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Immigration in Canada: A Portrait of the Foreign-born Population, 2006 Census: Citizenship
A small proportion of Canadians had multiple citizenship
Since 1977, Canada has recognized multiple citizenships; that is, Canadian citizens have the right to hold citizenship from more than one country. Immigrants who obtain Canadian citizenship also have the right to retain their previous citizenship. However, it is possible that the country of origin does not recognize multiple citizenships. If this is the case, immigrants have to choose between a Canadian citizenship or their previous citizenship.
In 2006, just 2.8% of the population, about 863,100 people, reported a Canadian citizenship in addition to at least one other citizenship.
Most (80.2%) of those who had multiple citizenship were foreign-born people. The rest of the multiple citizenship holders (19.8%) were Canadians by birth who also reported citizenship in another country.
Among the foreign-born people who held Canadian citizenship and another citizenship, the largest proportion reported citizenship of the United Kingdom (14.7%), followed by Poland (6.6%) and the United States of America (5.4%).
