ROCHESTER, N.Y. — More than 120,000 Americans are applying for Canadian citizenship.
On top of the tariffs and tough talk, a change in Canada’s immigration law is getting more Americans applying for the citizenship of their ancestors. Chief Investigative Reporter Berkeley Brean found some of our neighbors who have signed up.
From Quebec to New York
125 years ago, Larry Champoux’s grandfather moved the family from Quebec to New York. His father was born in the U.S.
Champoux isn’t giving up his American citizenship. But he’s applying for the certificate that will make his Canadian citizenship official.
“Particularly at this time in our history where it seems the relationship is a bit tentative, I think there’s a way to show we have a shared heritage with Canada that sometimes we forget about or don’t notice,” Champoux said.
The immigration law change
Here’s the change Canada made. For decades, it granted citizenship to the first generation of a Canadian but stopped there. Now Canada grants it to unlimited generations as long as they can prove their ancestry.
There are 120,000 applications. Joshua Schachnow runs a Toronto law firm that helps people applying.
“That’s the backlog right now. So that doesn’t count the tens of thousands that have been approved,” Schachnow said.
“I would say the majority of people I talk to, they don’t necessarily want to move tomorrow but they recognize that the world is a crazy place and they just want that second passport in their back pocket,” Schachnow said.
Applying for her son
Ellen Robillard’s mother was born in Nova Scotia and moved to America when she was 20. So Robillard is first generation and always eligible. Now she’s applying for her son who is away at college.
“I couldn’t imagine circumstances that I would be comfortable leaving him in another country so I wanted to make sure that I could find a pathway for him if he needed it or wanted it,” Robillard said.
“And I want to be able to plan a future for myself and my loved ones,” Robillard said.
When this law changed at the start of the year, the process was scheduled to take 12 months. With so many applications, the Canadian government says the process can now be more than two years.
According to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, there are approximately 115,000 to 125,000 people with Canadian ancestry living in Upstate New York.
According to a recent Gallup poll, 80% of Americans have a very or mostly favorable opinion of Canada. That’s down nine percentage points from the previous year and marks the lowest favorability rating for Canada recorded by Gallup since tracking began in 1987.
‘They just want that second passport’: Why thousands of Americans are applying for Canadian citizenship right now WHEC.com.
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