IRCC Revamps Definition of “Parent” for the Purposes of Passing on Canadian Citizenship from Parent to Child
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has redefined its antiquated definition of ‘parent’ to include non-biological parents for the purposes of the Citizenship Act, making it a more modern definition and taking LGBTQ+ parents and couples with fertility issues into consideration.
Prior to the new definition, parents who had a foreign-born child via surrogacy were not recognized as the child’s parents for the purposes of immigration if there was no genetic link. Without proof of a genetic link between a Canadian parent and the child, the child would not be eligible for Canadian Citizenship under the Citizenship Act. This left many parents, particularly LGBTQ+ parents and parents who used assisted reproductives technologies, outside of IRCC’s definition of parent.
The new definition of ‘parent‘ now includes the child’s legal parents at birth, making the definition more inclusive to parents who are unable to or choose not to have a biological child of their own. Now in cases of children born abroad, where is no genetic-link to the Canadian parent or parents, but there is legal parent-child relationship established at birth, these children will have the same rights as biological children for the purposes of determining citizenship by descent under subsection 3(1) of the Citizenship Act.
The adoption of a more non-traditional definition comes following four-year legal battle for Elsje van der Ven and Laurence Caron,whose son, Benjamin, was denied Canadian Citizenship by descent due to the restrictive and antiquated definition of ‘parent’. Caron’s wife van der Ven, a Dutch citizen, gave birth to their son in the Netherlands and therefore Caron, a Canadian citizen, is not genetically related to Benjamin. As per the old definition, since Caron a genetic link did not exist between Caron and Benjamin, she could not pass on her Canadian citizenship to him. However, the couple’s daughter, who Caron gave birth to in the Netherlands and who she has a genetic link to was granted Canadian citizenship by descent without any issues.
This landmark case resulted in the broadening of the definition of who constitutes a ‘parent’ under the Citizenship Act in a declaration made by the Superior Court of Quebec.
Thankfully couples like Elsje van der Ven and Laurence Caron are now legally recognized as parents giving equal rights to non-biological Canadian parents who are a child’s legal parent at birth to pass down their Canadian citizenship.
Quantum Law Group has extensive experience in Canadian Immigration Law. For more information on what we do and how we can assist you with a citizenship application or immigration as it relates to international surrogacy, please Contact Us.