Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has launched a massive verification exercise, contacting recently naturalized citizens and ordering them to return their citizenship certificates over growing concerns that they may not meet the eligibility criteria to become Canadians.
The target of this recall involves individuals who were granted citizenship under a newly expanded descent framework. This pathway was established following the implementation of Bill C-3 in December 2025, which loosened restrictions to make it easier for descendants of “Lost Canadians” and individuals born or adopted abroad by Canadian parents to claim citizenship.
However, since June 13, 2026, the IRCC has been dispatching urgent letters and emails to numerous certificate holders under this framework, informing them that their previously approved applications are now undergoing a strict re-examination due to vulnerabilities to fraud within the system.
A portion of the official correspondence, signed by the Registrar of Canadian Citizenship, Peggy Sun, explicitly states:
“The purpose of this letter is to inform you that I have information in my possession that indicates that you may not be entitled to hold a Canadian certificate of citizenship.”
According to reports, the IRCC has identified two primary administrative gaps triggering the immediate recall of these certificates:
* The submitted documentation did not originate directly from the proper source authority.
* The applicants failed to provide a formal, written explanation detailing why they were unable to obtain those official source documents despite attempting to do so.
The vast majority of the affected individuals are currently residing in the United States. While they are legally obligated to return their certificates immediately for the review process, the IRCC clarified that the recall notices do not explicitly accuse the individuals of fraudulent activity. Instead, the department noted that the affected applicants will be given an official window of opportunity to submit supplementary documentary evidence to support and validate their citizenship claims.