Coming into Force Orders: Implementation of SCCA references with links:
There are already numerous topics regarding the effective date for key provisions in the SCCA governing the requirements for a grant of citizenship, main focus on the revisions to section 5(1) of the Citizenship Act, now including in particular section 5(1)(c) (the physical presence and compliance with tax filing obligations provisions) and section 5(1)(c.1) (the provision imposing the intent to continue to reside in Canada if granted citizenship requirement).
The June 17, 2015 Part II issue (did not get posted online until quite late in the day) of the Gazette finally publishes the respective Orders by the Governor in Council relating to changes in the law governing citizenship. This constitutes the official publication of these Orders. This includes multiple Orders regarding changes to the Citizenship Regulations in addition to those fixing the coming into force date for provisions in the SCCA.
I thought it might be worthwhile to post this separate topic citing and linking these critical Orders, as well as organizing, citing, and linking other related key sources, to in effect collect the various primary sources (many official, all at least an authoritative source) regarding the adoption and implementation of these profound changes. Note, with the exception of the PDIs linked below, these are not CIC sources. CIC's online pages are NOT official sources, and in most contexts not even authoritative, but rather are specifically informational.
In fact, perhaps the Citizenship Program Delivery Instructions are the most useful sources for most people wrestling with citizenship application issues. These are very useful even though they are technically internal CIC instructions, having no legal force, and thus are not binding. They are nonetheless generally reliable information, especially as to how CIC is interpreting and applying the governing statutory and regulatory provisions, even though they are, of course, subject to the actual governing law, including statutory provisions, regulations, and Federal Court rulings. So I will list and link some of these citizenship PDIs first:
Citizenship Program Delivery Instructions (PDIs):
The Citizenship program overview contains references and links to many of the specific Program Delivery Instructions governing citizenship applications; there is also a full table of contents of the instructions related to citizenship.
There are, for example, explicit instructions for adult citizenship grants, separately set out for applications received at the CPC-S before June 11, 2015, and another for those received "on or after June 11, 2015. These particular instructions outline, for example, particular procedures for assessing compliance with the language requirement and residency, as well as information about clearances (much the same as it has been now since OB 407 was issued in 2012) and reiteration that all all requirements must be met and maintained right up to the taking of the Oath, and that Citizenship Officers can still refuse an application and not allow an applicant to take the oath, even though the applicant has already been approved, if it "has been determined that all of the requirements for the grant of citizenship have not been maintained at the time the Oath is to be taken."
There are specific instructions for Residence, including specific instructions for Calculating physical presence; this includes numerous examples which contain no surprises, but are helpful for those who are uncertain or confused about how the new requirements will apply to various scenarios (note, for example, there are examples for applicants who arrive (land) in the first half of the year, for whom that Calendar Year (CY) could constitute one of the required 4 CYs in which the PR is present 183+ days, as well as similarly for an applicant who arrives (lands) in the second half of the year, for whom the year of landing cannot count as one of the 183+ days CYs. Among several other scenarios.
I have only linked a sample of the citizenship PDIs above, but it should be relatively easy to navigate the whole collection of citizenship PDIs from these particular ones I have linked.
Key Primary Law Sources; the Citizenship Act, Citizenship Regulations, plus:
The overriding, official law governing grant citizenship (subject, of course, to consistency with constitutional and Charter principles) is the Citizenship Act, and the Citizenship Regulations, recognizing that the Citizenship Regulations are subordinate, subject to the Citizenship Act (thus, if there is a conflict or inconsistency between these, the Citizenship Act overrides the Regulations).
It would be worthwhile linking the specific provisions, in both the Citizenship Act and the Citizenship Regulations, which govern the grant of citizenship. However, the Justice Laws website still has not been updated to reflect either the provisions or regulations which have come into force since May 28, 2015. So a link now is likely to be outdated soon, within just a few days.
As available at the Justice Laws website, the Citizenship Act is current only to May 25, 2015. Again, however, the site is likely to be updated soon (ordinarily it is updated within two weeks, and it has been longer than that for many of these changes, so it should be fully updated very soon).
For now, and for reference purposes generally, the full SCCA is accessible at the Parliamentary Business web page for Bill C-24 (version receiving Royal Assent), and the September 3, 2014 Part III issue of the Gazette in which the SCCA is officially published. (Note: I have often erroneously referred to the date of this as August 13, 2014, mixing it up with the official publication of earlier Governor in Council Orders regarding the SCCA, as to the coming into force of certain provisions and related regulations, published in the August 13, 2014 issue of Part II.) Until the Justice Laws website is updated, also see for "amendments not in force", noting however, that all these amendments are in fact now in force (as of June 11, 2015).
Transitional provisions: An important collection of certain provisions in the SCCA is found in the link, at the Citizenship Act web page, for "related provisions." Included in this group of provisions, most of which will not be consolidated into the Citizenship Act itself, as I understand the process, are the provisions prescribing what law governs in various transitional circumstances. These are the provisions which draw the main distinction between applications made and submitted by June 10, 2015 and those not received by CIC until June 11, 2015 or after.
Thus, for example, among the "related provisions" is section 31.(1) of the SCCA which is the statute that says applications made on or before June 10, 2015 are governed by the requirements as stated in the Citizenship Act on June 10, 2015, that is, by the old 3/4 rule with allowance for pre-landing credit.
Governor in Council Orders
There were several citizenship related Governor in Council Orders officially published in the June 17, 2015 Gazette, including those related to the coming into force of provisions in the SCCA and those related to regulatory changes.
Governor in Council Orders regarding the SCCA changes to the Citizenship Act
The key Governor in Council Order, Order Fixing June 11, 2015 as the Day on which Certain Provisions of the Act Come into Force, was made June 4, 2015, and is registered June 17, 2015. This is the big one, the one that implements the big changes in requirements for grant citizenship, implementing the 4/6 rule, the 183 X 4 CYs presence rule, the compliance with tax filing obligation 4 tax years rule, and of course the notorious intent-to-continue-to-reside-in-Canada-if-granted-citizenship requirement.
The other Governor in Council order fixing a date for provisions in the SCCA, provisions implementing new grounds and procedures for the revocation of citizenship, was made on May 28, 2015 and likewise just registered on June 17, 2015.
Governor in Council Orders related to regulatory changes (changes to the Citizenship Regulations)
The main regulatory changes, including in particular those related to implementing the new physical presence requirements for grants of citizenship to adults, was actually an Order made May 28, 2015, registered June 1, 2015; these amended regulations for Grant of Citizenship (and other parts of the SCCA, such as regulations governing the renunciation or resumption of citizenship, citizenship certificates, and delivery of revocation notices) came into force on June 11, 2015.
Order adding Citizenship Regulation section 7.2 regarding revocation of citizenship procedure, registered and in force as of May 29, 2015.
Order amending and adding Citizenship Regulations regarding several aspects of the changes in law, including provisions governing grant of citizenship for adopted persons, information sharing provisions, and some more or less technical procedure provisions; this Order was registered June 5, 2015 and the respective regulatory changes came into force (as I read the order) June 11, 2015.
Some Observations:
The Governor in Council Orders are published along with explanatory notes including information related to the purpose and background, implications, and consultations conducted, and such.
The minimal amount of notice the government gave the public as to effective date is appalling, quite simply an egregious abuse of trust, albeit probably not illegal. The notice was not even sufficient for standard mailing times, barely sufficient for shipping with expensive courier services. And given the extent to which government representatives had often cited June 19, 2015 as the cut off date, the manner in which the government went about this was nothing less than an injustice.
There is a path for submitting an application using the new form but asserting that the application should be governed by the old requirements. Obviously this would be a difficult endeavor with a very low prospect for success; it will be summarily rejected and returned by CIC in which case the applicant can re-submit it insisting that it be processed nonetheless, and then a CJ will almost certainly deny it (I'd expect), but this thus constituting a way to in effect challenge the validity of the process pursuant to which these changes were implemented. I cannot imagine such challenges being worthwhile, and again the chances of success are very remote, but for example those who had submitted applications well before June 11, and before the announcement of the cut off date, which were returned to the applicant as incomplete but not in time to re-submit the application by June 10, 2015, might have a valid argument (given section 13 of the Citizenship Act in conjunction with section 31 of the SCCA). There are other scenarios I can conceive of in which an argument could be made . . . but again, I seriously doubt it would be worthwhile pursuing such cases, particularly since it would be very expensive (if a lawyer can even be found who would take such cases) and the probable outcome overwhelmingly falls into the lost column.
There are already numerous topics regarding the effective date for key provisions in the SCCA governing the requirements for a grant of citizenship, main focus on the revisions to section 5(1) of the Citizenship Act, now including in particular section 5(1)(c) (the physical presence and compliance with tax filing obligations provisions) and section 5(1)(c.1) (the provision imposing the intent to continue to reside in Canada if granted citizenship requirement).
The June 17, 2015 Part II issue (did not get posted online until quite late in the day) of the Gazette finally publishes the respective Orders by the Governor in Council relating to changes in the law governing citizenship. This constitutes the official publication of these Orders. This includes multiple Orders regarding changes to the Citizenship Regulations in addition to those fixing the coming into force date for provisions in the SCCA.
I thought it might be worthwhile to post this separate topic citing and linking these critical Orders, as well as organizing, citing, and linking other related key sources, to in effect collect the various primary sources (many official, all at least an authoritative source) regarding the adoption and implementation of these profound changes. Note, with the exception of the PDIs linked below, these are not CIC sources. CIC's online pages are NOT official sources, and in most contexts not even authoritative, but rather are specifically informational.
In fact, perhaps the Citizenship Program Delivery Instructions are the most useful sources for most people wrestling with citizenship application issues. These are very useful even though they are technically internal CIC instructions, having no legal force, and thus are not binding. They are nonetheless generally reliable information, especially as to how CIC is interpreting and applying the governing statutory and regulatory provisions, even though they are, of course, subject to the actual governing law, including statutory provisions, regulations, and Federal Court rulings. So I will list and link some of these citizenship PDIs first:
Citizenship Program Delivery Instructions (PDIs):
The Citizenship program overview contains references and links to many of the specific Program Delivery Instructions governing citizenship applications; there is also a full table of contents of the instructions related to citizenship.
There are, for example, explicit instructions for adult citizenship grants, separately set out for applications received at the CPC-S before June 11, 2015, and another for those received "on or after June 11, 2015. These particular instructions outline, for example, particular procedures for assessing compliance with the language requirement and residency, as well as information about clearances (much the same as it has been now since OB 407 was issued in 2012) and reiteration that all all requirements must be met and maintained right up to the taking of the Oath, and that Citizenship Officers can still refuse an application and not allow an applicant to take the oath, even though the applicant has already been approved, if it "has been determined that all of the requirements for the grant of citizenship have not been maintained at the time the Oath is to be taken."
There are specific instructions for Residence, including specific instructions for Calculating physical presence; this includes numerous examples which contain no surprises, but are helpful for those who are uncertain or confused about how the new requirements will apply to various scenarios (note, for example, there are examples for applicants who arrive (land) in the first half of the year, for whom that Calendar Year (CY) could constitute one of the required 4 CYs in which the PR is present 183+ days, as well as similarly for an applicant who arrives (lands) in the second half of the year, for whom the year of landing cannot count as one of the 183+ days CYs. Among several other scenarios.
I have only linked a sample of the citizenship PDIs above, but it should be relatively easy to navigate the whole collection of citizenship PDIs from these particular ones I have linked.
Key Primary Law Sources; the Citizenship Act, Citizenship Regulations, plus:
The overriding, official law governing grant citizenship (subject, of course, to consistency with constitutional and Charter principles) is the Citizenship Act, and the Citizenship Regulations, recognizing that the Citizenship Regulations are subordinate, subject to the Citizenship Act (thus, if there is a conflict or inconsistency between these, the Citizenship Act overrides the Regulations).
It would be worthwhile linking the specific provisions, in both the Citizenship Act and the Citizenship Regulations, which govern the grant of citizenship. However, the Justice Laws website still has not been updated to reflect either the provisions or regulations which have come into force since May 28, 2015. So a link now is likely to be outdated soon, within just a few days.
As available at the Justice Laws website, the Citizenship Act is current only to May 25, 2015. Again, however, the site is likely to be updated soon (ordinarily it is updated within two weeks, and it has been longer than that for many of these changes, so it should be fully updated very soon).
For now, and for reference purposes generally, the full SCCA is accessible at the Parliamentary Business web page for Bill C-24 (version receiving Royal Assent), and the September 3, 2014 Part III issue of the Gazette in which the SCCA is officially published. (Note: I have often erroneously referred to the date of this as August 13, 2014, mixing it up with the official publication of earlier Governor in Council Orders regarding the SCCA, as to the coming into force of certain provisions and related regulations, published in the August 13, 2014 issue of Part II.) Until the Justice Laws website is updated, also see for "amendments not in force", noting however, that all these amendments are in fact now in force (as of June 11, 2015).
Transitional provisions: An important collection of certain provisions in the SCCA is found in the link, at the Citizenship Act web page, for "related provisions." Included in this group of provisions, most of which will not be consolidated into the Citizenship Act itself, as I understand the process, are the provisions prescribing what law governs in various transitional circumstances. These are the provisions which draw the main distinction between applications made and submitted by June 10, 2015 and those not received by CIC until June 11, 2015 or after.
Thus, for example, among the "related provisions" is section 31.(1) of the SCCA which is the statute that says applications made on or before June 10, 2015 are governed by the requirements as stated in the Citizenship Act on June 10, 2015, that is, by the old 3/4 rule with allowance for pre-landing credit.
Governor in Council Orders
There were several citizenship related Governor in Council Orders officially published in the June 17, 2015 Gazette, including those related to the coming into force of provisions in the SCCA and those related to regulatory changes.
Governor in Council Orders regarding the SCCA changes to the Citizenship Act
The key Governor in Council Order, Order Fixing June 11, 2015 as the Day on which Certain Provisions of the Act Come into Force, was made June 4, 2015, and is registered June 17, 2015. This is the big one, the one that implements the big changes in requirements for grant citizenship, implementing the 4/6 rule, the 183 X 4 CYs presence rule, the compliance with tax filing obligation 4 tax years rule, and of course the notorious intent-to-continue-to-reside-in-Canada-if-granted-citizenship requirement.
The other Governor in Council order fixing a date for provisions in the SCCA, provisions implementing new grounds and procedures for the revocation of citizenship, was made on May 28, 2015 and likewise just registered on June 17, 2015.
Governor in Council Orders related to regulatory changes (changes to the Citizenship Regulations)
The main regulatory changes, including in particular those related to implementing the new physical presence requirements for grants of citizenship to adults, was actually an Order made May 28, 2015, registered June 1, 2015; these amended regulations for Grant of Citizenship (and other parts of the SCCA, such as regulations governing the renunciation or resumption of citizenship, citizenship certificates, and delivery of revocation notices) came into force on June 11, 2015.
Order adding Citizenship Regulation section 7.2 regarding revocation of citizenship procedure, registered and in force as of May 29, 2015.
Order amending and adding Citizenship Regulations regarding several aspects of the changes in law, including provisions governing grant of citizenship for adopted persons, information sharing provisions, and some more or less technical procedure provisions; this Order was registered June 5, 2015 and the respective regulatory changes came into force (as I read the order) June 11, 2015.
Some Observations:
The Governor in Council Orders are published along with explanatory notes including information related to the purpose and background, implications, and consultations conducted, and such.
The minimal amount of notice the government gave the public as to effective date is appalling, quite simply an egregious abuse of trust, albeit probably not illegal. The notice was not even sufficient for standard mailing times, barely sufficient for shipping with expensive courier services. And given the extent to which government representatives had often cited June 19, 2015 as the cut off date, the manner in which the government went about this was nothing less than an injustice.
There is a path for submitting an application using the new form but asserting that the application should be governed by the old requirements. Obviously this would be a difficult endeavor with a very low prospect for success; it will be summarily rejected and returned by CIC in which case the applicant can re-submit it insisting that it be processed nonetheless, and then a CJ will almost certainly deny it (I'd expect), but this thus constituting a way to in effect challenge the validity of the process pursuant to which these changes were implemented. I cannot imagine such challenges being worthwhile, and again the chances of success are very remote, but for example those who had submitted applications well before June 11, and before the announcement of the cut off date, which were returned to the applicant as incomplete but not in time to re-submit the application by June 10, 2015, might have a valid argument (given section 13 of the Citizenship Act in conjunction with section 31 of the SCCA). There are other scenarios I can conceive of in which an argument could be made . . . but again, I seriously doubt it would be worthwhile pursuing such cases, particularly since it would be very expensive (if a lawyer can even be found who would take such cases) and the probable outcome overwhelmingly falls into the lost column.