After Canada loosens citizenship requirements, thousands of people apply

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+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Planet Money Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics After Canada loosens citizenship requirements, thousands of people apply After Canada changed a law opening up citizenship opportunities, thousands of Americans are trying to become citizens of their northern neighbor.

+ World After Canada loosens citizenship requirements, thousands of people apply May 1, 20264:26 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered From By Ari Snider After Canada loosens citizenship requirements, thousands of people apply Listen &middot; 3:25 3:25 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5804529/nx-s1-9753455" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript After Canada changed a law opening up citizenship opportunities, thousands of Americans are trying to become citizens of their northern neighbor. It's partly for political and personal reasons. Sponsor Message SCOTT DETROW, HOST: If you have a Canadian ancestor, even several generations back, you might now technically be a Canadian citizen if you can prove it. A new Canadian law has removed the one-generation limit on citizenship based on descent. In Maine, where many families have roots north of the border, that has set off a scramble among those seeking a potential exit strategy from the U.S. Maine Public's Ari Snider reports.

+ (SOUNDBITE OF PAGES TURNING) ARI SNIDER, BYLINE: At the public library in the small town of Washington northeast of Portland, Sam sifts through reams of documents tracing his lineage. SAM: This is my great-grandfather's death certificate here. He died in Springfield, Massachusetts, in the 1960s. So that's my actual Canadian ancestor right there. SNIDER: Sam is a mariner and a farmer. He's also trans and asked that we use only his first name because he fears for his safety. He and his husband began having conversations a few years ago about possibly needing to leave the country after a spike in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policy. SAM: But in the last probably six months to a year particularly, it's - the conversations have been feeling a bit less abstract. SNIDER: Sam knew his family had immigrated to the U.S. from Newfoundland around 1890, but he says the process of seeking Canadian citizenship seemed daunting until the new eligibility rules. SAM: It just felt like a golden ticket. SNIDER: The change was sparked by a 2023 court ruling that Canada's one-generation limit on citizenship by descent was unconstitutional. A new law went into effect last December extending citizenship to those born abroad who can show they are a direct descendant of a Canadian citizen. Amandeep Hayer, an immigration lawyer in Vancouver, says millions of U.S. residents could now be eligible, with a particularly high concentration in New England. AMANDEEP HAYER: There was a study done that 20- to 30% of New Englanders are descendants of French Canadians. SNIDER: At the same time, Hayer says Canada has been restricting other pathways to citizenship, leading some immigrants and international students to question the fairness of who gets permanent status and who doesn't. HAYER: There are people here who have paid taxes in Canada, who've lived in Canada. Why are they being excluded from any, like, pathway to permanent residence? SNIDER: Canadian immigration authorities say in the six-week period after the law took effect, they received more than 12,000 proof-of-citizenship applications. It's not clear how many newly minted Canadians will actually make the move north. But one consequence of the new law is a genealogical gold rush for records proving Canadian ancestry. Doug Cochrane, a genealogist in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, says he used to get about 10 research requests a month. Now... DOUG COCHRANE: I'm getting at least five to six per day. SNIDER: Cochrane says the most urgent calls come from LGBTQ Americans. He puts those requests at the top of the list. COCHRANE: Because people have a right to be who they are. And if they can't do it in their home country, well, come to Canada. We'll welcome you. SNIDER: Sam, the Maine resident who's grappling with the question of his own long-term safety and belonging in the U.S. as a trans person, says the prospect of uprooting his life has surfaced a range of emotions. SAM: It's great if you want to leave home to seek opportunity elsewhere. I mean, that's how a lot of us got here in the first place, or at least our ancestors did. But it's another thing to leave because it's no longer the home that you thought you had. SNIDER: For now, he's focused on the task at hand, collecting the final documents he needs to complete his application. For NPR News, I'm Ari Snider in Portland, Maine. Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{1168:function(e,n,c){e.exports=c(321)},321:function(e,n,c){"use strict";c.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([c.e(1),c.e(2),c.e(3),c.e(4),c.e(82)]).then(function(e){c(3),c(1141),c(116),c(95),c(52),c(492),c(239),c(102),c(104),c(1142),c(144),c(1143),c(238),c(48),c(1144)}.bind(null,c)).catch(c.oe)}},[[1168,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();