'Lost Canadians' scrambling after feds demand citizenship certificate surrender
An unknown number of people who recently received citizenship-by-descent recognition are being asked to surrender their certificates, with no explanation from Immigration Ottawa.
The day's top stories, food & events — every morning at 7. Unsubscribe anytime.
People who received Canadian citizenship certificates through citizenship-by-descent law are scrambling for answers after suddenly being asked by the federal government to surrender their certificates over the weekend.
Rana Charron, whose citizenship was formally recognized in mid-May, received a letter Saturday requesting she surrender her document. Her letter stated her citizenship is being reviewed because she either failed to supply supporting documents from original source authorities or neglected to explain attempts to secure documents from original sources.
Charron says she completed those steps and is frustrated by the lack of explanation from Ottawa. A spokesperson for Immigration Minister Lena Diab's office said the minister would not be available for interview and provided no response to requests for information about the surrender letters or the scope of the demand.
No federal statement has clarified how many people received the letters or the criteria for the reviews.