From the government’s website: The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced today that changes to the Citizenship Act through the adoption of Bill C-6 will be effective October 11, 2017.
As part of the Government of Canada’s commitment to provide greater flexibility in meeting requirements for those who wish to obtain Canadian citizenship, key changes include the following:
- Physical presence in Canada for 3 out of 5 years, instead of 4 out of 6 years
- Applicants must file income taxes for the 3 years out of 5 years, matching the new physical presence requirement
- The requirement of 183 days of physical presence in each calendar year has been eliminated
- Days spent in Canada as a temporary resident or protected person before becoming a permanent resident may be counted as half days to a maximum credit of 365 days. Example: If you spent all of 2013 and 2014 in Canada, but weren’t a permanent resident, these would count as one full year.
- Applicants under 18 and over 54 are not required to meet the language and knowledge requirements.
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