Among the changes that come into effect on October 11 are measures covering the number of days that an applicant must spend as a permanent resident before applying for citizenship, and how those days may be counted.

Previously, applicants for citizenship had to amass 1,460 days (four years) of residence in Canada within a six-year period, all of it on permanent status, before applying for citizenship.

Following the changes, applicants are only required to have amassed 1,095 days (three years) of residence in Canada over a five-year period before becoming eligible. Further, individuals who spent time in Canada on work or study status or as a protected person before becoming a permanent resident may count up to 365 days of this time as a temporary resident towards their overall residency days. In such cases, each actual day spent in Canada on such a temporary status is counted as a half-day (in other words, for every two days spent in Canada on eligible temporary status, one day may be counted towards citizenship eligibility, up to a maximum of 365 days).

For citizens-to-be who came to Canada to work or study, this important change may reduce the amount of time one has to spend in Canada as a permanent resident before being eligible for citizenship, in some cases from four years down to as little as two years.

In addition, as of October 11, 2017, the government will no long require applicants for citizenship to be physically present in Canada for 183 days or more in four out of the six years preceding their application.