CHAPTER I Various OSCE participating States have adopted and implemented good practices for birth registration which help to prevent childhood statelessness, including the following: CHAPTER II Good practices in birth registration in OSCE participating States Canada ANNEXES 51 RECOMMENDATIONS 123 As of 5 November 2024, there was a proposed Bill that would amend this provision of Canada’s nationality law. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice had found the provision unconstitutional and ordered the government to address this provision. In August 2024, it extended the government’s deadline for making such amendments to December 19. See Racy Rafique, Court grants Ottawa four more months to fix unconstitutional ‘lost Canadians’ law, CBC website, 2 August 2024. As of 12 April 2025, the Bill was stalled at second reading in Parliament. Updates can be followed at Parliament of Canada, LEGISInfo (no date). 124 A portrait of citizenship in Canada from the 2021 Census, Statistics Canada, 9 November 2022. 125 Statelessness in Canada, Canadian Centre of Statelessness, 2024. 126 UNHCR’s Refugee Data Finder. 127 Birth Registration for every Child by 2030: Are We on Track?, UNICEF, 11 December 2019. CHAPTER VII Birth registration is nearly universal in most of Canada,127 with some exceptions, particularly in Indigenous communities. Requirements for birth registration procedures vary between provinces. In Ontario, for example, a child’s birth must be registered within 30 days of birth; in most cases, the parents submit a Statement of Live Birth (often online) and qualified medical staff submit a Notice of Live Birth to the Office of the Registrar. In certain circumstances, the applicant may also need to provide contact information for a CHAPTER VI Birth registration to help prevent statelessness CHAPTER V In Canada’s 2021 census, 3,560 people identified themselves as stateless.124 All but 390 had permanent residence status.125 According to UNHCR data, there were 8,166 recorded stateless people and people with undetermined nationality in Canada by the end of 2024.126 CHAPTER IV Statelessness in Canada is primarily linked to migration or lack of birth registration and proof of place of birth. Birthright citizenship and nearly universal birth registration prevent childhood statelessness for most people born in Canada. However, there are greater risks of statelessness for people whose births were not registered, including for some Indigenous people. There are also people born outside Canada to Canadian citizens who are or may be stateless, due to laws restricting transmission of nationality to only the first generation born outside Canada.123 CHAPTER III Population overview