**Justice Minister Supports Birthright Citizenship Amid Conservative Push**

OTTAWA — Federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser has reaffirmed his support for birthright citizenship in Canada, describing it as a fundamental aspect of equal rights. His comments come in response to a Conservative MP's proposal to eliminate the practice.

"I believe that we should maintain birthright citizenship in Canada, and I don’t know if I can be any more direct than that," Fraser stated to reporters as he headed to a Liberal caucus meeting on Wednesday. He emphasized the importance of ensuring that all Canadians have equal rights, saying, "I think when you start to pick and choose who amongst Canadians gets the full benefits of citizenship, you obviously enter into a very troublesome conversation."

Fraser's remarks followed a Conservative amendment to the Liberal government's new citizenship bill, which sought to deny birthright citizenship to children born in Canada to temporary residents. This amendment was voted down in committee. The proposed change would have mandated that at least one parent be a citizen, permanent resident, or protected refugee for citizenship to be automatically granted at birth.

Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner, who sponsored the failed amendment, argued that Canada needs to limit birthright citizenship due to a significant increase in temporary residents. "There are three million temporary residents in the country right now — seven percent of the population — who are having children, and those children are using services at a rate that the government is not accounting or planning for," she said.

Rempel Garner also pointed out that this figure does not include the children of approximately 500,000 undocumented immigrants currently in Canada. She noted that some hospitals have begun charging childbirth fees to non-resident, non-insured patients, indicating a strain on healthcare resources. "You have hospitals that are issuing edicts that they’re having to charge temporary residents who are giving birth. This is unprecedented," she added.

While the federal government does not track the migration status of all new parents, the number of live births to women in Canada on visitor visas has reportedly increased seven-fold since the Liberal government took office in 2015. However, these births still represented less than half a percentage of all live births in 2024, totaling 1,610 out of 367,347.

Rempel Garner mentioned that she has seen videos on social media promoting giving birth in Canada as a way to secure permanent residency. Prime Minister Mark Carney has indicated plans to limit the number of non-permanent residents to five percent of the population.

The Conservative amendment was intended to be part of a Liberal immigration bill aimed at creating a pathway to citizenship for so-called "Lost Canadians," who were born abroad to Canadian parents also born outside of Canada. The bill is set to proceed to the House of Commons for approval after successfully passing the committee stage on Tuesday.