The intent to continue residing in Canada clause in the amended version of section 5(1) of the Citizenship Act is NOT currently in effect.
The intent to continue residing in Canada clause will be in effect when section 3 of Bill C-24 comes into force, a date to be determined by the Governor in Council, NOT CIC, which in practice means when the PM decides.
The date is probably already decided but the actual order is not likely to be made until somewhat before the date the order specifies the amendments will come into force. It is unknown how much notice there will be. Probably will not be a lot of advance notice. My guess: less than a month or so, perhaps as little as ten days or so. But this government is also capable (as demonstrated by past practices) of giving very little or virtually no advance notice.
When the amended version of Section 5(1), including added subsection 5(1)(c.1)(i) (the intent to continue to reside in Canada clause), comes into effect, it will only affect applicants whose applications were not made by the day before the date it comes into force.
We do not know what that date is going to be, although it will for sure be this year, almost certainly before the Federal election, and most likely be by or before mid-summer.
Many seem to be counting on it not coming into force before mid-summer. While my guess, as I have oft offered, is July 1, 2015 or June 1, 2015, I would emphasize that it could indeed come earlier and perhaps quite a lot earlier.
This government has repeatedly demonstrated its capacity to engage in low-blows. The informal announcement last June indicating the new residency requirements would come into effect in "approximately" a year leaves the window wide open. Thus, while a February 1, 2015 date would surprise me, it would hardly shock me. An April 1 or May 1 date would not be much of a surprise, even though, as I said, my guess is July 1 or June 1.
Whatever the date, it is going to draw a hardline for tens of thousands of immigrants who landed between sometime in 2011 and 2012, suddenly pushing the threshold of qualification for citizenship out by a year or so.
Regarding scope and application of intent clause, when it is in effect:
From my perspective, the inclusion of the word continue looms very large in what is intended by the intent clause and how it will be in practice applied. The contrast between the amount of attention and scrutiny CIC has given to applicants who leave Canada after applying, under the current law, and the fact that including the intent to continue to reside in Canada element cannot be met unless the applicant is in fact residing in Canada (one cannot intend to continue to do something one is not currently doing), highlights at least the most salient purpose of this clause: to give CIC the authority to deny citizenship to applicants living abroad after applying, and to give CIC tools to inquire into the extent of residency ties abroad an applicant continues to have.
