The Canadian government appears to have been sending out letters to people across the globe who recently obtained citizenship, ordering them to return their certificates, sparking widespread confusion on social media.

According to posts on Reddit and local reports, Canadian authorities allegedly sent letters to people on Saturday who appear to have obtained their citizenship certificates in 2026, after Bill C-3 passed in December 2025, which ended the first-generation limit that had blocked thousands of people from applying for citizenship.

Losing citizenship would make someone a foreign national, and this could result in their removal from the country and a 10-year ban on reapplying for any status in Canada, according to the legal website lawyerinfo.ca.

IRCC "Actively Reviewing Files"

The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) told Newsweek that it is "aware that a limited number of people who obtained a citizenship certificate under C-3 have been notified that their file is under review."

The IRCC said that the purpose of the review is to "determine, through an individualized process, whether the certificate was properly issued based on the evidence required by law," adding this was a "necessary and important safeguard, and all affected individuals will have an opportunity to provide additional documentary evidence in support of their case."

The IRCC said that if the review confirms that the individual is entitled to the certificate, it will be returned, and that it was "actively reviewing the affected files and taking the necessary steps to ensure they are assessed fairly, consistently and in accordance with the law."

"This situation concerns the processing of individual cases and is not directly related to recent legislative changes," it said.

What Is Bill C-3?

Bill C-3 is a 2025 Canadian law that amended the Citizenship Act to overhaul how citizenship is passed down to people born abroad. It came into force on December 15, 2025, after a court ruling found parts of the previous law unconstitutional.

The most important change was ending the long‑standing first‑generation limit, which had prevented Canadians born outside the country from passing citizenship to their children if those children were also born abroad.

Bill C-3 instead introduced a new system requiring a "substantial connection" to Canada—meaning the parent of the child had to typically spend at least three years in Canada before the child's birth or adoption in order for that child to qualify for citizenship.

The law was seen as notable because it offered the chance of obtaining citizenship to thousands who had been denied citizenship despite having clear ties to the country—particularly Canadians living abroad with their families, or those with children born outside of Canada.

The IRCC told Newsweek that to "protect the value of Canadian citizenship, we brought in Bill C-3—creating fair, modern rules for citizenship by descent and a requirement that citizenship applicants clearly prove their connection to Canada."

"Individuals seeking proof of citizenship through a Canadian ancestor must establish the chain of parent-child relationships through each generation and provide solid evidence to support their claim," it said, adding that "having Canadian ancestry does not automatically mean entitlement to citizenship.

Who Is Affected?

Between April 2025 and March 2026, 285,500 new citizenships were granted in Canada, according to IRCC's latest data. This suggests that tens of thousands of people could be affected if this applies to those who received their citizenship after Bill C-3 passed.

What Does the Letter Say?

In what appears to be an example of the letter on Reddit, seemingly sent by Peggy Sun, Registrar of Canadian Citizenship, the opening reads that a legislative provision "authorizes me to require the surrender of a certificate of citizenship where I have reasonable grounds to believe that the holder of the certificate may not be entitled to it," adding that the receiver was believed to potentially "not be entitled to hold a Canadian certificate of citizenship."

The letter continued with reasoning, "The following are the reasons leading to this assessment:

"1. The documentation submitted in support of your proof of citizenship application is not from the original course authorities responsible for creating or maintaining historical records, such as civil registries, vital statistics agencies or other authorized government bodies.

"2. When source documents are not available and/or when an applicant is unable to obtain documents from a source authority, then the applicant must provide:

"i. A written explanation outlining why the source documents cannot be obtained; and

"ii. Submit evidence of efforts made to obtain the documents..."

The letter added that as the required documentation was "not submitted with your proof of citizenship application, I am requiring the surrender of your certificate of citizenship." It continued that the recipient's citizenship status was now "under review."

At the end, it added that there would be a chance for the recipient to "respond with further documentary evidence related to your application."

"Should the final decision be that you are entitled to the certificate of citizenship, then it will be returned to you," it concluded.

Reddit Reaction: A Megathread of Info-Gathering

Users on Reddit have been frantically taking to the platform to ask questions and share what they know about the situation, with one user even starting a "megathread," gathering people together to pool their knowledge about what was going on.

One user said they were "terrified" upon receiving the letter, and asked for "help" online. Another user said they were "very confused" because all the documents they submitted had been "legitimate."

In the "megathread" started three days ago by one user on the platform, they asked users who had received similar letters to share several pieces of information with the group so that they could start to "see a pattern" with who was receiving these letters and why.

They asked affected users to share what the approximate approval date of their application was, whether urgent processing was requested, the generation of the applicant, if they weren't able to obtain a key document, and what they did about it, what documents they submitted, the sender name and date, as well as a few other questions.

"Don't panic, we're all in it together and we are here to support each other," the user wrote. They also said that one user had "volunteered to do some cybersecurity analysis" in order to "verify the sender was IRCC."

When answering these questions, many of the users said they got their citizenship certificate in 2026, that they requested urgent processing, and the letters were dated June 13.