Year Rule: Law and Committee Office

year rule: The provision was part of a 1977 law that automatically removed citizenship from people born abroad to Canadian parents who were also born outside the country, according to The Chronicle Herald. The government holds a big responsibility for this, Janzen said. Bill Janzen, the former head of the Mennonite Central Committee office in Ottawa, said he and his colleagues met with the federal government throughout the 1980s and 1990s to find a fix to the so-called 28-year rule. They've created a mess. It was rescinded in 2009, but the change didn't apply retroactively. It was a complete shock': Arcane law strips unwitting Canadians of citizenshipA look at the complex evolution of Canada citizenship laws over the years The law applies to people born between Feb. 15, 1977, and April 16, 1981, no matter how quickly after their birth they moved to Canada. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.