Give up (renounce) Canadian citizenship: Who can apply

Eligibility

The eligibility requirements to renounce your Canadian citizenship depend on your situation.

Generally, if you’re a Canadian citizen who wants to give up your citizenship, you must meet all of the requirements below:

• be a citizen of a country other than Canada or become a citizen of a country other than Canada if your application to renounce is approved
• not live in Canada
• be at least 18 years old
• not be a threat to Canada’s security or be involved in ongoing criminal activity
• not be prevented from understanding the significance of giving up your Canadian citizenship because of a mental disability
• not be subject to revocation of citizenship proceedings

If you automatically got citizenship when the Citizenship Act changed

There are fewer requirements if you’re giving up your Canadian citizenship because you automatically became a citizen when changes were made to the Citizenship Act. In this situation, you must

• be a citizen of a country other than Canada or become a citizen of a country other than Canada if your application to give up your citizenship is approved
• not be prevented from understanding the significance of giving up your Canadian citizenship because of a mental disability