What You Need to Apply
Applying for a Canadian citizenship certificate requires specific forms, identification, and documentation proving your line of descent to a Canadian ancestor. Here is everything you need.
Required Forms and Items
- CIT0001 Form — Application for a Citizenship Certificate, one per applicant. The form has sections for parents and grandparents. If your Canadian ancestor is further back, explain your lineage on a separate sheet.
- CIT0014 Checklist — Document checklist, one per applicant. Fill this out carefully — if you miss something, IRCC may return your entire application.
- Two Photographs — Per applicant, meeting IRCC photo specifications.
- Two Forms of ID — Colour photocopies per applicant. Acceptable forms include passports (must be signed), driver’s licenses, and national identity cards.
- Payment of C$75 — Per applicant. Include the receipt with your application.
- Line of Descent Documentation — Colour photocopies of birth certificates, marriage certificates, and other documents proving each link in your chain of descent.
Recommended Additions
- A cover letter clearly laying out your line of descent
- IMM 5476 (representative form) for family members applying with you
- A family tree showing the lines of descent
Documenting Your Line of Descent
You need to prove every link from you back to your Canadian ancestor. For each generation, you need a birth certificate that names the parent passing down Canadian citizenship.
Example: If your maternal grandmother was born in Canada (Gen 0), you would need:
- Your birth certificate (showing your mother’s name)
- Your mother’s birth certificate (showing her mother’s name)
- Your grandmother’s Canadian birth certificate, birth record, or baptism record
Name Discrepancies
If a parent’s name on their own birth certificate doesn’t match their name on their child’s birth certificate (e.g., maiden name vs. married name), include a marriage certificate to document the name change. This is very common and applies at every level of the chain.
Alternative Documents
If you cannot find a birth certificate for an ancestor, IRCC will accept alternatives in this order of preference:
- Birth certificate
- Birth record
- Baptism record (especially for Quebec ancestors)
- Marriage record (if it lists parents or place of birth)
- Death record (if it lists parents or place of birth)
- Other records — censuses, naturalization documents, military records, probate documentation
Important Notes
- No apostilles needed — IRCC does not want apostilled documents
- Send colour photocopies — Never send originals
- Black and white documents — Include a coloured sticky note or coloured paper behind the document in your photocopy to show it’s a colour copy of a black and white original
- Quebec records — Quebec didn’t start recording births outside of baptisms until the 1990s, so baptism records serve as official birth records