The federal government has tabled a new bill that would allow Canadians born abroad to pass citizenship by descent to children born overseas via a test to prove family ties to the country.

Bill C-3 is meant to satisfy a court order that has ruled the current two-generation cut-off provisions of the Citizenship Act is unconstitutional because it limits the automatic passage of citizenship to the first generation of Canadians who were born outside Canada.

“Citizenship is more than a legal status — it’s a profound connection to the values, history and spirit of Canada,” Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab said in statement on Thursday.

“By requiring those who pass citizenship to their children born abroad beyond the first generation to have a substantial connection to our country, we ar

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