Canadian citizenship by adoption
There is no provision in the Citizenship Act for automatic conferral of Canadian citizenship upon those adopted by Canadian citizens, whether in Canada or overseas. It is necessary for the child to be granted Canadian citizenship by naturalization. Although the child usually needs to be a permanent resident, the three year residence term is not required where an adoptive parent is a Canadian citizen.
Effective 16 July 2001, adults who were adopted as children may be able to apply for a special grant of Canadian citizenship under section 5(4) of the Citizenship Act without requiring permanent resident status or residence in Canada. Details - Policy CP 01-05
This is in response to the McKenna case, a 1993 Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruling [1]in which the Canadian government sought a judicial review before the Federal Court in 1995 [2]and which was subsequently taken before the Federal Court of Appeal in 1999.
In May 2006 the Canadian government introduced draft legislation, Bill C-14: An Act to Amend the Citizenship Act (Adoption) to place this policy into law.
Eric D said,
July 11, 2007 @ 1:19 pm
This summary doesn’t include the section about Children adopted when they are at least 18 years of age already.
A. Citizenship to Minors
Subject to the regulations and upon application, the Minister shall grant citizenship to a minor child adopted by a Canadian provided the adoption:
* was in the best interests of the child;
* created a genuine relationship of parent and child;
* was in accordance with the laws of the place where the adoption took place and the laws of the country of residence of the adopting citizen; and
* was not entered into primarily for the purpose of acquiring a status or privilege in relation to immigration or citizenship.
The bill enables the Governor in Council to make regulations providing for the factors to be considered in determining whether these requirements have been met.
B. Citizenship to Adopted Children at Least 18 Years of Age
As discussed earlier, Bill C-14 grants a right of citizenship to a person at least 18 years of age who is adopted abroad by a Canadian citizen, subject to certain conditions. In such cases, there must have been a genuine parent and child relationship before the person attained 18 years of age as well as at the time of the adoption. The bill also requires that the last two requirements of a minor adoption be fulfilled (see section A, above).
Source:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/LEGISINFO/index.asp?List=ls&Query=4678&Session=14&Language=e#bcitizenship