Bill C-3 substantial connection test: the 1,095-day rule

Bill C-3 fixed Canada's citizenship-by-descent rules retroactively, but it also added a forward-looking guardrail: the substantial connection test. If you're a Canadian citizen who was born outside Canada and you have a child after December 15, 2025, your child only inherits citizenship if you've spent at least 1,095 days physically present in Canada before they were born.

Here's how the rule works, who it touches, and what to do if the math doesn't work out.

What the substantial connection test is and why it exists

The substantial connection test is the policy compromise at the heart of Bill C-3. Parliament wanted to undo the harm of the old first-generation limit — which had stripped citizenship from people whose only "fault" was being born abroad to a Canadian parent — but it didn't want descent to flow indefinitely to families with no real tie to Canada.

The solution: make the past generous and the future conditional. Anyone born before December 15, 2025 who fits the new rules is a citizen automatically, no test required. But to pass citizenship on to a new child born abroad after that date, the Canadian-citizen parent has to demonstrate a meaningful connection to Canada — quantified as 1,095 days of physical presence, the same threshold used elsewhere in the Citizenship Act for naturalization.

You'll see this referred to as the "substantial connection requirement," the "physical presence requirement," or simply the "1,095 day rule."

Who it applies to — and who it doesn't

The test applies to a narrow group:

• The child was born on or after December 15, 2025, AND
• The child was born outside Canada, AND
• The Canadian-citizen parent passing on citizenship was also born outside Canada (i.e., they are themselves a citizen by descent)

If the parent was born in Canada, the test doesn't apply — children born abroad to a Canadian-born parent are citizens by descent automatically, as they always have been.

If the child was born before December 15, 2025, the test does not apply, full stop. Bill C-3's retroactive fix means anyone with an unbroken chain of descent and a Canadian-born ancestor is a citizen, regardless of how much time their parents spent in Canada. For the historical claims most people are working on right now, this rule is irrelevant. See Bill C-3 explained and Canadian citizenship by descent in 2026 for the retroactive picture.

The test is forward-looking. It exists to govern the next generation of births abroad, not to second-guess existing claims.

How the 1,095-day count actually works

Three things to understand about the count:

1. It's cumulative, not consecutive. You don't need to have lived in Canada for three years straight. The 1,095 days are added up across your entire life before the child's birth. A summer with relatives in Halifax at age ten counts. A semester at McGill counts. A year working in Toronto in your twenties counts. They all stack.

2. It's lifetime, not recent. There's no "must be in the last X years" window. If you spent your whole childhood in Canada and then moved abroad as an adult, those childhood days count. Time as a minor is just as valid as time as an adult.

3. It's measured before the birth. Days you spend in Canada after your child is born don't count toward that child's claim. The clock stops at the date of birth. (You can, of course, build up days for future children.)

So the practical question for any prospective parent abroad is: across your entire life, before this child's expected birth date, do your Canadian days add up to 1,095?

What counts as physical presence

Physical presence means being bodily inside Canada. The day-counting convention used elsewhere in the Citizenship Act is generally:

• A full day in Canada counts as one day
• A partial day — the day you arrive or the day you leave — typically counts as a half day, though IRCC's online physical presence calculator handles the arithmetic

You need to have been legally admitted to Canada during those days — as a citizen, permanent resident, visitor, student, or worker. Time spent unlawfully in Canada doesn't count.

IRCC is expected to publish detailed guidance on edge cases (cross-border commuters, brief same-day trips, time on Canadian-flagged vessels, etc.) as Bill C-3 implementation matures. For now, conservative day-counting against documented presence is the safest approach.

How to document the days

The burden of proof is on you. The single most useful document is the CBSA Travel History Report, which the Canada Border Services Agency will produce on request. It lists every entry into Canada the agency has on file, with dates. You can request your own report from CBSA directly — it's free and arrives by mail or email within a few weeks.

CBSA records typically only go back about 15 years and only cover entries (not exits), so for older periods you'll want corroborating evidence. Useful documents include:

• School records — transcripts, enrolment letters, report cards
• Employment records — T4 slips, ROEs, employer letters confirming dates of work in Canada
• Lease agreements and utility bills for Canadian addresses
• Tax records — Notices of Assessment from the CRA for years you filed as a Canadian resident
• Medical records — provincial health card history, immunization records
• Bank and credit card statements showing in-Canada activity
• Travel records from the other side — US I-94 entry records, foreign passport stamps that establish when you were out of Canada

You don't need to prove every single day. You need to build a credible documentary case that totals 1,095 days. The application for the child will likely be the CIT 0001 (proof of citizenship) form, with the substantial-connection evidence attached as supporting documentation. See our CIT 0001 step-by-step for the form mechanics; specific instructions for the substantial-connection package are expected as IRCC finalises its implementation guidance.

What if the parent doesn't meet 1,095 days

If the count comes up short, the child is not a citizen by descent. There is no partial credit and no good-faith exception built into the statute itself.

That's not the end of the road, though. Three pathways remain:

1. Sponsorship for permanent residence. A Canadian citizen parent can sponsor their child abroad for permanent residence. Once the child becomes a PR and lives in Canada for the required period, they can apply for citizenship through naturalization. This is slower and costlier than inheriting citizenship outright, but the result is the same passport.

2. Discretionary citizenship grant under section 5(4). The Minister of Immigration retains a discretionary power to grant citizenship in cases of "special and unusual hardship" or "to reward services of an exceptional value to Canada." This is rarely granted and shouldn't be relied on, but it exists.

3. The child can naturalize on their own as an adult. If the child eventually moves to Canada as a permanent resident, the standard naturalization route (currently 1,095 days of physical presence in Canada within the five years before applying) is available to them.

For complex situations — split custody, surrogacy, adoption abroad, or borderline day counts — talk to a Canadian immigration lawyer or an RCIC. arryv is not a law firm, and the substantial connection test is one of the areas where individual facts matter most.

Planning ahead

If you're a Canadian citizen abroad who might want to pass on citizenship to children later, the practical move is to start documenting now:

• Request your CBSA Travel History Report while your records are fresh
• Keep a running tally of past Canadian time, with documents stapled to each block
• Bank Canadian days where you can — extended summer visits, work secondments, study terms — especially if you're close to the threshold
• Check whether you're already over by adding up childhood years: many people who grew up in Canada and moved abroad as adults are already well past 1,095 days and just don't know it

The rule isn't a trap; it's a number. If you know your number, you can plan around it.

Check whether Bill C-3 makes you a citizen today

The substantial connection test only matters for future births. For the retroactive question — am I already a Canadian citizen under Bill C-3 because of an ancestor? — there's no day-counting involved at all.

Run our free eligibility check to see where you stand in 60 seconds.