Program directory · Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
Citizenship
- Program code
- BGF01 (CI)
- Core responsibility
- Citizenship and Passports
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
IRCC grants Canadian citizenship to eligible applicants. IRCC undertakes assessment activities such as verifying physical presence in Canada, administering the citizenship test, validating language proficiency and confirming that applicants do not possess criminal records that could prohibit them from receiving citizenship. IRCC administers citizenship ceremonies where successful citizenship candidates take the Oath of Citizenship and receive their citizenship certificate. IRCC maintains records of citizenship, provides services to search citizenship records and issues citizenship certificates to those who are citizens by birth or by naturalization. IRCC processes applications from individuals wishing to renounce their Canadian citizenship and provides documentation when an application is approved. IRCC promotes the rights and responsibilities of Canadian citizenship through awareness-raising and celebratory activities. This includes disseminating educational materials (particularly the citizenship study guide), hosting special ceremonies on Canada Day and during Citizenship Week, and providing materials for reaffirmation ceremonies where citizens repeat the Oath of Citizenship to express their commitment to Canada. The Minister revokes citizenship where it was obtained by false representation or fraud. IRCC recalls and cancels citizenship certificates where individuals are not entitled to them. IRCC undertakes activities to detect and prevent fraud in the program.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Citizenship | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $608M |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | Employees (FTEs) 1,102, against 864 in 2021-22 (+28%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Spending $118M, against $94.3M in 2022-23 (+25%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Indicators added: Percentage of citizenship applicants, who are required to meet the knowledge requirement, that successfully pass the test or demonstrate knowledge during a hearing with a citizenship officer | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Indicators dropped: Number of people who are granted citizenship | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 138,000 | 2019 | 207,893 In 2018-2019, 207,893 permanent residents in Canada were granted Canadian citizenship. The number of naturalized citizens has increased in 2018-2019 compared to two consecutive prior fiscal years and surpassed its yearly target by over 66%. After Bill C-6 was enacted, the new requirements to grant citizenship supported an increase in the Canadian citizenship naturalization rate. | Met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 138,000 | 2020 | 247,139 In 2019–20, over 247,000 people were granted Canadian citizenship, an 18% increase (or more than 39,000 additional clients) over the previous fiscal year. The Department expected a surge in applications in 2018–19 based on C-6 changes that came into force in the fall of 2017. The changes included reducing the amount of time a permanent resident has to spend in Canada before being eligible for cit… | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 200,000 | 2021 | 57,823 Due to the strained processing capacity of the Citizenship Program caused by COVID-19 closures almost 58,000 residents who applied and met the requirements were granted Canadian citizenship in 2020-21. Even before the pandemic, growing application volumes and dated systems strained the operational processing model for the Citizenship Program resulting in increased processing times. The Citizenshi… | Not met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 200,000 | 2022 | 221,919 The total capacity of IRCC's citizenship grants processing has shown a great resiliency in 2021-22. More than 221,000 permanent residents who applied and met the requirements were granted Canadian Citizenship in the past fiscal year. The Program has surpassed its required fiscal program target by nearly 22,000. The Program's capacity was drastically strained due to the effects of the pandemic in… | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 200,000 | 2023 | 364,166 In 2022-23, citizenship was granted to a record high of 364,166 eligible permanent residents. These results were, in part, due to temporary funding and additional temporary hiring which helped to process inventories. The implementation of new digital program solutions, specifically those relating to increasing efficiencies, contributed to supporting the increase in new citizens. | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 300,000 | 2024 | 397,411 In 2023-24, citizenship was granted to a record 397,411 eligible permanent residents, surpassing the record number set the previous fiscal year. These results were due to the implementation of new digital program solutions, specifically those relating to increasing efficiencies such as paper file digitization, e-application enhancements, workload distribution strategies, and the expansion of onli… | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 300,000 | 2025 | 359,535 In 2024-25, the department continued to meet and exceed citizenship targets with the processing of 359,535 new Canadians. The results were due to program modernization and expanded online services. | Met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 95% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $68.3M | $65.9M |
| 2019-20 | $63.9M | $66.8M |
| 2020-21 | $69.2M | $83.3M |
| 2021-22 | $73.1M | $77.4M |
| 2022-23 | $82.9M | $94.3M |
| 2023-24 | $83.3M | $118M |
| 2024-25 | $89.2M | $102M |
| 2025-26 | $97M | — |
| 2026-27 | $86.5M | — |
| 2027-28 | $83.9M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $82.1M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 822 | 805 |
| 2019-20 | 814 | 823 |
| 2020-21 | 852 | 917 |
| 2021-22 | 796 | 864 |
| 2022-23 | 944 | 1,102 |
| 2023-24 | 1,031 | 1,234 |
| 2024-25 | 1,037 | 1,114 |
| 2025-26 | 1,074 | — |
| 2026-27 | 929 | — |
| 2027-28 | 926* | — |
| 2028-29 | 914* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $68,307,833 | $66,027,007 | $69,047,790 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $63,879,600 | $61,440,709 | $63,757,615 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $69,173,152 | $69,832,736 | $71,652,473 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $73,051,905 | $75,181,360 | $75,064,778 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $82,898,310 | $83,766,936 | $84,866,443 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $83,327,669 | $86,749,044 | $90,727,322 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $89,165,068 | $90,823,884 | $92,011,918 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $97,003,461 | $98,094,918 | $97,611,252 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $86,476,657 | $83,855,587 | $82,108,075 | ||||||||
| Actual | $65,943,733 | $66,823,642 | $83,300,128 | $77,389,508 | $94,254,592 | $117,949,954 | $101,920,317 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
