Canadian Citizenship Eligibility

To become a Canadian citizen you must meet the following requirements:

1. Age: You must be at least 18 years old to apply for Canadian citizenship. For a child who is under 18, following conditions need to be met: 
   • The child is a permanent resident, but not necessarily to have lived in Canada for three years
   • One of the parents is already a Canadian citizen or is applying to become a citizen at the same time.
2. Permanent resident status: To become a Canadian citizen, you must have permanent resident status in Canada, without any legal order against you by the immigration authorities.
3. Time lived in Canada: Adults applying to become citizens must have lived in Canada for at least three years (1,095 days) in the past four years before applying. Children do not need to meet this requirement.
4. Language abilities: Canada has two official languages—English and French. You need to be able to speak one of these two languages well enough to communicate with people.
5. Knowledge of Canada: To become a citizen, you must know the rights and responsibilities of citizens. You must also know some things about Canada’s history and geography, and about its political system.

The information you need to know is in the booklet A Look at Canada. The questions in the citizenship test are based on the information in this booklet.

You cannot become a citizen if you:

• you are under a deportation order.
• you have been charged with or convicted of an indictable criminal offense in the past few years.
• you are or have recently been in prison or on probation.
• you are under investigation for war crimes.
• your citizenship has been revoked.

Also, some points to consider if you have criminal history:

• If you are on probation or are charged with an offence and are awaiting trial, you should wait until after the probation has ended or the trial is over to apply for citizenship.
• If you have spent time on probation, on parole or in prison in the last four years, you may not meet the residence requirement for citizenship.
• Time in prison or on parole does not count as residence in Canada. Time on probation also does not count as residence in Canada if you were convicted of an offence. If you have spent time on probation from a conditional discharge, it may be counted toward residence.

Canadian Citizenship Eligibility Assessment
    Click here for a free citizenship assessment.

    A look at Canada booklet in pdf format

Sample Practice Test (Your Library resource)
    Click Here for a quick sample practice test for the citizenship.