More than 4,800 people from all around the world have become Canadian citizens over the past seven days, as part of the country’s Veterans’ Week celebrations.
These new Canadian citizens were welcomed at 58 citizenship ceremonies held across the country, many of which were special Veterans’ Week-themed ceremonies that were attended by veterans or took place at military locations like Fort York.
At all citizenship ceremonies throughout the week, new Canadian citizens were encouraged to honour our veterans by attending a Remembrance Day ceremony, visiting a local cenotaph or monument, thanking veterans, wearing a poppy or sharing a story about a loved one who has served Canada.
“Canadian citizenship is highly valued, and being a Canadian citizen means embracing Canada’s traditions and values – and these values, which Canadians hold dear, are protected each and every day by our men and women in uniform,” said Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister, Chris Alexander. “During Veterans’ Week all citizens should take the time to recognize the sacrifices made by our Veterans and those who still serve to make our world a safer place.”
This week’s newest Canadian citizens joined the more than 200,000 new Canadian citizens who already received their Canadian citizenship in 2014. Recent changes to the Citizenship Act are expected to bring the processing time for Canadian citizenship applications down to less than one year and then reduce the citizenship application backlog to a working inventory in 2015/16.
Veterans’ Week takes place annually from 5th to 11th November, as Canadians come together to honour those who have sacrificed their lives to make the world – our world – a safer place.
Article published 12th November 2014