Bill C-3 Citizenship Claims Are Putting PR Applications on Hold — What We Know

Status of this information: This is reported by CBC News (November 5, 2026), with IRCC confirming the policy to CBC. IRCC has not yet published this policy on its own website. We are reporting what IRCC told CBC, and we will update this post when IRCC publishes official guidance.

Some permanent residence applications are being put on hold — not refused, not delayed by backlog, but paused — because the applicant might already be a Canadian citizen under Bill C-3. If that sounds backwards, it is: the faster route to Canada can now be the one that slows you down. This post explains what is happening, who it affects, and what to do if it might be you.

Source: CBC News — “Some permanent resident applicants left in limbo by changes to Canadian citizenship law” (Nov 5, 2026) (https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/immigration-permanent-resident-billc3-9.7409321)

What Bill C-3 did

Bill C-3, in effect from December 15, 2025, restored Canadian citizenship by descent to people often called “lost Canadians” — people born abroad who can prove they have a Canadian ancestor. Since it took effect, demand has been enormous, particularly from Americans researching their family trees. Between December 15, 2025 and August 31, 2026, IRCC approved 7,900 citizenship certificate applications under the new legislation, and another 22,570 people born abroad to a Canadian parent also received citizenship certificates in that period.

A citizenship certificate lets the holder get a Canadian passport and live and work in Canada. But proving a claim can mean digging up birth certificates and other records going back several generations — archives in Canada and the United States have been swamped with requests, and in early October the Association of Canadian Archivists wrote to Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab asking for funding and help with the workload. At the time of the CBC report, the association had not received a response.

What IRCC is doing

IRCC’s stated policy is that a person cannot be both a permanent resident and a Canadian citizen at the same time. On that basis, IRCC is putting PR applications on hold where the applicant may qualify for citizenship by descent.

IRCC senior communications adviser Briannah Dale told CBC how the pause works:

• If you apply for proof of citizenship while also applying for permanent residence, your PR application is placed on hold while the citizenship application is assessed.
• If citizenship is confirmed, your PR application is considered withdrawn.
• If citizenship is not confirmed, your PR application returns to its original place in the processing queue and resumes processing.

There is one more route into the hold that applicants should know about: an officer can put a PR application on hold even if you have not applied for a citizenship certificate, if the officer has compelling reasons to believe you may already be a citizen under Canadian law. In other words, the hold is not only triggered by your own citizenship application — IRCC can impose it on the strength of the file itself.

How many PR applications are on hold is unknown. IRCC told CBC that due to “systems limitations” it cannot say how many.

Who is affected

The people caught by this are PR applicants who may already be, or may qualify to be, Canadian citizens by descent — including spousal family-class sponsorship applicants. Montreal immigration lawyer Lisa Middlemiss told CBC the situation “comes up more commonly than one might think,” frequently involving people who only recently learned of a possible citizenship claim under Bill C-3 but would also normally qualify for PR.

CBC’s example is Lindsey Jade Higgins, an American-born woman in Portland, Maine, married to Halifax resident Michel Pottier. While researching her family tree for her PR application, the couple found she had a Canadian great-grandmother, making her eligible for citizenship by descent. They applied for spousal sponsorship in September 2025 and for proof of citizenship in October 2025. IRCC processed the PR application normally at first, including medical tests paid for in January. A few days before the CBC report, Pottier learned through his MP’s office that his wife’s PR application had been put on hold in September 2026 because she may be eligible for citizenship. His summary of the situation: “If we had not applied for the proof of citizenship application, she would have had PR by now.” He has had to start work in Halifax while his wife remains in Maine.

NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan told CBC the impact on PR status was not something Parliament contemplated when it debated the legislation, and said she has been trying unsuccessfully to get answers from the minister’s office for a constituent in the same limbo.

The wait-time problem

This is where the hold turns from a technicality into a real cost. The wait for a citizenship certificate is now 34 months — nearly three years — driven in part by the surge of applications since Bill C-3. By comparison, the wait for spousal sponsorship from outside Canada (outside Quebec) is 18 months.

So a couple who would have waited about 18 months for PR can now wait almost twice as long for a citizenship certificate instead — and during that time they may be living on separate sides of the border. That is the “processing purgatory” Middlemiss described: waiting on a PR application that may never be decided because you might be a citizen, while not knowing whether the citizenship application will be processed urgently. IRCC has not issued guidance to lawyers on how to interpret this grey zone, and has not said whether citizenship applications in this situation get priority.

If you already hold permanent residence

One clear reassurance: IRCC says people who already have permanent resident status will not lose it while they wait for a citizenship certificate. The hold affects applications in progress, not status already granted.

What to do if this might be you

• Check ancestry before you apply for either route. If you have any Canadian parent, grandparent or earlier ancestor, look into a possible citizenship claim before choosing between a PR application and a proof-of-citizenship application. The order you apply in can change your timeline by more than a year.
• Do not withdraw anything in a hurry. If your PR application is on hold, a confirmed citizenship claim ends it anyway — but a refused citizenship claim sends the PR application back to its place in the queue. Withdrawing the PR application yourself removes that safety net.
• Keep your evidence together. Citizenship by descent turns on documents — birth certificates and records that may go back generations. Start gathering them early; archives are backlogged.
• Get advice before you decide which application to pursue first. There is no published IRCC guidance on this grey zone yet, and the right sequence depends on your own facts: your ancestry, your PR stream, and your timeline.
• If you are a current PR holder waiting on a citizenship certificate, your status is safe while you wait.

Frequently asked questions

Can IRCC really pause my PR application because I might be a citizen? According to what IRCC told CBC, yes. If you apply for proof of citizenship alongside a PR application, the PR file is held while citizenship is assessed — and an officer can also impose a hold on the file’s own evidence.

If my citizenship claim is confirmed, do I lose the PR application? Yes — it is considered withdrawn. But you would not need it: citizenship gives you the right to live and work in Canada, and a passport.

If my citizenship claim is refused, do I go to the back of the PR queue? No. IRCC says the PR application returns to its original place in the queue and resumes processing.

I already have PR. Is my status at risk while I wait for a citizenship certificate? No. IRCC says current permanent residents do not lose their status while waiting.

How long is the citizenship certificate wait? 34 months at the time of the CBC report, up from 33 months in an October 5 IRCC update. Spousal sponsorship from outside Canada (outside Quebec) is 18 months by comparison.

Has IRCC published this policy? Not yet. It was confirmed to CBC News by IRCC. We will update this post when IRCC publishes official guidance.

How VG Immigration Services can help

If you have a possible Canadian ancestor and are deciding between a citizenship claim and a PR application — or if your PR application has already been put on hold — book a consultation at vgis.ca or WhatsApp 416-578-9269. We will review your ancestry and your PR route together, so the order you apply in does not cost you a year.