How to Get Citizenship in Canada: Eligibility, Test, and Oath

To get citizenship in Canada, you first need to be a permanent resident, then meet a physical presence requirement of at least 1,095 days in Canada over the five years before you apply, satisfy language, knowledge, and tax-filing conditions, submit an application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), pass a citizenship test if you are between 18 and 54, and take the Oath of Citizenship at a ceremony.

Get Permanent Resident Status First

You cannot apply for citizenship without permanent resident (PR) status. If you are outside Canada or here on a temporary visa, that is your starting point. The main pathways are:

Express Entry, an online system that manages applications for the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, and the Canadian Experience Class. Candidates are ranked on points, and the highest scorers are invited to apply for PR.¹
The Provincial Nominee Program, where each province or territory nominates people whose skills fit local labor needs. A nomination sharply boosts an Express Entry score or works as a standalone route.²
Family sponsorship by a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, for spouses, partners, dependent children, parents, or grandparents.³

Refugee protection, caregiver programs, and various pilot programs also lead to PR. Once you land, the clock toward citizenship begins.

Eligibility Requirements

Your PR status must be valid, free of any removal order, and free of unfulfilled conditions such as an incomplete medical screening.⁴ From there, four conditions run in parallel.

Physical Presence in Canada

You need 1,095 days of physical presence in Canada during the five years immediately before your application date. Each day as a permanent resident counts as a full day. Time in Canada before PR, as a student, worker, or visitor, counts at half a day, up to a maximum of 365 days of credit.⁵

IRCC recommends applying with more than the bare minimum, because miscounted absences can push you below the threshold. One exception matters: time spent outside Canada with a spouse, common-law partner, or parent employed by the Canadian Armed Forces, the federal public administration, or a provincial or territorial public service can count toward physical presence. The person you accompanied has to be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and locally engaged staff do not qualify.⁶

Language and Knowledge of Canada

Applicants aged 18 to 54 must show adequate proficiency in English or French, meaning at least CLB or NCLC Level 4 in speaking and listening.⁷ You also need to show knowledge of Canada’s history, geography, government, and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, which the citizenship test measures.

Accepted English tests include CELPIP General, CELPIP General-LS, IELTS General Training, and PTE Core. Accepted French tests include TEF Canada, TEFAQ, TCF, TCFQ, DELF, and DALF.⁸ Transcripts from a secondary or post-secondary program completed in English or French also work as proof.

Applicants under 18 or 55 and older are automatically exempt from the language and knowledge requirements. No waiver request is needed.⁴

Tax Filing

You must have filed Canadian income tax returns for at least three taxation years falling fully or partially within the five years before your application, if you were required to file under the Income Tax Act.⁹ Not everyone is required to file. The application asks both whether you had to and whether you did.

Criminal and Legal Barriers

Some situations block a citizenship application while they last. Others create a fixed waiting period.

You cannot become a citizen while serving a prison sentence in Canada or abroad, or while on parole or probation. You are also blocked if you are charged with, on trial for, or appealing an indictable offence in Canada, or an equivalent offence abroad.¹⁰

Fixed waiting periods run longer than many people expect:

Conviction for an indictable offence: four years from the date of conviction, whether the offence happened in Canada or abroad. A pardon or amnesty granted by another country does not override this.¹¹
Citizenship previously refused for misrepresentation: five years from the date of refusal.¹⁰
Citizenship revoked for fraud: ten years, and the previous citizenship cannot be resumed.¹⁰

Documents and Fees

Before starting the application, gather your valid PR card, the biographical pages from every passport or travel document you have held over the past five years, and documentation showing your physical presence. Useful proof includes employment records, school transcripts, tax documents, rental or mortgage records, and travel records such as entry and exit stamps.

Applicants aged 18 to 54 will also need language test results or transcripts showing English or French education. Any document not in English or French needs a certified translation from a member of a professional translation association. You cannot translate your own documents, and neither can a family member or your immigration representative, even one with translation credentials.

Fees are paid online, and the receipt is uploaded with the application. For adults, the processing fee is $530 and the right of citizenship fee is $123, totaling $653.¹² For minors under 18, the only fee is a $100 processing fee, with no right of citizenship fee.¹³

Submitting the Application

IRCC pushes applicants toward the online system. It has built-in checks that catch errors, sends immediate confirmation, and generally processes faster than paper.¹⁴

Every adult applicant needs their own IRCC online account. Accounts and passwords are not shared, even with a representative helping you. For families, each adult signs their own application, one adult submits the linked bundle, and minor children ride along on one adult’s account.

Two situations still require paper. The first is when your physical presence calculation includes time abroad as a Crown servant, or as the family member of one. The second is when you want a representative to complete and submit the application for you.¹⁴

The Citizenship Test

After IRCC receives the application and runs background checks, applicants aged 18 to 54 are invited to sit the citizenship test. The test draws from the official study guide, “Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship,” available free on the IRCC website. Nothing stops you from studying well before you apply.¹⁵

The test has 20 questions, multiple choice or true/false, in English or French, and lasts 45 minutes. Fifteen correct answers pass.¹⁵ You have a 30-day window and up to three attempts. A fail on the first try leaves two more chances within that window.¹⁶

Fail all three, and IRCC will send you to a hearing with a citizenship official. That hearing tests both your knowledge of Canada and your language ability, and the official reviews the file. Many borderline cases turn on it, so treat it as seriously as the written test.

The Oath and the Ceremony

All adults and minors aged 14 to 17 attend a citizenship ceremony and take the Oath of Citizenship.¹⁷ Ceremonies happen in person or virtually. In person, the paper citizenship certificate is handed over on the spot. After a virtual ceremony, you sign and return the Oath or Affirmation of Citizenship form, and the paper certificate arrives by mail within two to four weeks. An electronic certificate is available in the IRCC Portal within five business days.¹⁸

Children under 14 do not attend the ceremony or take the oath. Their citizenship is granted automatically when a parent’s application includes them.¹⁹

Keeping Your Original Citizenship

Canada has allowed dual citizenship since 1977. Becoming Canadian does not require giving up an existing nationality, and picking up another citizenship later does not cost you your Canadian one. The complication, when there is one, comes from the other country’s laws: if it does not recognize dual nationality, that is a matter of its rules, not Canada’s. U.S. citizens, for example, keep both citizenships, but carry tax obligations in both countries. The Canada–U.S. tax treaty provides foreign tax credits that reduce double taxation, though the filing side is complex enough to justify professional help.

1
Government of Canada. Immigrate Through Express Entry
2
Government of Canada. Immigrate as a Provincial Nominee
3
Government of Canada. Sponsor Your Family Members to Immigrate to Canada
4
Government of Canada. Canadian Citizenship for Adults and Minor Children – Who Can Apply
5
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Physical Presence Calculator
6
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Can I Count Any Time I’ve Spent Outside of Canada Toward the Physical Presence Requirement When Applying for Citizenship?
7
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. What Language Level Do I Need When I Apply for Citizenship?
8
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. What Third-Party Language Tests Will You Accept as Proof I Have an Adequate Knowledge of English or French?
9
Department of Justice Canada. Canada Code C-29 – Citizenship Act – Section 5
10
Government of Canada. Situations That May Prevent You From Becoming a Canadian Citizen
11
Department of Justice Canada. Canada Code C-29 – Citizenship Act – Section 22
12
Government of Canada. Right of Citizenship Fee Increasing Soon
13
Government of Canada. Pay Your Application Fees Online
14
Government of Canada. Apply for Canadian Citizenship – Adults and Minor Children
15
Government of Canada. Study for the Citizenship Test
16
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Citizenship Test – Test Results and Next Steps
17
Government of Canada. Citizenship Ceremony – Who Has to Take the Oath
18
Government of Canada. After the Citizenship Ceremony
19
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Can I Bring My Child to the Citizenship Ceremony?