Nitin Goyal, and his son 18-month-old Ansh, shake hands with a politician after Goyal received his citizenship Saturday (July 1, 2023) during a ceremony at the ceremony at the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Vancouver location for Canada Day. (Lauren Collins)
Sandeep Singh Kalsi smiles after receiving his Canadian citizenship Saturday (July 1, 2023) during a ceremony at the ceremony at the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Vancouver location for Canada Day. (Lauren Collins)
New Canadians wait to take the oath of citizenship at the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Vancouver location on Canada Day 2023. About 30 people from 12 different countries took part in the ceremony. (Lauren Collins)
New Canadians take the oath of citizenship at the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Vancouver location on Canada Day 2023. About 30 people from 12 different countries took part in the ceremony. (Lauren Collins)
Yun Ho Chen holds a Canadian flag while waiting to take the oath of citizenship at the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Vancouver location on Canada Day 2023. About 30 people from 12 different countries took part in the ceremony. (Lauren Collins)
A person waits to take the oath of citizenship, while holding onto their new documents, at the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Vancouver location on Canada Day 2023. About 30 people from 12 different countries took part in the ceremony. (Lauren Collins)
Yun Ho Chen smiles after the citizenship ceremony on Canada Day 2023 at the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Vancouver. Chen was one of about 30 people from 12 countries becoming citizens during the local ceremony. (Lauren Collins)
A person waits to take the oath of citizenship, while holding onto their new documents and a Canadian flag, at the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Vancouver location on Canada Day 2023. About 30 people from 12 different countries took part in the ceremony. (Lauren Collins)
New Canadians take the oath of citizenship at the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Vancouver location on Canada Day 2023. About 30 people from 12 different countries took part in the ceremony. (Lauren Collins)
A woman shakes hands after her citizenship ceremony on Canada Day 2023 at the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Vancouver. Chen was one of about 30 people from 12 countries becoming citizens during the local ceremony. (Lauren Collins)
New Canadians take the oath of citizenship at the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Vancouver location on Canada Day 2023. About 30 people from 12 different countries took part in the ceremony. (Lauren Collins)
Abraham Haider, 3, is all smiles after his dad received his citizenship Saturday, July 1, 2023. About 30 people from 12 different countries took part in the ceremony at the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Vancouver location on Canada Day 2023. (Lauren Collins)
A woman looks at document declaring her a Canadian citizen following a citizenship ceremony Saturday (July 1, 2023) he Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Vancouver location on Canada Day 2023. About 30 people from 12 different countries took part in the ceremony. (Lauren Collins)
Sandeep Singh Kalsi shakes Vancouver City Coun. Lenny Zhou’s hand, as Coun. Mike Klassen looks on, at the Canada Day 2023 citizenship ceremony. About 30 people from 12 different countries took part in the ceremony at the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Vancouver location on Saturday (July 1, 2023). (Lauren Collins)
A woman takes a selfie with her citizenship document after receiving citizenship Saturday (July 1, 2023) during a ceremony at the ceremony at the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Vancouver location for Canada Day. (Lauren Collins)
A person waits to take the oath of citizenship, while holding onto their new documents, at the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Vancouver location on Canada Day 2023. About 30 people from 12 different countries took part in the ceremony. (Lauren Collins)
A woman shakes hands after her citizenship ceremony on Canada Day 2023 at the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Vancouver. Chen was one of about 30 people from 12 countries becoming citizens during the local ceremony. (Lauren Collins)Thirty new Canadians – coming from a dozen different countries – took their oath of citizenship Saturday morning (July 1) in Vancouver.
It was one of several ceremonies taking place across the country on Canada Day.
John Gilbert presided over the event, welcoming everyone to their new home. He told the group that he first visited Canada as a 14-year-old and knew then that he wanted to move to Canada.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim noted that Canadians have been unlearning the untruths of the nation with Indigenous peoples and displacement in recent years, but this group would be “starting fresh and learning the true history.” He also pointed out that Saturday marked 100 years since a dark part of Canadian history when Canada enacted the Chinese Exclusion Act that would last 24 years.
READ MORE: Chinese Canadian Museum opens in B.C., 100 years after Exclusion Act took effect
In a statement, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said Canada would be welcoming more than 1,000 new citizens on Canada Day 2023.
““The number of citizens celebrating Canada Day continues to rise every year. Canada is proud to have exceeded its citizenship goals in 2022, with nearly 364,000 new Canadian citizens.”
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