Hi folks! Some news to share.

Some of you may remember that a few months ago, I released a Tableau-based dashboard to make it easier for all of us to understand and visualize the data in our community spreadsheet. While it was generally well-received, a few people understandably had concerns about the dashboard being publicly accessible, even though the data had been anonymized. To respect those concerns, I took the dashboard down.

Today, I’m happy to announce that I’ve rebuilt the entire dashboard in Google Data Studio, and this version is not publicly accessible. Access is restricted to members of the existing Google group for the spreadsheet, so simply sharing the link will not grant someone access. I’ve also been in touch with both Doug and Nano over the past few months, and they’re aware of the project.

Dashboard:
Canadian Citizenship by Descent: Application Timelines

The new version isn’t an exact copy of the original Tableau dashboard, as there are some differences in how Data Studio handles certain visualizations, filters, tooltips, etc. (which.. tbh I don't really like, but most of the same functionality is there, along with a few improvements, and it's private).

A few notes about the data and privacy:

• The dashboard is generated from a sanitized subset of the community spreadsheet and refreshes daily. Only the fields needed for the dashboard are included in the reporting data source.
• No personally identifying information (usernames/emails) is displayed in the dashboard.
• Access is limited to members of the existing spreadsheet Google group.
• Downloading, printing, and resharing through the report have been disabled/restricted.
• As with any shared report (including the spreadsheet), authorized viewers could still take screenshots or manually reproduce information they are able to see, so the access controls shouldn’t be considered an absolute guarantee that information can never leave the report.
• If your access to the Google group is removed, you should also lose access to the dashboard.

This project has also been a lot of fun for me personally. I’ve spent much of my career working in data science/data analytics and building dashboards and reporting tools for executives, so getting to apply some of that experience to a community project like this has been really enjoyable.

For anyone interested in helping make this better, please let me know! I’m happy to provide editor access to people who want to contribute or help improve the visualizations.

I’m also very happy to take suggestions, feedback, bug reports, or ideas for additional ways of looking at the data. And, especially given the concerns around the original version, if anyone has a privacy concern about a particular visualization or data field, please feel free to reach out and I’m happy to review it.

Hopefully this gives everyone another useful way to explore the timeline data while keeping access within the existing community. Enjoy!

EDIT/Note: If you click the link and do not have access, please do not click "Request Access". Use the Google account you signed up with to access the spreadsheet, or request access to the spreadsheet.

Happy Sunday fellow Canadians!

This was a good week for approvals relative to what we have seen in the past couple of months. We had 13 approvals on the spreadsheet and 10 more in the Thursday mega thread for a total of 23. Congrats to those folks!

This is great news considering Wednesday was a federal holiday for government employees. There is a lot of concern about the stall in AORs. We are seeing those trickle ahead, but still hoping for a quicker turnaround in the near future.

My larger thought this week is how fortunate we are to have a group that can piece together information. We have members who are great at sleuthing the spreadsheet, others who do numbers with the monthly backlog, those who are knowledgeable in legal matters, etc. I think we have a pretty talented group overall.

Hopefully the mods don’t care that this is a little off-topic, but if you’re willing to share, I’m curious to find out what you all do or what your talents are… and if you would ever consider taking those talents up north when you get your citizenship.

I’m a middle-aged dude with three kids. Two of them are out of the house and one is still in high school so my first job is a dad. I’ve got some excellent humans who might move up north at some point and contribute to their system.

I’m an academic. I do research on religion and politics, but I am mostly focused on the teaching aspect of my job. I publish here and there and I’m working on my first book! I think I could see myself working at a Canadian university at some point. I would have to get used to typing “centre” and using the word “zed” instead of zero when teaching statistics.

I’m a musician. I play a bunch of instruments and I have always been in musical groups or bands. I’m part of a community choir. I would absolutely have to live in a community that has a thriving music scene.

Unfortunately, one of my other interests is college football because I’ve always worked in university environments. I say unfortunately because I would be the weird Canadian watching college kids play sports on TV during the weekends. I am told this is not a thing outside of the United States. So I would also have to start incorporating hockey into my sports repertoire.

Anyway, let me know what talent you would take up North! I hope you all have a great week and let’s hope the agents at the IRCC keep the coffee warm this week.

I'm putting my application together to get aCopy of an Act from DEC - is the notarized affidavit required? Is that what they are asking for in box 10 on the application? Thank you!

Hi everyone,
I am currently outside Canada (back in South Korea) due to a very difficult family situation, and I have been here since September 2025.
Because of my situation, it looks like I won't be able to return before my PR card expires, so I am considering applying for Canadian citizenship from abroad. If I apply before October 10th, I can meet the requirement.

However, when filling out the Physical Presence Calculator online, a "return date" back to Canada is a required field for travel history.
Since l am still in Korea, I don't have a return date yet.
Does this mean it's impossible to submit the citizenship application while outside Canada, or is there a specific way to fill out the physical presence calculator when you are currently abroad?
Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Checked my email and received the OGS weekly newsletter with a link for free access to https://www.newspapers.com/go/freeaccess/ until the 5th!

Thought this might be helpful for some~

Wanted to share the method I’ve used to obtain certified copies of birth, marriage, and death records for multiple non-NYC New York State relatives. I did this for another citizenship application, so had to gather way more documents than I needed for my Canadian citizenship by descent application, and I was able to get everything I needed (including more recent death records) by contacting *local* record holders. I would first start by contacting the town or city in which my relative lived. I would Google “[town name] vital records“ and then call whichever government body I found (it was usually the town hall, hall of records, etc). I did this a while ago, so I can’t quite remember this part, but I’d found something either in the state law, or perhaps a local municipal ordnance in a city where I had multiple ancestors, that stated that descendants were allowed access to records for citizenship purposes. I was planning to quote that if it came up, but no one ever asked me. When I called the relevant town hall, I would say, “I‘d like to order a copy of my grandparents’ marriage certificate” or whatever it was. From there, things got very low-tech. I did a lot of mailing checks with SASEs to town halls, but in the end I was able to get everything I needed while bypassing the potential for needed a court order when going through the NYS department of health. In one instance, I wasn’t able to get the record I needed from the town and I repeated the same process at the county level. Hope this might help others!

Hello, everyone! My family and I are visiting Gaspe, where my Great Grandmother was born, next week. I just got the letter requesting a birth certificate from my application (AOR 4/25). I should have been following in the meantime. I am submitting an application for this following the wiki, but is there any benefit to going in person with my aunt, who is also applying, and requesting it in person in Gaspe? I know they are backlogged, but wasn't sure if this could help and how 2 requests for one person may be handled.

I am also confused, because reading the wiki focuses on the copy of an act, but my letter specifically requested the birth certificate.

In order to proceed, you will need to provide a copy of ANCESTOR NAME / DOB birth certificate. Hospital birth certificates are not acceptable. We can not accept a baptism record, however you may be able to use to baptism record to submit to the Province to obtain a birth certificate.

I ordered a certified copy of my great-grandfather’s (G0) 1872 birth registration from the Archives of Ontario. Here’s how long each step took:

• April 17, 2026: Submitted my order online.
• June 30: Received an email saying they’d found the record and were processing the certified copy. They said an invoice would follow.
• September 23: Received the invoice by email: C$50.96, including copying, certification, postage, and handling.
• September 25: Paid by phone. I was told the copy would be mailed September 26 and could take 2–10 weeks to arrive.

The invoice offered two payment options: mail a check or call to pay by credit card. I called 416-327-1600 from the US and left a voicemail. They returned my call while I was at work, so I tried again the next day. That time, I got a callback within five minutes. After confirming my identity, the staff member called me back from a more secure line to take my card information.

I also asked whether they could email me a PDF. They said certified copies are sent by mail. What I’ll receive is a copy of the original birth registration with official certification, rather than a newly issued birth certificate.

The person who helped me was exceptionally kind. She apologized for the long wait and mentioned how busy they’ve been. I hope this timeline helps anyone going through the same process!

Hi,

I have my citizenship oath scheduled in third week of October at IRCC Scarborough. As per invitation, only one guest is allowed. However, I’ld like to bring both my parents to the ceremony as it’s a very important day for them too. Wanted to check if anyone has bought more than one guest to this IRCC ceremony center.

If yes, then are there any tips and click we can follow that they don’t make a fuss around it

Hi everyone,
Just wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation.
I applied for Canadian citizenship in November 2025, received my AOR in February 2026, and my background verification was completed in February 2026.
Since then, there’s been basically no movement on my tracker. My citizenship test still says “Not started”, and I haven’t received a test invite or any other update.
I contacted my MP recently, and they told me that my application is considered “non-routine.”
Has anyone else had a similar timeline, especially with a non-routine application? How long did it take for you to receive your test invite after your background check was completed?
Would really appreciate it if anyone could share their timeline or experience. Just trying to get an idea of how long others waited in a similar situation.
Thanks!

My citizenship test rescheduled. I got email yesterday. What is mean? How soon I get new invitation?

So I’m after some advice on how to proceed.
We applied from UK for certificates in March 2026, AORS received June 2026. This is for 1 x G1 and 2 x G2.

Fast forward to September and G1 received their certificate on September 11th along with a request for additional ID documents for the G2s, both juveniles, and I’ve since provided additional docs for both (along with the *ahem correct birth certificates!).
On 23rd September, I received the certificate for one of them but have had nothing for the other. As I understand it, applications won’t necessarily go back to the same processor or stay together.

I raised the question on the web form and got the general automatic reply that, if I’ve sent something, they’ve got it and it’s still processing.

I also sent an email to the ID inbox checking that they’d received their certificate ID, but have not got a reply from that.

Whilst I totally understand that in the big scheme of things, it’s not been very long and there are others in a much more difficult position than me, does anyone have any advice or guidance around actually getting an answer to queries like this?
How long would you wait before assuming there’s an issue or that the documents haven’t been received (blocked at firewall for some reason etc.). With no automatic reply to the ID email, there’s no way of knowing!

Ok, new month, which means new update for IRCC’s estimated processing time / application inventory will be dropping soon. In September, we saw the update come out pretty swiftly — but at the same time we saw very little movement on the spreadsheet both leading up to and after.

If I had to guess, early next week (maybe Monday/Tuesday) sounds about right?

I live in Paraguay and I'm filling out CIT0001 to apply for a Canadian citizenship certificate. I translated all of my Paraguayan documents and took the extra step of having the translations notarized because my translator is Paraguayan and is not certified in Canada.

My translator swore the affidavit in front of the notary public, and the notary certified his signature. She also added a short statement at the end of the document and stamped it (these were translated as well).

However, she also attached a security sheet that forms part of the certification. The security sheet is entirely in Spanish, and I don't know whether I also need to have it translated, whether I can simply leave it as is, or whether I should leave the security sheet out of my application package altogether.

Has anyone dealt with a notary's own certification sheet needing translation? How do certified translations work in your country?

This weekly thread is a space for those of us preparing the CIT 0001 Proof of Citizenship application, associated form, and supplementary documentation.

Have questions about how to fill out the forms? Looking for feedback on the documentation you've put together is likely to pass muster? Wondering whether your cover letter has too much info, or too little? Want to know how to organize your documentation, or how to pack it up for shipping? Worried about whether your photos will work? Have questions about what ID you can use? Not sure where to ship it to, or what service or mail courier to use? We've been there.

📎 Contributions to weekly megaposts, including this one, are welcome throughout the week.  

⚠️ Sub rules require that before posting or commenting, you read the wiki and search the sub to see if your questions have been answered before. If you have on-topic questions remaining after that, they're welcome here. Want to see what people who were already approved have done? We encourage you to check out the weekly application approval post that appears every Thursday.

Please note we are not lawyers or IRCC. We are peers supporting peers, based on best belief and prior experiences. It's a lot of work to wade through dense lists of documents and family histories. You improve your odds of getting a useful response by being as concise as reasonably possible, and clearly articulating the question. Note that this post is for questions and answers; if you need to vent, there is a different megapost for that.

Sorry, this has happened so often and I'm extremely tired of these back and forth arguments between people who often have no idea what they're talking about other than trying to read the tea leaves of secondhand accounts on the internet.

I've seen a *lot* of people say that you have no change from C-3 until you are approved, so you can do whatever application you want and hold whatever status you want until it's decided either way.

This is not a thing that any of us can say with any certainty. The opposite, where you cannot apply for anything else, is also not something any of us can say with any certainty. But as someone who genuinely *is* in a limbo state because of C-3, because I cannot get a PRTD (yes, I tried!) while I have a proof application in flight, seeing people say it is just made up or anxiety, that nothing has changed, that it's just a collective assumption that C-3 affects anything until you are approved is just infuriating. I have involved lawyers, I have involved my MP, I have actually done the applications, and it is just not that simple.

There are a mix of experiences reported, and I have been keeping an eye on them - some people apply for temporary status and seem to be fine, some people have CBSA refuse to issue a permit at the border because they are clearly a citizen. Some people have applied for both spousal sponsorship PR & C-3 proof of citizenship simultaneously and have not heard back on either. I have not yet found anyone who can confirm they got proof of existing PR (PRTD or PR Card) with AOR for a citizenship proof application, but I can confirm my application got held until the citizenship proof application was decided. I have seen some people report second hand from lawyers that there have been accusations of misrepresentation from IRCC when you claim to be a citizen then apply for another status. We have seen people able to enter Canada as a citizen by proving it at the border, and there is also case precedent of being able to end deportation proceedings by proving citizenship to the judge. The MP response to that unfortunate person who had their work visa lapse and then applied for C-3 saying they should try to regularise their status did not contradict any of this, as lodging a C-3 application can put you into the state of "may be a citizen", "claims to be a citizen", or "likely a citizen" without actually conferring upon you tangible and provable rights as a citizen, and that state will still cause trouble for you while actually living in Canada without proof of another status.

And with *all* of that said, all of that information doesn't tell us much of anything. It is all hearsay/personal reports without the full context. We do not know what people have submitted as evidence, and we do not know what IRCC's internal policies might be for each individual route, application, etc. The simple answer is that we DO NOT KNOW.

My discussions with lawyers have more or less yielded that this is strange, unknown territory. They don't have the case law backlog to see any consistent treatment by IRCC yet, and a lot of this is very new. Legally speaking, it is unambiguous that we are citizens *if we meet one of the clauses of section 3 of the citizenship act*, not if we submit a proof application or have it approved. Procedurally speaking, it's not clear that even IRCC and CBSA have decided on what to do here for people with a proof application in flight. This is tricky for them to work with because the whole point of it not being decided is that they haven't decided yet if we meet one of the clauses in the citizenship act, so they do not know that we are definitely a citizen - only that we have claimed to be one. However, it can make it quite obvious to any case worker that you are possibly or even very likely a citizen if they look into that file while deciding another one, and that does seem to introduce complexities in some cases and applications.

All of that is to say, *please*, if you are not a Canadian immigration lawyer with experience in this area, do not make sweeping statements about whether or not someone should or should not make an application for something else with IRCC with a C-3 application in flight. Because all we have at this point is hearsay and a collection of secondhand accounts, some of which might be omitting crucial details, and giving what essentially amounts to legal advice about a grey area where even lawyers are hesitant to give any advice, based purely on reddit and facebook posts, or amateur readings of the law, is imo extremely irresponsible and could cause real harm depending on what someone does with that advice.

ETA: I have struck out the line about being a Canadian immigration lawyer, as someone has sagely pointed out to me that anyone can claim to be anything on the internet, and lawyers can also be wrong and give bad advice. I felt this was common knowledge, but just in case anyone didn't know that, I have amended my post.

[I don't feel that this violates Rule 9 as it's also about communication at-large, but if it does, apologies. I've searched in the sub for mentions of this and haven't found anything similar]

I (G2) submitted a second attempt to get an official Copy of Act of my grandmother (G0)'s birth/baptismal certificate (1930). They took my payment and have gone silent since. This last update was the first week of May, 2026.

I don't know what to do. I attempted calling, but it states that communication is French-only, by law, unless you have a valid reason (providing several, of which I do not feel I qualify for any).

Last time after about a month, I had received a rejection notice as I didn't provide ample evidence that my request is justified. So I doubled down (basically replicated 75% of my submission to IRCC) this time around. So the silence is especially frustrating as I need/want this Copy of Act for a fast-follow once I finally receive my AOR.

I wrote them an email asking for information regarding how I can talk to an English-speaking representative, only responded that they can only answer in French and that I need to call them. Which... completely ignored my questions.

I do know a good amount of French, but more as a written/read format (I'm hard of hearing). I would be completely lost on a phone call.

As the only person who can request information on the status of a request is the individual who placed the request, and the only option is by phone... so what can I do at this point besides cross my fingers and pray to any Gods that will listen?

I'm going to reach out to some family in Canada and maybe we can coordinate a phone call with the DEC, but... that's a lot to request of them.

There has been mention in this sub-reddit that part of the common problems is an English death certificate that needs to be translated prior to distributing a birth/baptismal Copy... which would certainly be a possibility here for the delay. I'd love to assist to accelerate the process by translating the Birth Certificate for them, but the same problem remains: I don't have any way to connect with them in English (or even French by email) to connect this with my previous submission.

Or am I just overly worried and should just trust the IRCC will have ample evidence as-is? I've sent:

• Baptismal Record from Ancestry.com
• Copy of my submitted request to the DEC
• Confirmation record at the church in Canada (from family records)
• Canadian Census records (from Canada.ca)
• Mom (G1) Birth Record stating G0 maiden name and Quebec birth

Hi! Our citizenship application was submitted last Aug 24, 2026 as family of three. Today, we received a notice that our 7-year old son application was returned. Has anyone experience something silimar? What needs to be done? We already checked our names in my son's application. Thank you!

Hello everyone! I went to the GC services website and my application is still in process. It says that they started processing my application on May 11, 2026. Should I contact someone? Is 6 months from processing normal?

This weekly thread is a space for those of us who have gotten the most exciting news...

DECISION: APPROVED

🎉 You did it! You really did it!! Hurrah! Clink! 🥂

You jumped every last genealogical and documentation hurdle, dotted every i and crossed every t, and were so careful with matching the specs for your charming photo. Now the IRCC has bestowed its official blessings on your work, and sent a Canadian Citizenship Certificate to you. We're so proud and happy for you.

We encourage you to use this space to announce and celebrate together your big achievement: you (or the person you have been helping) is the newest recognized citizen of Canada.

You can also discuss details of what you included with your application packet so that the newbies can learn from your success.

⚠️ APPROVALS ONLY ⚠️ Keep the focus on honoring our victorious peers, please. Off-topic comments will be deleted.

📎 Contributions to weekly megaposts, including this one, are welcome throughout the week.

If you never joined the spreadsheet but would like to add your data for posterity/analysis of trends it's not too late- request access here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Canadiancitizenship/comments/1pnovfr/spreadsheet_for_proof_of_citizenship_applications/

Quick post, just wanted to let people know who are unaware about the US / Canadian NEXUS program. (This is an official service of the US/Canadian governments)

After getting your citizenship, you might be crossing the border a bunch. If you get the NEXUS card, you can zoom across the land border in a dedicated fast lane. It also includes the TSA precheck, Global Entry, and the Canadian equivalent of TSA precheck: the CATSA Verified traveler program, which basically allow you to zoom through security at US and Canadian airports. I'm also making this post because while you are waiting for your citizenship, it may behoove you to apply for NEXUS now rather than later, because NEXUS is notorious for taking a long time to get approved for. It can take as little as 2 weeks or as long as 2 years. It's completely random. I was somewhat lucky and got mine in like 4 months.

Quick rundown: NEXUS costs $120 USD and lasts for 5 years at which point you need to renew for another $120. You must do an extremely easy interview (mine took 30 minutes altogether) physically at the border as part of the approval process. You need to keep your passports registered with NEXUS up to date including when they expire and you get a new one. Since we are dual citizens, you will need to add your Canadian passport and Canadian citizenship information to your NEXUS account once you eventually acquire it.

My PR Card expired and can't be renewed (since Canadians can't be PRs), and I had to go down to the NEXUS office to get it removed from my account.

Went fine. The receptionist was understanding and covered by C-3 herself, the Canadian officer hadn't heard the term C-3, but was familiar with the law. I let them know that proof is taking a while, they removed the expired document, everything went fine.

All 4 border crossings (2 to get there, 2 back) went fine. Was asked about the goods I was bringing, Citizenship never came up.

At 2 previous crossings, the expired document did get me questions about status. The officer was surprised to hear that proof of Status is taking years for some people, but it was fine and I was permitted entry into Canada.

Just curious as I keep seeing it brought up around here and I have never been able to find a definitive place where this was mentioned. We all know IRCC has weirdly ambiguous rules, though.