700 new citizens join the Canadian family in one day at Montreal ceremonies
December 4, 2014 — MONTREAL, QC — Today, Canada welcomed more than 700 new citizens from nearly 100 countries at four citizenship ceremonies in Montreal.
For a new Canadian, the citizenship ceremony marks their formal entry into Canadian society. A citizenship ceremony is a unique part of Canadian civic life. It is one of the few occasions where we formally reflect on the rights, responsibilities, privileges and benefits of being a Canadian citizen.
Ceremonies like these demonstrate how the government is working to make the citizenship program more efficient and helping more people realize their dream of becoming Canadian sooner. Recent changes to the Citizenship Act, which received Royal Assent on June 19, 2014, are already improving the efficiency of the citizenship program.
More than 200,000 new Canadians have been welcomed across Canada so far in 2014-more than double the number of new citizens compared to the same time period in 2013. With the new streamlined decision-making process and other changes to the Citizenship Act, the government is on track to bring the processing time for citizenship applications down to under one year and reduce the citizenship application backlog by more than 80 percent by 2015-2016.
Quick facts
- Since 2006, Canada has enjoyed the highest sustained levels of immigration in Canadian history—an average of one quarter million newcomers each year. Accordingly, the demand for citizenship has increased by 30 percent.
- On June 19, 2014, Bill C-24, the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act, became law. The new provisions strengthen the integrity of the citizenship system and reduce processing times for citizenship applications.
Quote
“On behalf of the Government of Canada, I’d like to extend a warm welcome and congratulations to today’s newest citizens. Our government is proud of our recent changes to the Citizenship Act that are improving processing times and reducing backlogs. This means that eligible applicants, like the ones welcomed in Montreal today, will realize their dream of becoming Canadian much sooner.”
Chris Alexander, Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister
Related products
- News Release—Improving processing times, welcoming more new citizens
- News Release—Government welcomes Royal Assent of Bill C-24
Associated links
- The Oath of Citizenship
- Find a citizenship ceremony
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Photos of Minister Alexander available at: www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/photos/index.asp
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Contacts
Kevin Menard
Minister’s Office
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-954-1064
Media Relations
Communications Branch
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-952-1650
CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca
Building a stronger Canada: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) strengthens Canada’s economic, social and cultural prosperity, helping ensure Canadian safety and security while managing one of the largest and most generous immigration programs in the world.
