June 30, 2014 — Scarborough, ON — Canada's Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander announced today that more than 3,900 individuals from approximately 125 countries became Canadian citizens at ceremonies held in the Scarborough area this month.
Ceremonies like these demonstrate how the government is working to make the citizenship program more efficient, helping more people realize sooner their dream of becoming Canadian. The government's recent changes to the Citizenship Act will further reduce wait times by streamlining the decision-making process for citizenship. It is expected that these changes will bring the average processing time for citizenship applications down to under one year, and that the current backlog will be reduced by more than 80 percent by April 2016.
"The increasingly high number of individuals taking on the full responsibility of citizenship and committing to Canadian values and traditions shows the high value of Canadian citizenship. It also demonstrates that our government's efforts to improve the citizenship program and decrease wait times are working. On behalf of all Canadians, I would like to congratulate these new citizens, and welcome them to the Canadian family."
Chris Alexander, Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister
Alexis Pavlich
Minister’s Office
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-954-1064
Media Relations
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.
