Canadian Citizenship Act, 1946

Canadian citizenship was generally conferred immediately on the following persons:[10]

• a person who was born in Canada (or on a Canadian ship) before 1947, and had not become an alien before 1947;[11][12]
• a person other than a natural-born Canadian citizen:
  • who was granted, or whose name was included in, a certificate of naturalization under any act of the Parliament of Canada and had not become an alien at the commencement of the Act, or
  • who was a British subject who had acquired Canadian domicile (i.e., five years' residence in Canada as a landed immigrant) before 1947
• a British subject who lived in Canada for 20 years immediately before 1947 and was not, on 1 January 1947, under order of deportation
• women who were married to a Canadian before 1947 and who entered Canada as a landed immigrant before 1947
• children born outside Canada to a Canadian father (or mother, if born out of wedlock) before 1947

In the latter two cases, a "Canadian" was a British subject who would have been considered a Canadian citizen if the 1947 Act had come into force immediately before the marriage or birth (as the case may be). Where the child born outside Canada was not a minor (i.e., was not under 21 years in age) at the time the Act came into force, proof of landed immigrant status was required to confirm Canadian citizenship.

In addition to those people who became Canadian citizens upon the coming into force of the Act, citizenship afterwards was generally acquired as follows:

• birth in Canada (except where either parent is a representative of a foreign government, their employee, or anyone granted diplomatic privileges or immunities and neither parent is a citizen or permanent resident)
• naturalization in Canada after five years' residence as a landed immigrant
• grant of citizenship to a foreign woman married to a Canadian man after one year's residence as a landed immigrant
• grant of citizenship to women who lost British subject status prior to 1947 upon marriage to a foreign man or his subsequent naturalization
• registration of a child born outside Canada to a Canadian "responsible parent" (being the father, if the child was born in wedlock, or the mother, if the child was born out of wedlock and was residing with the mother, if the father was deceased or if custody of the child had been awarded to the mother by court order)

A notable addition to the 1947 Act occurred when Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949. All native or naturalized Newfoundlanders were granted Canadian citizenship under the laws stated in the Citizenship Act, upon the date of union on 1 April 1949.[13]

In 1956, Parliament amended the Citizenship Act to retroactively grant citizenship to a small group of First Nations and Inuit who had entered Canada from Alaska at some point before 1947 but had not made formal application to enter Canada.[14] The amendment provided that anyone who was defined as "Indians" (First Nations) or "Eskimos" (Inuit), and who were not natural-born citizens, but were domiciled in Canada on 1 January 1947, and had been resident in Canada for ten years as at 1 January 1956, were granted citizenship retroactive to January 1, 1947.[15]