Vol. 151, No. 19 — September 20, 2017

Registration

SOR/2017-191 September 6, 2017

CITIZENSHIP ACT

Regulations Amending the Citizenship Regulations, No. 2

The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, pursuant to section 27.2 (see footnote a) of the Citizenship Act (see footnote b), makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Citizenship Regulations, No. 2.

Ottawa, August 31, 2017

Ahmed D. Hussen
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration

Regulations Amending the Citizenship Regulations, No. 2

Amendments

1 (1) Paragraph 2(1)(c) of the Citizenship Regulations, No. 2 (see footnote 1) is replaced by the following:

(2) Paragraph 2(1)(f) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(3) Paragraph 2(1)(g) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(4) Paragraph 2(2)(g) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(5) Paragraph 2(3)(c) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

2 (1) Paragraph 4(a) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(2) Subparagraph 4(c)(v) of the Regulations is repealed.

3 (1) Paragraph 5(a) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(2) Subparagraph 5(c)(iii) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

4 (1) Paragraph 8(a) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(2) Subparagraph 8(c)(iii) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

5 Subsection 17(1) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

Delivery

17 (1) The notice referred in subsection 10(3) of the Act and the decision referred to in subsection 10(5) of the Act may be delivered by hand, by mail or by electronic means.

Coming into Force

6 (1) Subject to subsections (2) to (4), these Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

(2) Subsection 1(1) comes into force on the day on which subsection 1(3) of An Act to amend the Citizenship Act and to make consequential amendments to another Act, chapter 14 of the Statutes of Canada, 2017, comes into force.

(3) Subsection 1(2) comes into force on the day on which subsections 1(2) and (4) of that Act come into force.

(4) Subsections 1(3) to (5) and 2(2) come into force on the day on which subsections 1(6), (9) and (10) and section 13 of that Act come into force.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issues

On June 19, 2017, Bill C-6, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act and to make consequential amendments to another Act (AACA) received royal assent, which immediately brought into force provisions

Additional changes included in the AACA, aimed at facilitating access to citizenship, will be brought into force through an Order in Council on a date to be determined by the Governor in Council. The following amendments will align the Citizenship Regulations No. 2 (Regulations), which fall under the authority of the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, with these additional changes to the Citizenship Act.

Objectives

The objective of these regulatory amendments is to ensure alignment with the changes to the Citizenship Act pursuant to the AACA.

The AACA repealed the section of the Citizenship Act which required that adult citizenship grant applicants be physically present in Canada for a minimum of 183 days in four calendar years out of the six years immediately before applying for citizenship. Correspondingly, the amendments to the Regulations repeal the requirement for applicants to provide evidence of this requirement.

The AACA amended the age range in the Citizenship Act of those applicants required to meet the language requirement. The amendments align the age range set out in the Regulations with the new age range in the Act by requiring only adult citizenship grant applicants under 55 years of age at the time of application to provide language evidence with their application.

The AACA repealed provisions in the Act related to the revocation of citizenship of dual or multiple nationals based on certain acts against the national interest. As the Regulations included a reference to the repealed section of the Act, these amendments seek to remove that reference from the Regulations, as it is no longer necessary.

The AACA amended the tax filing requirement in the Citizenship Act from the current four taxation years in a period of six years to three taxation years in a period of five years to match the change in physical presence requirements. As these Regulations reference the tax filing period, the amendments seek to align that reference with the change in the Act.

The AACA also included changes to the Citizenship Act that make it easier for minors to apply for a grant of citizenship without a Canadian parent. The change included a provision concerning who is permitted to make the application on behalf of the minor. Changes to the Regulations will ensure consistency in language between the Act and the Regulations and provide that only applicants under subsection 5(1) who are 18 years of age or older are required to provide language evidence.

Description

Physical presence

AACA repeals subparagraph 5(1)(c)(ii) of the Citizenship Act, which required adult citizenship grant applicants to be physically present in Canada for a minimum of 183 days in four calendar years out of the six years immediately before applying for citizenship. Accordingly, it is no longer necessary to require citizenship applicants to provide evidence that they meet the requirement set out in subparagraph 5(1)(c)(ii), so paragraph 2(1)(c) of the Regulations will be amended to remove the reference to subparagraph 5(1)(c)(ii).

Age for language requirement

AACA repeals paragraph 5(2)(c) of the Citizenship Act, eliminating the requirement for minor citizenship grant applicants aged 14 and over at time of application to demonstrate adequate knowledge of one of the official languages of Canada. In line with this legislative change, subparagraph 4(c)(v) of the Regulations requiring minor citizenship grant applicants aged 14 and over at time of application to provide language evidence with their application is repealed.

In addition, the AACA amends paragraph 5(1)(d) of the Citizenship Act to modify the upper age limit of adult citizenship grant applicants who must meet the language requirement from 64 to 54. Therefore, paragraphs 2(1)(g), 2(2)(g), and 2(3)(c) are amended to require only adult citizenship grant applicants under 55 years of age at time of application to provide language evidence with their application demonstrating adequate knowledge of English or French.

Revocation notices

AACA includes amendments to the Citizenship Act that would repeal the authority to revoke citizenship of dual or multiple citizenship holders based on certain acts against the national interest. Accordingly, it is no longer necessary to regulate the manner in which notices related to revocation on this ground are sent, so the reference to subsection 10.1(2) of the Act will be removed from section 17 of the Regulations.

Reference to tax filing period

AACA includes an amendment to the Citizenship Act that replaces subparagraph 5(1)(c)(iii) of the Act to change the tax filing requirement for applicants from the current four taxation years in a period of six years to three taxation years in a period of five years to ensure consistency with the new physical presence requirements.

Paragraph 2(1)(f) of the Citizenship Regulations, No. 2 covers applicants who do not have a tax filing number and were not required to file taxes in the applicable period, by requiring a declaration to be made to that effect. The declaration includes stating that they were not required to file a tax return within the six-year period preceding their application. Accordingly, paragraph 2(1)(f) will be amended to replace the reference to six years with five years to align the Regulations with the change in the AACA.

Age requirement for citizenship grant applications

The AACA includes amendments to the Citizenship Act that remove the age requirement for a grant of citizenship under subsection 5(1), making it easier for minors to apply for citizenship without a parent. The amendment includes a provision concerning who is permitted to make the application on behalf of the minor. Subsequently, amendments to paragraph 4(a) of the Citizenship Regulations, No. 2 are required to better align the terminology used in the Regulations with respect to who can make an application on behalf of a minor applicant under subsection 5(2) of the Act with the terminology in the Citizenship Act, as amended by the AACA. In addition, amendments are needed to paragraphs 2(1)(g), 2(2)(g) and 2(3)(c) of the Regulations to reflect that only applicants under subsection 5(1) who are 18 years of age or older are required to provide language evidence to reflect the amendment introduced under the AACA.

“One-for-One” Rule

The “One-for-One” Rule does not apply to these regulatory amendments, as there are no changes in administrative costs to businesses.

Small business lens

The small business lens does not apply to these regulatory amendments, as they create no costs to small businesses.

Consultation

Consultation was conducted on the proposed amendments to the Citizenship Regulations No. 2 through a notice of intent published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on July 22, 2017, for a period of 15 days. Provincial and territorial governments responsible for immigration, as well as various stakeholders and organizations involved in immigration and citizenship issues, were informed that the Notice of Intent had been published for comment.

In total, eight comments were received from stakeholders during the comment period. Feedback primarily focused on bringing the remaining provisions of the AACA into force as soon as possible as well as the need to update supporting information to reflect the changes. Although not covered in the Citizenship Regulations No. 2, stakeholders also commented on the need to reduce the fee for minor applicants applying under subsection 5(1) of the Citizenship Act following the removal of the requirement to be 18 years old for applications under subsection 5(1). Fees for citizenship processing are set out in a schedule to the Governor in Council Citizenship Regulations, and therefore cannot be addressed within the context of these changes to the Citizenship Regulations No. 2.

Coming-into-force date

The majority of comments received from individuals requested that the remaining provisions of the AACA come into force as soon as possible and not be delayed until the Fall of 2017. Comments also recommended that implementation of the remaining provisions should be staggered to help better manage the intake of citizenship applications under the new requirements. Other comments focused on the need to immediately bring into force specific provisions, such as the change to the age range for the language and knowledge requirements. Stakeholders also identified the need to update all supporting information to reflect the change in requirements once all provisions have come into force.

Citizenship fees for minors applying under subsection 5(1) of the Citizenship Act

Stakeholders recommended that the fee for minors applying for a grant of citizenship under subsection 5(1) of the Citizenship Act be reduced or waived in light of the amendment that removed the requirement to be 18 years old for applications made under this subsection. In response to the amendment, some stakeholders recommended that all applicants under the age of 18 pay a fee of no more than $100 regardless of whether their application is submitted with or without a parent. Currently, all minors who make an application separately from a parent under subsection 5(1) are required to pay the $530 processing fee, but minors who apply concurrently with a parent under subsection 5(2) of the Citizenship Act are only required to pay a processing fee of $100.

Alternatively, some stakeholders suggested that the processing fee be reduced for all minors until such time as information is publicly disclosed regarding the average cost of processing citizenship grant applications for minors under subsection 5(1). Processing fees for citizenship program services are set out in a schedule to the Citizenship Regulations that fall under the authority of the Governor in Council.

Physical presence requirement

Individuals raised concerns regarding the repeal of the 183 days physical presence requirement under the AACA, as it would lessen the integrity of Canadian citizenship.

Rationale

These Regulations are required to support implementation of the amendments to the Citizenship Act made pursuant to the AACA (Bill C-6). These changes will facilitate access to citizenship for qualified applicants.

The low costs associated with these Regulations are related to implementation activities, including updating manuals, application kits, guidelines, Web pages and training. These costs will be absorbed within existing resources. Necessary implementation measures, including training of staff, would be funded out of resources already allocated. While there will be some transitional costs to Government, the costs for these regulatory proposals are considered low.

Implementation, enforcement and service standards

Implementation requires updates to program delivery instructions and manuals, application kits, guidelines, IT systems and Web pages.

A medium-profile proactive approach for these regulatory details, including Web messages, backgrounders, and other communications products, will be developed as necessary. This will support the communications strategy for announcing the coming into force of these facilitative measures.

Contact

Teny Dikranian
Director
Legislation and Program Policy
Citizenship Branch
Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada
180 Kent Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 1L1
Telephone: 613-437-5622
Fax: 613-991-2485
Email: IRCC.CITConsultations-ConsultationsCIT. IRCC@cic.gc.ca