July 2, 2014

Citizens celebrate their first Canada Day

Although it was Canada’s birthday the country welcomed more than 2,200 new Canadians from 138 countries.  The individuals were sworn in at 45 different citizenship ceremonies across the country. Since the start of 2014 Canada has welcomed approximately 130,000 Canadian citizens.

The government’s recent changes to the Citizenship Act will make the process for becoming citizens faster as it will reduce the current wait times to less than one year. Since 2006, Canada has welcomed over 1,300,000 individuals who are now proud to call Canada home.

Chris Alexander, Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister had this to say:

“On behalf of the Government of Canada, I would like to congratulate our newest citizens and welcome them to the Canadian family on this special day. Canada Day is a day to reflect upon what it means to be Canadian and to reaffirm our commitment to upholding Canadian values, which have their roots in democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law. It is a day to recognize both the rights and responsibilities of each and every Canadian. Congratulations and Happy Canada Day!”