Woman's Canadian citizenship revoked after 32 years amid 'error'

The federal government has cancelled an Ajax, Ont., woman's Canadian citizen‐ ship over an error it said it made more than 30 years ago - forcing her to pay hundreds of dollars in a bid to get it back.

In September, Arielle Townsend received a letter from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IR‐ CC), saying her Canadian citi‐ zenship was at risk of being revoked, as previously re‐ ported by CBC Toronto. The ordeal began when the de‐ partment said Townsend's mother may not have been a Canadian citizen when Townsend was born in Ja‐ maica.

In a letter sent to Townsend this week and viewed by CBC Toronto, the department said Townsend's citizenship has been re‐ scinded.

"Your citizenship certifi‐ cate is no longer valid," it said.

"Townsend's status in Canada is now a foreign na‐ tional," the department said in a further letter to her lawyers.

The news came as a shock to Townsend, who's held citi‐ zenship in Canada since she was a baby.

"Applying for citizenship when you've been a citizen, or you thought you were a citizen your entire life is real‐ ly jarring," said Townsend. "This is putting me in a very difficult position."

Townsend and her lawyers say they provided the government with all the facts, arguing Townsend's mother was a citizen when Townsend was born as she was issued a citizenship card in July 1991, months before Townsend's birth, which her mother has sworn to in a signed affidavit.

In its response this week, the IRCC said while a citizen‐ ship card was created for her mother in 1991, she did not take her citizenship oath until a few months after Townsend was born.

'A clear error': IRCC Townsend's mother has said in her affidavit that she asked a citizenship officer what she needed to do to get her infant status in Canada and was assured her daugh‐ ter was already a citizen. A citizenship card was issued to Townsend in August 1992.

"IRCC acknowledges there was a clear error in the is‐ suance of Arielle Townsend's Canadian citizenship certifi‐ cate," the department said in an email to Townsend's lawyer. "However, the legisla‐ tive provision pertaining to recall of Canadian citizenship certificate does not allow for any discretion."

"Despite what is printed on her citizenship certificate, a person is only considered a Canadian citizen once they have taken the oath of citi‐ zenship," it said, in reference to Townsend's mother.

To get her citizenship back, Townsend must now make an application under "special discretionary grounds" in order for it to be processed "urgently," said IR‐ CC. It will cost more than $600 to apply, said Townsend.

IRCC says decision based on oath

According to the state‐ ment of facts that Townsend's lawyers have submitted to the govern‐ ment, Townsend's mother had been living in Canada for several years by 1991. She became pregnant that year and travelled to Jamaica, where she could benefit from more family support in the lead-up to Townsend's birth.

Townsend's mother's family in Canada took their citizenship oath that July, around which time a citizen‐ ship card was issued to

Townsend's mother.

Townsend was born in Ja‐ maica in October 1991.

When she was only a few months old, in January 1992, Townsend's mother returned to Canada briefly, without her, to sort out her citizen‐ ship papers.

According the statement of facts, she went to the citi‐ zenship office in Mississauga, reported Townsend's birth and asked how she could get status for her daughter, so she could fly her to Canada.

According to Townsend's mother, the citizenship of‐ ficer told her a citizenship ap‐ plication wasn't needed be‐ cause she was already a cit‐ izen.

Despite that, the depart‐ ment said in its letter that it has decided to cancel her citi‐ zenship because Townsend's mother didn't take her oath before Townsend was born.

"After reviewing all of the information in my posses‐ sion, I have determined that you never acquired citizen‐ ship," said IRCC official, Cor‐ rina Clement, in the letter to

Townsend.

'It's not fair to her': lawyer

Townsend's lawyer, Daniel Kingwell, says she should have never been put in a po‐ sition by the government where she has no status. Townsend does still hold Ja‐ maican citizenship.

"You go from being firmly entrenched in Canada and being a Canadian citizen to being at the opposite ex‐ treme of having even less status than someone who just entered Pearson yester‐ day as a visitor," he said.

He said the government should have a better method to handle clerical errors.

"Granting her citizenship should be an immediate pri‐ ority," he said. "We are hope‐ ful that it will be resolved, but it's not fair to her to make her wait even a day long."

CBC Toronto reached out to the IRCC on Townsend's case. It said it can't comment on individual cases due to privacy legislation, which is the same response it gave when CBC Toronto first re‐ ported on Townsend's case.

Now that she's lost status, Townsend is concerned she could lose her job as she technically can't work in Canada until her citizenship is reinstated. She also has an elderly father-in-law in the U.S. that she can now not visit.

"It's frustrating to think that I have to apply for citi‐ zenship that I thought I had all this time," she said.

"The humanity is really re‐ moved from this whole pro‐ cess."