizenship. Some immigrant groups are concerned with the dual citizenship review.

According to Statistics Canada, 557,000 Canadians - 1.8 per cent of the population - hold dual citizenship.

For more information please click on the related links below.

list services | contact | feedback | sitemap | disclaimer | copyright | affiliates

Hosted by