Becoming a Canadian citizen: Who can apply

To be eligible to become a Canadian citizen, you must meet the following requirements :

• Be at least 18 years old to apply
• Vou must have permanent resident status in Canada
• Adults must have lived in Canada for at least three years (1,095 days) in the past four years before applying
• You need to have adequate knowledge of one of the two official languages English and/or French
• You must have a clean criminal record
• You must understand the rights and responsibilities of citizenship

   CALCULATION OF RESIDENCE FOR CITIZENSHIP

A child must:

• be a permanent resident of Canada (three year residency requirement not necessary)

You cannot become a Canadian citizen if:

• you are or were in prison, on parole or on probation in the past four years.
• you were convicted of an indictable crime in the past three years; or
• you have been charged with a crime -- an indictable offence;
• you are under a deportation order and are not allowed to be in Canada now;
• you are now charged with an offence under the Citizenship Act;
• you are under investigation for a war crime or a crime against humanity; or
• your Canadian citizenship has been taken away (revoked) in the past five years.