OTTAWA (AFP) - Canada's last known surviving veteran of World War I will soon reclaim his Canadian citizenship after living for more than half a century in the United States, officials said Friday.

In a statement, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said John Babcock, 107, is to be granted Canadian citizenship in recognition of his military service, and his desire to reconnect with his birth country.

"He symbolizes a generation of Canadians who, in many ways, were the authors of modern Canadian nationhood," Harper said of Babcock. "When Canada went to war in 1914 we were widely perceived as a mere colony of Britain.

"By the end of the war, the world recognized Canada as a proud and independent country. Mr. Babcock and his fellow servicemen helped make possible Canada's coming of age and I thank them from the bottom of my heart."

Babcock was born on July 23, 1900 on a farm near Kingston, Ontario.

As a teenager, he lied about his age to army recruiters in order to join the Canadian Expeditionary Force overseas, but did not see any combat during the conflict.

After the war, Babcock emigrated to the United States. He now lives in Washington state.

He became a US citizen in 1946, and automatically lost his status as a British subject. The Canadian Citizenship Act, which legally established Canadian citizenship for the first time, only came into force the following year.

In recent meetings with Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson, according to officials, Babcock said he "considers himself a Canadian at heart" and so the government acted to help him become Canadian again.

He will now officially become Canadian as soon as he takes an oath of citizenship, said Harper.

"This means the last known soldier to serve Canada in the First World War will forever be a Canadian," he said.

More than 600,000 Canadians fought in World War I, and more than 60,000 died between 1914 and 1918.

LIKE IT?  LET OTHERS KNOW