'8.5 months pregnant, coming to Canada to visit': Viral post fuels conservative call to end birthright citizenship 

A viral post by a Canadian citizen has reignited one of the country’s most contentious debates, whether Canada should end automatic birthright citizenship for children born to non-resident parents.

X user @mario4thenorth wrote, “Flight attendants have reached out to me over the last year. Countless mothers that are 8.5 months pregnant, coming to Canada to ‘visit’. They give birth here. They LEAVE the hospital and do not pay the bill. No foreigner that is 8+ months pregnant has any business ‘vacationing’ in Canada. They’re only goal is to have an anchor baby that will bring them back when they are old so they can get free healthcare and free money, despite not paying a single dollar in taxes. It’s all a scam!”

The post, shared thousands of times, targeted growing public frustration with Canada’s “jus soli” citizenship policy, which automatically grants citizenship to anyone born on Canadian soil, regardless of their parents' immigration status.

The debate has gained political traction following the Conservative Party’s October 8 proposal to amend the Citizenship Act, effectively ending birthright citizenship for children born to temporary residents. The plan, spearheaded by Michelle Rempel Garner, would restrict citizenship to those with at least one parent who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.

“The reform will align Canada with peer countries like Australia, New Zealand, and the UK,” Garner had said, arguing that the current system enables “loopholes” that encourage birth tourism — where non-residents travel to Canada specifically to give birth.

However, the proposal was rejected by Liberal and Bloc Québécois MPs during committee discussions, setting up a wider national debate ahead of the next election.

Justice Minister Sean Fraser condemned the Conservative plan as “fearmongering,” insisting that birth tourism accounts for less than 1% of all births in the country. Human rights groups, including Amnesty International Canada and OCASI, have also warned that the move could create stateless children and harm mixed-status families.

The issue comes at a time when temporary residents in Canada have surged past 2.8 million, a 150% increase since 2019. With housing shortages and strained public services, the Conservatives see an opportunity to tap into voter anger — a recent poll found 62% of Canadians support stricter residency rules.

Globally, only about 35 countries still offer unrestricted birthright citizenship, mostly in the Americas. If Canada proceeds with reform, it would mark a major policy shift aligning with nations that have tightened citizenship laws amid growing migration pressures.