A viral social media post by a Canadian citizen has reignited one of the country’s most divisive debates — whether Canada should end automatic birthright citizenship for children born to non-resident parents.
X user @mario4thenorth claimed that heavily pregnant foreign visitors are arriving in Canada solely to give birth and secure citizenship for their children, writing:
“Flight attendants have reached out to me over the last year. Countless mothers that are 8.5 months pregnant, coming to Canada to ‘visit’. They give birth here. They LEAVE the hospital and do not pay the bill… No foreigner that is 8+ months pregnant has any business ‘vacationing’ in Canada. Their only goal is to have an anchor baby that will bring them back later for free healthcare and benefits. It’s all a scam!”
The post, shared thousands of times, reflects growing frustration with Canada’s “jus soli” policy, which automatically grants citizenship to anyone born on Canadian soil, regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
The issue has resurfaced in national politics following the Conservative Party’s October 8 proposal to amend the Citizenship Act, effectively ending birthright citizenship for children born to temporary residents. The plan, spearheaded by Michelle Rempel Garner, would limit citizenship to those with at least one parent who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
Garner argued the reform would “align Canada with peer countries like Australia, New Zealand, and the UK,” and close “loopholes” encouraging birth tourism — where non-residents travel to Canada to give birth.
However, the proposal faced pushback from Liberal and Bloc Québécois MPs, who rejected it during committee discussions, setting the stage for a heated national debate ahead of the next federal election.
Justice Minister Sean Fraser denounced the Conservative plan as “fearmongering,” noting that birth tourism accounts for less than 1% of all births in Canada. Human rights groups, including Amnesty International Canada and OCASI, have also warned that ending birthright citizenship could create stateless children and negatively impact mixed-status families.
The controversy comes amid a sharp rise in temporary residents, now exceeding 2.8 million — a 150% increase since 2019. With mounting pressure on housing and public services, Conservatives see an opportunity to harness public discontent; a recent poll shows 62% of Canadians support stricter residency-based citizenship rules.
Globally, only about 35 countries still offer unrestricted birthright citizenship, most of them in the Americas. If Canada adopts the proposed reform, it would mark a significant shift in national identity policy — align
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