| Honorary Canadian citizenship | |
| Awarded By: |  Parliament of Canada |
| Type: | Honorary citizenship |
| Established: | 1985 |
| Country: | Canada |
| First Induction: | 1985 |
| Total: | 7 |
Honorary Canadian citizenship (French: citoyenneté canadienne honoraire) is an honour bestowed on foreigners of exceptional merit following a joint resolution by both Houses of the Parliament of Canada.
Honorary Canadian citizenship is purely symbolic; the recipient does not receive any of the rights, privileges, or duties typically held by a Canadian citizen.[1]
Honorary Canadian citizenship revoked by parliamentary vote
| Name | Image | Award date | Country | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raoul Wallenberg | 1985 (posthumous) |  Sweden | Diplomat and humanitarian. Posthumous recipient of the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal, and second honorary citizen of the United States.[2] [3] | ||
| 2 | Nelson Mandela | 2001 |  South Africa | Anti-apartheid activist, first post-apartheid President of South Africa, and recipient of the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize.[4] | ||
| 3 | Tenzin Gyatso | 2006 |  India(born in) | The 14th Dalai Lama and recipient of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize.[5] | ||
| 4 | Aung San Suu Kyi | 2007 |  Myanmar | Opposition leader and recipient of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.[6] Revoked by parliamentary vote in 2018 in response to the Rohingya genocide. | ||
| 5 | Karim Aga Khan IV | 2010 |  United Kingdom | 49th Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. Honorary Companion of the Order of Canada.[7] [8] | ||
| 6 | Malala Yousafzai | 2014[9] |  Pakistan | Women's rights and education activist, and recipient of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.[10] | ||
| 7 | Vladimir Kara-Murza | 2023 | United Kingdom (born in) | Political activist, journalist, author, filmmaker.[11] |
Canadian civil society groups and other protestors called for the revocation of Aung San Suu Kyi's honorary citizenship in response to UN allegations that the 2017 persecution by the Burmese military against the Rohingya, an ethno-religious minority group in Burma, was a form of ethnic cleansing.[12] [13] This included an online Change.org petition addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the House of Commons of Canada.[14] The House of Commons voted unanimously on September 27, 2018, to revoke her honorary citizenship.[15] The Senate of Canada approved a motion to the same effect unanimously on October 2, 2018.[16] With revocation motions passed by both houses, the Government of Canada stated that it recognized Parliament's decision to revoke the honour.