Canada Approved Nearly All Urgent Citizenship Files After Bill C-3

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada approved 5,804 of 5,845 urgent proof of Canadian citizenship files processed during the first eight months after Bill C-3 took effect, according to internal data obtained by CIC News. The data covers December 15, 2025, to August 14, 2026.

IRCC refused 17 urgent files, while 23 applicants withdrew and one file was abandoned. It received roughly 6,726 urgent requests and processed 5,845 of them, working out to an average of about 730 files per month.

What happened from December 2025 to October 2026?

1. December 15, 2025 – Bill C-3 changed the Citizenship Act and removed the first-generation limit that prevented Canadians born abroad from passing citizenship to children also born abroad.

1. December 15–31, 2025 – IRCC received 220 urgent requests and processed 213 files, all of which were approved.

1. March 2026 – Urgent requests reached 1,362, the highest monthly total in the data, while IRCC processed 954 approved files, refused five and recorded one withdrawal.

1. June 13, 2026 – IRCC asked some recent citizenship certificate holders to return their certificates and, days later, paused finalizing some new proof of citizenship applications.

1. June 30, 2026 – The certificate review ended; IRCC approved 317 urgent files in June, down from 716 in May.

1. July 31, 2026 – IRCC’s public data showed that it had finalized 34,400 proof of citizenship applications between January 1 and July 31.

1. August 14, 2026 – The access-to-information data period ended with 6,726 urgent applications received, 5,845 processed and 5,804 approved.

1. October 9, 2026 – IRCC listed the regular processing time for a new proof of citizenship application at 34 months.

How large were the urgent files?

IRCC’s 99.3% approval rate covered 5,804 approved files out of 5,845 processed. It never refused more than five urgent files in a single month, and output peaked in February and March before easing through the spring.

The urgency data also shows that IRCC processed 5,278 urgent files between January 1 and July 31, 2026. Compared with the 34,400 proof of citizenship applications finalized during the same seven months, this suggests urgent files represented about 15% of the total. CIC News described that share as an estimate because the application and urgency figures came from different IRCC sources.

How long are applicants waiting?

As of October 9, 2026, a new proof of citizenship application had an estimated processing time of 34 months, with about 130,700 people waiting for a decision. IRCC says urgent processing can reduce the wait to weeks.

The regular processing estimate changed considerably during 2026: IRCC listed it at 10 months in March, 25 months in August and 34 months by October 9. The urgent-request total fell after peaking in March, even as the regular estimate continued to increase.

How does this fit Canada’s processing system?

IRCC’s application-processing-system guidance, carrying data as of August 31, 2026, says citizenship grants are not included in the annual Immigration Levels Plan and are processed according to demand and other requirements. It also says incomplete applications are returned to applicants and that applications can take longer when further information, verification or additional security checks are required.

The same guidance describes the possible outcomes as approval, refusal or withdrawal. For related programme reporting, see programme revocations over price rebates and illegal sublets and a citizenship grant revoked within one week.

The scale of the regular queue is the central measure of pressure in the current system: as of October 9, 130,700 people were waiting for a decision.

Sources

• New data shows how IRCC handled urgent proof of citizenship requests in Bill C-3’s first eight months — cicnews.com, 2026-10-23
• Inside IRCC's application processing system — canada.ca, 2026-10-20