Argus

Once the baby is born, the hospital opens a file and assigns a number. Hospital staff aren’t required to check the ­mother’s citizenship, and they don’t. The province (which is responsible for birth registration) doesn’t ask about the ­mother’s citizenship either—a lapse Ottawa says it will address. When mother and baby leave the hospital, they move into a short-term rental. It takes just 25 minutes online to register a birth, apply for a birth ce...

Canada and the United States are the only countries to have birth on soil citizenship provisions. The United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and many European countries restrict citizenship by birth on soil to children of citizens or permanent residents.