When Pascal Sud and Meisha Smith were getting ready for the birth of their first child in January, the decision was straightforward. Smith planned to give birth in Jamaica, her home country where she had family support, and then they would all return to Montreal together after three months. Initially, they expected a four to six-week wait for their daughter Sofianne’s citizenship certificate needed for her to fly back to Canada. However, over eight months have passed, and they are still waiting.
Sud is now back at work in Montreal, while Smith and Sofianne remain in Jamaica. Sud expressed his frustration, mentioning how challenging it has been to miss out on every step of their daughter’s development and to be apart from them.
The delay in processing citizenship applications is due to a surge in applications received by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), mainly as a result of changes to federal law allowing individuals with Canadian ancestry to apply for citizenship. This backlog is hindering Canadians born abroad like Sofianne from reuniting with their families in Canada.
As of the latest update on September 3, there are 136,000 pending applications, with the current wait time for a citizenship certificate at 33 months. This means that Sofianne might be over three years old by the time she can enter Canada.
Sud attempted to apply for a visitor’s visa for Sofianne to travel to Canada on her Jamaican passport due to the delay. However, the application was rejected by IRCC, stating that she must travel to Canada on a Canadian passport since she is considered Canadian.
The processing delays have affected many families, including Robert Woodrich’s. Woodrich, originally from Windsor, Ont., applied for citizenship certificates for his children Michelle and her brother in February 2025 to visit family in Canada. Michelle, who holds a Swiss passport, has yet to receive her Canadian citizenship certificate, causing uncertainty about their upcoming trip to Canada.
Woodrich stressed that his children are Canadian citizens by birth and emphasized the necessity of the certificates for obtaining Canadian passports. Immigration lawyer Colin Singer highlighted the legal implications of citizenship status and travel documentation for Michelle’s situation.
Conservative MP Kathy Borrelli has been assisting Woodrich and other families facing delays in obtaining citizenship certificates. She criticized the government’s lack of preparedness for the influx of applications following the implementation of Bill C-3, emphasizing the impact on families waiting to be reunited with their loved ones in Canada.
