Canadian Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities: Voting, Travel, Taxes

Canadian citizenship rights and responsibilities cover a specific bundle: you cannot be deported, you can vote and run for office, you can enter and remain in Canada without conditions, you hold a Canadian passport, your children can be educated in the minority official language of your province, you can call on Canadian consular help abroad, and you gain particular access to the United States for work and travel. In return, you can be called for jury duty, you must obey Canadian law, and you pay Canadian tax when you live here. These rights sit in the Citizenship Act and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and because the Charter is part of the Constitution, they cannot be removed by ordinary legislation.¹

You Cannot Be Deported From Canada

This is the single sharpest line between a citizen and a permanent resident. A Canadian citizen cannot be removed from Canada under any circumstances. Permanent residents can lose their status and face a removal order for serious criminal convictions, security threats, or failing to meet the residency obligation of being physically present in Canada for at least 730 days in every five-year period.² Once you are a citizen, none of that applies, no matter how long you live outside the country or what offenses you commit at home.

You Can Vote and Run for Office

Section 3 of the Charter reserves the right to vote and to run for elected office exclusively for citizens.¹ A permanent resident can live and work in Canada for decades and still have no say in federal, provincial, territorial, or municipal elections. Running for federal office requires citizenship plus a minimum age of 18 on polling day.³ The same citizenship requirement applies to provincial and territorial legislatures, and losing citizenship would immediately disqualify a sitting member.

You Can Enter, Remain, and Leave Canada

Section 6 of the Charter guarantees every citizen the right to enter, remain in, and leave Canada.¹ These rights are strong but not absolute. Like other Charter rights, they are subject to Section 1’s reasonable limits clause; the Supreme Court has held that extradition infringes mobility rights but qualifies as a reasonable limit in a free and democratic society. One added protection: mobility rights cannot be overridden using the legislative “notwithstanding” clause in Section 33.

The practical gap is enormous. A permanent resident who stays outside Canada too long risks losing status. A citizen can live abroad for 20 years and walk back into the country whenever they choose.

Your Canadian Passport

Only citizens are entitled to a Canadian passport. The Canadian Passport Order authorizes the government to issue one to anyone who holds citizenship.⁴ A standard 10-year adult passport costs $260 CAD. As of 2026, it provides visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 181 countries and territories, ranking it among the top ten most powerful passports in the world.

The government can temporarily deny or revoke a passport in narrow circumstances such as outstanding criminal charges or national security concerns. Non-citizens have no entitlement to a Canadian passport at all; they may qualify for limited travel documents, but nothing with the same international standing.

Your Children Can Attend Minority-Language Schools

Section 23 of the Charter gives citizens the right to have their children educated in the minority official language of their province. In Quebec that means English-language schooling; in every other province and territory it means French-language schooling.¹ The right covers primary and secondary school. It applies when a parent’s first language learned and still understood is the minority language of the province, when the parent received their own primary education in that language within Canada, or when one child in the family has already received or is receiving instruction in the minority language. Non-citizens do not hold these rights, which makes Section 23 one of the clearest benefits reserved for people who have formally committed to the country.

You Can Call on Consular Help Abroad

When a citizen runs into trouble outside Canada, Global Affairs Canada provides consular support through embassies and consulates. The Canadian Consular Services Charter spells out the scope. Officials can provide lists of local doctors and lawyers, coordinate with family back home during emergencies, replace lost passports, and assist with repatriating remains after a death abroad.⁵

What consular staff cannot do matters just as much. They cannot post bail, pay your legal or medical bills, get you out of a foreign prison, provide legal advice, override another country’s laws, intervene in foreign court proceedings, or pressure local authorities for preferential treatment.⁵ During large-scale emergencies such as natural disasters or civil unrest, the government may deploy additional teams and help citizens reach the nearest safe location, typically on a cost-recovery basis.

You Can Hold Dual Citizenship

Canada fully permits dual citizenship. There is no application process and no special certificate. If another country recognizes you as a citizen at the same time Canada does, you simply hold both.⁶ The practical caveat is on the other side: some countries strip citizenship from anyone who naturalizes elsewhere, so checking with that country’s embassy before applying for Canadian citizenship is worth the effort.

When Citizenship Can Be Lost

Canadian citizenship is extremely secure, but not irrevocable. The government can revoke citizenship on one primary ground: fraud. If a person obtained or retained citizenship through false representation, fraud, or by hiding material facts, including cases where the underlying permanent residency was obtained fraudulently, the Minister can initiate revocation proceedings.⁷ The process includes written notice, 60 days to make representations, and in most cases a referral to the Federal Court before citizenship is actually revoked. Outside of fraud, there is no mechanism for the government to strip citizenship from someone who acquired it legitimately, regardless of criminal conduct.

You Get Specific Access to the United States

Canadian citizenship unlocks two U.S. advantages that permanent residents do not share.

TN Work Status

Under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, Canadian citizens in qualifying professions can obtain TN nonimmigrant work status to take professional positions in the United States. You do not need to apply at a consulate. You can present your documentation directly to a border officer at a U.S. port of entry and receive authorization on the spot, with an initial stay of up to three years.⁸ You need proof of Canadian citizenship, a letter from the U.S. employer detailing the position, and evidence of professional qualifications. Spouses and unmarried children under 21 can accompany you in TD status, though they are not authorized to work.

NEXUS Expedited Border Crossing

Canadian citizens are eligible for the NEXUS trusted traveler program, which provides dedicated lanes at the Canada-U.S. border for faster crossings, access to Global Entry kiosks at U.S. airports, and streamlined marine reporting.⁹ Both the U.S. and Canadian governments must approve the application. Criminal convictions, pending charges, or previous immigration violations will result in denial.

Federal Hiring Preference

The Canadian labor market is broadly open to anyone with legal work authorization, and the federal public service has a preference built into law. Under the Public Service Employment Act, an external advertised hiring process must give preference first to eligible veterans, and then to Canadian citizens and permanent residents over candidates who hold neither status.¹⁰ Citizens and permanent residents sit in the same preference tier, so the advantage runs against foreign nationals rather than against permanent residents. Positions requiring high-level security clearance are where citizenship weighs more heavily in practice, because a long domestic record is easier to vet.

What You Owe in Return

Citizenship is not only a set of protections. Any adult Canadian citizen can be called for jury duty, and only citizens are eligible to serve.¹¹ The rules on who gets called, exemptions, and compensation vary by province, but eligibility tracks citizenship at every level. Citizens are also expected to obey Canadian law and respect the rights and freedoms of others.

Tax Follows Residency, Not Citizenship

One obligation people often assume comes with citizenship does not. Canada does not tax its citizens on worldwide income the way the United States does. Canadian tax obligations follow residency.¹² A Canadian citizen who lives permanently in another country, keeps no home in Canada, and has no spouse or dependants here is a non-resident for tax purposes. Non-residents pay Canadian tax only on income from Canadian sources, such as rental income from a Canadian property or business income from a Canadian operation. Residency turns on whether you maintain significant residential ties: a home, a spouse or common-law partner, or dependants in the country.

1
Department of Justice. The Constitution Acts 1867 to 1982
2
Justice Laws Website. Immigration and Refugee Protection Act – Loss of Status and Removal
3
Justice Laws Website. Canada Elections Act
4
Justice Laws Website. Canadian Passport Order
5
Government of Canada. Canadian Consular Services Charter
6
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. What Is Dual Citizenship?
7
Justice Laws Website. Citizenship Act – Revocation of Citizenship
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. TN USMCA Professionals
9
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. NEXUS Eligibility
10
Justice Laws Website. Public Service Employment Act SC 2003 c 22
11
Department of Justice Canada. The Role of the Public – About Canada’s System of Justice
12
Canada Revenue Agency. Non-Residents of Canada