New Canadian citizens in February 2014 almost double compared to one year ago

Ottawa, February 28, 2014 — More than 19,200 people from 193 countries have become Canadian citizens at citizenship ceremonies held across Canada over the month of February. This is almost 100 percent higher compared to the same period last year (February 2013) when approximately 9,980 people were granted citizenship across Canada.

At 220 citizenship ceremonies held across the country this past month, from school gymnasiums, to Citizenship and Immigration offices, to city halls and hotel conference rooms, Canada has welcomed our newest citizens.

These high numbers demonstrate that the system is becoming more efficient and the backlog of citizenship applications is decreasing, helping more people realize their dream of becoming Canadian sooner. The government’s proposed changes in Bill C-24, the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act, will also 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 2015-2016.

View full details at www.cic.gc.ca