Canadian Citizenship Act of 1946
The Canadian Citizenship Act of 1946 marked a significant milestone in defining citizenship in Canada, establishing it as a distinct legal status separate from British subjecthood. Proposed by Paul Joseph James Martin, the act aimed to foster a unified Canadian identity as the country moved towards greater autonomy following World War II. Prior to this legislation, citizenship was primarily addressed through immigration laws, which categorized residents based on their origins. The Act conferred citizenship upon Canadian residents, including non-British subjects, while setting specific criteria such as age, residency duration, and language proficiency.
Notably, the act also addressed previous gender biases in immigration laws, allowing women to be recognized as independent citizens. The introduction of National Citizenship Week in January 1947 celebrated this new legal framework, emphasizing the diversity and unity of Canadian citizens from varied backgrounds. The enactment of this legislation not only influenced Canada's approach to citizenship but also inspired other Commonwealth countries to reevaluate their own citizenship laws. Furthermore, it played a crucial role in dismantling some discriminatory practices that had historically affected immigrant communities, particularly those of Asian descent, paving the way for a more inclusive approach to citizenship in Canada.
Canadian Citizenship Act of 1946
The Law First Canadian legislation that provided a legal basis for citizenship
Date Enacted on June 27, 1946; came into effect on January 1, 1947
The passage of Canada’s first citizenship act marked Canada’s move away from British common law, since it recognized Canadian citizenship as separate from British subjecthood. The act was intended to create a sense of national unity and political participation among the ethnically diverse peoples of Canada.
Paul Joseph James Martin, secretary of state under Prime MinisterWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King, introduced his Canadian Citizenship bill in the House of Commons on March 20, 1946, arguing that it would lead all Canadians to share an interest in the future of the country at home and abroad. This notion was particularly important, as Canada was emerging from World War II as a middle power trying to create an identity beyond its membership in the British Empire. The new act replaced earlier legislation regarding immigration and naturalization—namely, the Immigration Act of 1910, the Naturalization Act of 1914, and the Canadian Nationals Act of 1921. Martin initially argued that Canadian citizenship should replace British subjecthood, but the cabinet refused such a radical move; instead, the Citizenship Act held that all Canadian citizens would automatically be considered British subjects as well.
Legal Changes
Prior to 1947, the concept of Canadian citizenship existed only under the realm of immigration law, and it was used primarily to distinguish Canadian residents from aliens. For purposes of census, people identified themselves using hyphenation(for example, English-Canadian, Chinese-Canadian, and so on). The Immigration Act of 1910 defined three categories of citizens: those born in Canada who had not become aliens; British subjects who lived in Canada; and naturalized Canadians.
The Citizenship Act of 1946 bestowed citizenship upon these three groups and also allowed non-British subjects to apply for citizenship. Applicants had to meet four basic criteria: be at least twenty-one years of age; have at least five years of residency in Canada; have an understanding of Canadian citizenship; and have an adequate knowledge of English or French. This last criterion was softened from previous legislation so that those who did not meet the language requirement but had twenty years residency in Canada could also become citizens. The act also allowed British subjects two additional privileges: They could vote in Canadian elections after only one year of residency, and after five years of residency they could become citizens without seeing a citizenship judge. In addition, the act addressed gender bias in previous laws relating to immigration and naturalization status in Canada by treating women as independent from their husbands.
Social Changes
The first week of 1947 was declared National Citizenship Week, and citizenship ceremonies were held in major cities across Canada during January. Speakers at these ceremonies emphasized the unifying potential of citizenship, which would draw together people of differing ethnic backgrounds under the umbrella of “Canadian.” The most famous speech from these ceremonies, known as the Gray Lecture, occurred in Toronto on January 13, 1947, when Louis St. Laurent, then secretary of state for international affairs, eloquently explained that national unity within Canada would allow its people to better participate in world affairs, leaving partisan affiliations aside to present a united front.
Many of the ceremonies introducing the new legislation were deliberately orchestrated to highlight the diversity of Canada’s new citizenry. For example, the national ceremony in Ottawa gave the first certificate of citizenship to Prime Minister King and the second to Wasyl Eleniak, a Ukranian farmer. As for ceremonies in smaller cities, transcripts from the Winnipeg celebration show certificates being presented to three groups: people not born in Canada and not previously British subjects, who were encouraged to retain their cultural traditions to make Canada stronger; naturalized Canadians or British subjects; and Canadian-born people.
Impact
The passage of the Citizenship Act of 1946 led other countries in the British Commonwealth to follow Canada and adopt their own laws of citizenship, including the United Kingdom’s British Nationality Act of 1948. The Citizenship Act was also an important intermediate step for Canada to move beyond its historically racist practices in which American, British, and Western European immigrants were highly preferred, while those of Asian descent often faced discrimination. The year 1947 also saw the repeal of the Chinese Immigration Act, which had prohibited entry to some, charged a head tax on others, and denied even longtime Chinese residents of Canada the right to vote. In 1951, Canada allowed the immigration of dependents of nonwhite Canadian citizens, and in 1962 it removed discrimination based on national and ethnic origin, although many argue that such bias continued to occur. It was not until passage of the Citizenship Act of 1977 that all biases based on gender and country of origin were removed from Canada’s citizenship law.
Bibliography
Brown, Robert Craig. “Full Partnership in the Fortunes and in the Future of the Nation.” In Ethnicity and Citizenship: The Canadian Case, edited by Jean Laponce and William Safran. London: Frank Cass, 1996. Informative essay traces the legislative history of immigration, citizenship, and voting rights for different ethnic groups within Canada.
Chapnick, Adam. “The Gray Lecture and Canadian Citizenship in History.” American Review of Canadian Studies 37, no. 4 (2007): 443-457. Highly readable article summarizes Louis St. Laurent’s famous speech on the Citizenship Act and traces resulting media and scholarly responses to the speech.
Kaplan, William, ed. Belonging: The Meaning and Future of Canadian Citizenship. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1993. Excellent collection of essays about historical, regional, legal, and social issues surrounding Canadian citizenship, including an essay by Paul Joseph James Martin, who initially introduced the Canadian Citizenship bill in 1946.
Korneski, Kurt. “Citizenship Ceremony, 10 January 1947.” Manitoba History 51 (February, 2006): 34-39. Transcript of a citizenship ceremony in Winnipeg, with useful introductory notes. Speakers reference the political and social impacts of the Citizenship Act.
Saufert, Stacey A. “Taylor v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration): Discrimination, Due Process, and the Origins of Citizenship in Canada.” Alberta Law Review 45, no. 2 (2007): 521-536. A legal analysis of a specific citizenship case that provides an applied history of Canadian legislation regarding immigration and citizenship.