Thoughts From a "Lost Canadian" About Finding Out I'm a "Lost Canadian"

I have been writing about Canada and being a "Lost Canadian" for almost four months now - ever since I learned I am a "Lost Canadian". I have lived most of my life in West Michigan, just thirty minutes from beautiful Lake Michigan. I lived for a few years in Northern California, two hours from Oregon, where I met my husband (on an active volcano - the incredibly beautiful Mt. Lassen), - but I was born in West Michigan and have lived most of my life here. 

Of course I knew my dad and my grandpa, but my great-grandpa died before I was born. Along with not knowing him, I also did not know - until this past April - my great grandpa was born in Argenteuil, Quebec, Canada, and my great-great grandpa and great-great grandma were born in East Hawkesbury, Prescott, Ontario, Canada, and Argenteuil, Quebec, Canada. Plus, when I go back to great-great-great, and great-great-great-great, etc. grandparents, I learned they were born in Ontario (we even have a town in Ontario named after an ancestor's uncle!), Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick - lots of Canadian ancestors for sure (some of them are in the photo, but there are many for whom I have not yet been able to find photos).

So, does any of this matter? Apparently it does, "If your parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent was born in Canada, you may already be a Canadian citizen. Canada’s new citizenship law — Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act — has permanently removed the first-generation limit which previously prevented Canadian citizenship from passing beyond one generation born outside Canada. For Americans with Canadian ancestry, the implications are enormous. Until now, many of these families were cut off from Canadian citizenship by rules which were rigid, arbitrary, and often discriminatory. Bill C-3 has changed this. Many of these individuals are part of a group known as “Lost Canadians” — people with legitimate Canadian ancestry whose citizenship was never recognized or was stripped away by outdated laws. If you are an American with a Canadian parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, or even more distant Canadian ancestor, you may already qualify for Canadian citizenship by descent — and you may have been a Canadian citizen your entire life without knowing it."

You will find my full post about being a "Lost Canadian" at this link.