Hello,
I was born in Canada but working for a few years in France. Here I met my girlfriend (from Finland) and we had a baby which was born in Finland. We plan to all move to Canada (Quebec) in a few years.
What should be the next steps please?
1) Request a citizenship certificate for me (I only have my Canadian passport). Apparently I need that citizenship certificate number to fill the CIT 0001 form for my daughter
2) Request a citizenship certificate for my daughter, CIT 0001 form? (I feel CIT 0003 does not apply)
3) Move to Canada and sponsor my girlfriend for a few years until she can get a citizenship?
Am I missing something?
Many many thanks
1) You probably don't need the citizenship certificate. You need proof of your citizenship, which in your case would be your provincial or territorial birth certificate. I think you're under scenario 3 in the checklist, at a quick glance, so you'd have to provide a birth certificate for your baby that lists the parents, and one for you to show you're a Canadian citizen (if you had been a naturalized Canadian citizen you would need to provide a copy of your citizenship certificate, but as you were born in Canada your birth certificate is sufficient). You should be able to request a birth certificate from your province of birth by mail.
The "citizenship certificate" they ask for "if applicable" is for people who are asking for a replacement certificate, so they need to send back their previous copy, as you're not allowed to have multiple citizenship certificates.
2) Yes, and then a passport for her to
travel to Canada (it is mandatory for dual citizens to use their Canadian passport when travelling to Canada).
3) You can
apply for PR status for your girlfriend before you move back; you just have to commit that when you move you'll do so at the same time. (you don't need to sponsor your kid, because they're a citizen).
Note that once the application has been approved there's a limited time to enter Canada to formally be granted PR status, so keep that in mind about deciding when to apply. But also be aware that processing can take a while (IRCC says it takes 12 months to process 80% of all applications).
As you'd be intending to reside in Quebec you would have one more hoop to jump through, as Quebec needs to issue a CSQ for the person you're sponsoring. It's explained in the instruction guide in what way and when that happens, but it is a bit of extra effort and cost.
There is a residency obligation to maintain PR status, but living abroad with a Canadian partner counts as meeting that obligation. So it is possible to apply before you're ready to move, as long as she can do the landing within the limited time she'll be given to formally become a PR.