Immigration Department: Citizenship Snafu and Citizenship Act

immigration department: It was a complete shock, said Funk, who has lived in Canada almost her entire life after moving here from Mexico with her family in 1980 when she was 2 months old, according to Toronto Star. The Squamish, B.C., woman is now virtually stateless after being caught in a citizenship snafu that has affected an unknown number of other lost Canadians. It felt like somebody just kicked me in the stomach. Unbeknown to Funk, Canada changed its Citizenship Act in 1977, requiring those born outside the country to a foreign-born Canadian parent — between Feb. 15, 1977 and April 16, 1981 — to reapply for citizenship before their 28th birthday. In fact, she didn't even learn she was stateless until earlier this year when she called the immigration department to inquire about a replacement citizenship card she'd applied for when she misplaced the original months before. Funk, now 36, didn't find out about this requirement until years after she'd unknowingly been stripped of her citizenship. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.