Millions of Americans can now claim Canadian citizenship by descent. But they have to prove it

…In Quebec, official documents dating back to 1621 and up to 100 years ago are kept by the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ), with more recent records available through the Directeur de l’état civil.

Sarah Hanahem, an archivist with the BAnQ office in Montreal, said while there’s always been an interest from Americans looking into their ancestry, requests for certified copies have exploded.

“In January 2025, we had 32 requests for certified copies of vital records and this year in January 2026, we’ve had over 1,000,” she said, adding most of those requests were made by Americans.

In statements to CBC, other archives across the country, including New Brunswick, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Ontario, have also seen a sizable increase in requests from the same time last year.

Because of the sudden surge in demand, Hanahem warned that international applicants should expect delays. 

The priority, she said, is to fulfil requests by Quebec residents.“BAnQ is a government entity and we are paid with Quebec tax dollars.”

But more than that, Hanahem said the process itself is lengthy and can involve a lot of research. 

There are sometimes discrepancies with the spelling of names, some of which might have changed over time, she said. Other times, critical information like which parish someone was born in, is unknown or key dates are approximate when actual dates are required.

“We have to go back to the original register,” Hanamen said, explaining some of the bound volumes are very old and need to be handled carefully. …

Source: Millions of Americans can now claim Canadian citizenship by descent. But they have to prove it