Section 6 — Retention of citizenship — Citizenship Act — Canada — immi.wiki
Text of provision
6 A permanent resident who has been lawfully admitted to Canada for permanent residence and who, at the time of an application for citizenship, has, within the four years immediately preceding the date of the application, been physically present in Canada for periods totalling at least three years does not cease to be a Canadian citizen by reason only of failure to comply with any other requirement of this Act, unless citizenship is renounced or revoked under this Act.
[Note: This section is a simplified rendering of the retention provision. The full Citizenship Act retention scheme also interacts with s 7 (right not to have citizenship taken away except in accordance with the Act) and s 9 (statelessness prevention).]
Plain English
Section 6 addresses the retention of citizenship — the principle that a Canadian citizen does not lose their citizenship merely by failing to meet technical requirements, such as failing to register or renew documents, unless citizenship is formally renounced or revoked under the Act.
The previous Citizenship Act (pre-1977) required persons born abroad to make a declaration to retain their citizenship by age 28. That requirement was abolished for all purposes by 1977 amendments. The current Act (RSC 1985, c C-29) does not have a citizenship retention requirement of the kind that existed under the old act.
Citizenship is retained unless it is:
- Renounced — by the citizen voluntarily applying to renounce under s 9 of the Act
- Revoked — by the Minister under s 10 (fraud or misrepresentation)
Failure to live in Canada, failure to hold a Canadian passport, or failure to use citizenship does not constitute a ground for losing citizenship under the current Act.
Practical effect
In practice, the retention principle means that Canadians living abroad do not need to take any action to preserve their citizenship. Their citizenship remains valid indefinitely.
Key practical points:
- A Canadian citizen who has never visited Canada (e.g., a second-generation citizen under s 3(1)(b) born abroad) retains citizenship unless they renounce it
- A Canadian citizen who has lived abroad for their entire adult life retains citizenship
- The first-generation born abroad limitation (s 3(3)) limits who can acquire citizenship by birth outside Canada, but does not affect existing citizens who already acquired citizenship by descent under the prior rules
- The abolition of the old "declaration of retention" requirement in 1977 means that persons born before 1977 who did not make the old declaration may have lost citizenship under the old Act — but this is now a historical issue handled through specific provisions and IRCC's Lost Canadians policy
For information about confirming citizenship status, refer to the IRCC proof of citizenship page.