Newfoundland & Labrador
War Brides

38. Canada will make available to Newfoundland and Labrador veterans the following benefits, on the same basis as they are from time to time available to Canadian veterans, as if the Newfoundland and Labrador veterans had served in His Majesty's Canadian forces, ...

Citizenship

43. Suitable provision will be made for the extension of the Canadian citizenship laws to the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

... no reference is specifically required in Bill C-37 to assist the above groups.

This bill seeks to restore Canadian citizenship to people who lost it and to give citizenship to children born outside Canada after January 1, 1947 (including children born outside Newfoundland after April 1, 1949) to a Canadian parent if they are not already citizens.

When Newfoundland joined confederation in 1949, the Canadian Citizenship Act was amended to extend citizenship to Newfoundlanders if they met the same requirements that people living in the rest of Canada had to meet in 1947 in order to become citizens.

Since then, reference to "Canadian citizens" always includes people born or naturalized in Newfoundland, as well as others with a connection to Newfoundland, such as Newfoundland War Brides. A Newfoundland War Bride acquired Canadian citizenship automatically on April 1, 1949, if she was married before that date to a Newfoundland man who also became a Canadian citizen on that date and if she was a British subject who entered Newfoundland or Canada before that date as a landed immigrant (permanent resident).

Bill C-37, which Minister Finley recently tabled in the House of Commons, seeks to restore Canadian citizenship to a person who was a citizen and lost it, whether they became a citizen originally in 1947 because of their connection to Canada without Newfoundland or in 1949 because of their connection to Newfoundland as a part of Canada. This includes Newfoundland War Brides and their children who became citizens on April 1, 1949 and who subsequently lost citizenship because of an outdated provision in the legislation.

It has been our experience that War Brides and other citizens who were not born in Canada may erroneously think they may have lost citizenship or may never have acquired it because they are sometimes asked to obtain a new proof of their citizenship. Since they were not born in Canada they do not have a provincial birth certificate (including a Newfoundland and Labrador certificate) to use as proof of their Canadian citizenship. In these cases, they may be asked (by Passport Canada for example) to apply to the Department of Citizenship and Immigration for a citizenship certificate as proof of their Canadian citizenship. Unfortunately, this is sometimes misunderstood as being asked to apply to become a citizen, which is not the case. Proof of citizenship for a person not born in Canada is a citizenship certificate which is obtained upon through this department.