New at this - citizen or not?

[UEKingscote]

My father was born in Ontario, Canada in 1912 to a US Citizen father and a Canadian born mother. The family lived in Ontario for perhaps two or more years. The family moved to the USA in about 1914-1915. Dad's birth is recorded in the Ontario records for births for 1912. One of the these two younger brothers was also born in Canada in 1914 prior to the family relocating to the USA. In 1918 my grandfather passed. My grandmother placed my father into foster care along with his two younger brothers. After being placed in foster care my dad was raised by a US couple and for a long period of time lost contact with his birth mother and brothers. Later on his mother, my grandmother, remarried and continued living in the USA.

Note: of side interest, in researching my Canadian side of the family I discovered that some of my ancestors were United Empire loyalists. Plus my dad did purchase land in Canada in the early 1950's and we spent time vacationing in Ontario and the land remained in the family until sometime in the early 2000's.

So my story is that I was born in the summer of 1947 in the USA. My question is, can I claim Canadian citizenship?

 

[links18]

Is your dad by any chance still living? If not, when did he pass? If your dad was considered an "alien" in 1947, because he was a US citizen, he wouldn't have become a Canadian in 1947 and therefore you wouldn't have been Canadian at birth. But the 2015 changes to the citizenship law granted Canadian citizenship to those who were born in Canada before 1947, but who did not become a Canadian citizen in 1947 (your dad). The 2009 changes to the citizenship law granted citizenship to those born outside Canada after Jan 1st, 1947 to a Canadian born parent. The question is was your father's--possibly posthumous--acquisition of Canadian citizenship in 2015 retroactive making him, and thus you, Canadian when you were born? Others will probably chime in with the answer.

This of course assumes he didn't become Canadian in 1947. If he did, then you would have been Canadian at birth but would probably have lost it if you did not reaffirm your citizenship before a certain age. However, with the 2009 changes to the law, you would probably have gotten your citizenship back as you would be first generation born abroad. If you have any children born outside Canada, they would not be Canadian.

Once again, others will need to confirm. I did my best.

 

[UEKingscote]

My dad's been gone for about ten years. As far as I know my dad never attempted to claim Canadian citizenship, nor did he renounce it either, and he never did anything to claim US citizenship other than that he was a US citizen at birth due to his dad being a US citizenship. Sort of like Ted Cruz is now claiming to be a native born US citizen.

 

[links18]

When your family crossed the border to go up the vacation property, do you remember what citizenship your father claimed going each way? In any event, you can always file a request for a citizenship certificate from CIC and see what they say.