A Canadian flag flies in the wind at Granville Island in Vancouver, B.C., on Monday June 30, 2014. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)
WINNIPEG — A citizenship ceremony on Tuesday granted 49 new citizens the privilege of calling themselves Canadian.
The ceremony, held at VIA Rail Canada’s Union Station downtown, saw people from 19 countries taking the oath of citizenship.
“One in five Canadians is an immigrant, and I think that we can all agree that Canada is the country it is today thanks to immigrants like you who, full of hope, potential, determination and courage, chose to settle here,” said VIA Rail’s president and CEO Yves Desjardins-Siciliano.
Before the ceremony, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC) and VIA Rail hosted roundtable discussions during which new citizens and their guests were invited to share their journeys to citizenship and reflect on what being a Canadian citizen means to them.
— Staff
