Becoming Canadian on Canada Day: How July 1 Citizenship Ceremonies Work
Ottawa's Canada Day did not go the way the city planned. Roughly 100 millimetres of rain fell on the capital yesterday, flooding roads, knocking out power and forcing the cancellation of the evening show at LeBreton Flats, fireworks included. The morning went ahead anyway. At 10 a.m., 52 people from 26 countries stood together at a special citizenship ceremony, took the oath and became Canadians. Citizenship Judge Rania Sfeir presided, Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab attended, and the ceremony was streamed live on YouTube for anyone watching from somewhere drier.
Scenes like it played out across the country. At The Forks in Winnipeg, 23 new Canadians took the oath. Ceremonies in Alberta drew local coverage describing citizenship taking on new meaning for the people swearing it. And in Collingwood, Ontario, the town carried on its annual tradition: a reaffirmation ceremony, where existing citizens retake the oath, followed by a giant cake.
Why the oath clusters on July 1
Citizenship ceremonies happen year-round in Canada. During Citizenship Week this past April, about 6,000 new Canadians from 40 countries were welcomed at ceremonies across the country. The Canada Day ceremonies are among the most high-profile of the year, though, and it shows in the staging. Taking the oath on the country's birthday folds a personal milestone into a national one, which is how Ottawa's ceremony ends up with a citizenship judge, a federal minister and a live YouTube stream.
In her official Canada Day statement, Minister Diab described ceremonies taking place in every corner of the country and celebrated Canada's official languages and the experiences its citizens share. Canada, she said, is a place where "diversity is celebrated, our values unite us."
What happens in the room
By the time someone reaches a Canada Day ceremony, the hard part is over. An adult applicant generally must be a permanent resident, meet a physical-presence requirement and, if aged 18 to 54, pass a knowledge test. The ceremony is the final legal step, not a photo opportunity bolted on at the end: nobody is a citizen until the oath is taken.
A citizenship judge or presiding official leads the group through the oath, which participants recite together. Each new citizen then receives a citizenship certificate, the document that opens the practical side of citizenship. With it, they can apply for a Canadian passport, register to vote and update records such as their Social Insurance Number.
Taking the oath again, on purpose
Collingwood's ceremony works differently. Reaffirmation ceremonies invite people who are already citizens, by birth or by an earlier oath, to retake it symbolically. No certificate changes hands and nothing legal happens, but Collingwood has made it a Canada Day fixture anyway, giant cake included.
For the 52 who became Canadian in Ottawa yesterday, the day came with a footnote: their first hours as citizens coincided with a storm that flooded streets across the capital and washed out the fireworks before dark. The oath, at least, beat the rain.