Story:Canadian Citizenship Act Enacted

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Until 1947, there was no such thing in law as a Canadian citizen. Canadian nationals were legally defined as British subjects, both in Canada and abroad.

Paul Martin Sr. (left) with Mackenzie King at the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly , October 23, 1946

The law that gave legal recognition to the term "Canadian citizen" originated with Liberal Cabinet Minister Paul Martin Sr.. During the Second World War, when he was visiting Dieppe, he resolved to bring in a law defining what constituted a Canadian.

The Immigration Act of 1910, the Naturalization Act of 1914 and the Canadian Nationals Act of 1921 provided a definition of "Canadian nationals," which Canada needed for participation in the League of Nations and membership in the International Court of Justice, but as Martin noted in Parliament, there was unending confusion and embarrassment. Married women did not have full authority over their national status. Along with minors, lunatics and idiots "under a disability," they could not become naturalized or control their national status as independent persons, except in very special circumstances.

On October 22, 1945, Martin spoke to Canadian Citizenship Act in the House of Commons:

Our "new Canadians" bring to this country much that is rich and good, and in Canada they find a new way of life and new hope for the future. They should all be made to feel that they, like the rest of us, are Canadians, citizens of a great country, guardians of proud traditions and trustees of all that is best in life for generations of Canadians yet to be. For the national unity of Canada and for the future and greatness of this country it is felt to be of utmost importance that all of us, new Canadians or old, have a consciousness of a common purpose and common interests as Canadians; that all of us are able to say with pride and say with meaning: "I am a Canadian citizen."

The Canadian Citizenship Act, enacted on June 27, 1946, came into force on January 1, 1947. It conferred a common Canadian citizenship on all Canadians, whether or not they had been born in Canada. Canadian citizenship, however, was deemed a privilege to be granted only to those considered qualified. Among the changes introduced by the new Act were the following:

• All Canadian citizens would have automatic right of entry to Canada.

• As a rule, immigrants (including those from the Commonwealth) would not qualify for full citizenship until they had been resident in Canada for five years and had taken out citizenship papers. However, immigrants who were already British subjects would not lose their existing rights, including the right to vote after they had resided in Canada for only one year. Immigrants who had served in the Canadian armed forces during the First or the Second World War would qualify for naturalization after only one year.

Chief Justice Rinfret at the First Citizenship Ceremony, , January 3, 1947

• Married women would be given full authority over their nationality status.

• Citizenship would be lost under certain circumstances, such as the adoption of citizenship of another country.

• Provision would be made for instruction in the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and for appropriate citizenship ceremonies, including a revised oath of allegiance.

• An applicant for citizenship could substitute 20 years of residence in Canada for a knowledge of English or French.

Rinfret Presents Mackenzie King with his Citizenship Certificate, January 3, 1947

With this revolutionary law Canada became the first Commonwealth country to create its own class of citizenship separate from that of Great Britain. Henceforth Canadian citizenship could be acquired by immigrants who had been naturalized in Canada, non-Canadian British subjects who had lived in Canada for five or more years, and non-Canadian women who had married Canadian citizens and who had come to live in Canada.

At a cermony of January 3, 1947 in the Supreme Court of Canada, Chief Justice Thibaudeau Rinfret presented 26 individuals with the first Canadian citizenship certificates. Prime Minister Mackenzie King received certificate 0001. Photographer Yousuf Karsh, born in Armenia, also received his citizenship.