Virtual citizenship ceremonies should end, says Conservative critic

Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel-Garner said Wednesday it's time for the federal government to end virtual citizenship ceremonies.

The Conservatives campaigned on this idea during the spring election and Rempel Garner suggested it could be a way to help restore some confidence in the immigration system.

"With support for immigration at an all-time low, returning to inclusive, nation-building ceremonies is a no-brainer. In-person citizenship ceremonies are the essential unifying bedrock of Canada's civic life," Rempel Garner said.

"Swearing the oath of citizenship in front of an official should be upheld as an integral part of committing to those responsibilities that come along with being Canadian."

In a media statement, an Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada spokesperson said Thursday morning the government is committed to offering both in-person and virtual citizenship ceremonies.

New Canadians are invited to either a virtual or in-person ceremony by the immigration department. The spokesperson said "best efforts" are taken to accommodate someone requesting a change in the ceremony format.

The formal citizenship oath is the final legal step to becoming a Canadian citizen.

The government introduced virtual citizenship ceremonies during the COVID-19 pandemic and the practice continued afterward.

The immigration department says the option of virtual ceremonies helped improve citizenship application processing times, which grew longer during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In January 2022, 46 per cent of citizenship applications were not being processed within the target period of 12 months. The government got back to its target of processing 80 per cent of citizenship applications within a year in November 2023.

In 2022, almost 358,000 people took the citizenship oath in either an in-person ceremony or a virtual event, up from about 250,000 in 2019 — the last year with no virtual ceremonies.

The current inventory of pending citizenship applications is just under 258,000 according to the immigration department.

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby