Waiting to be invited to attend citizenship tests and oath ceremonies has become a daunting exercise in patience for many applicants anxious to be welcomed as Canadians. The pandemic slowed down processing of many immigration applications, and citizenship files are no exception. Unfortunately, this trend continues, and we are still far from going back to the pre-pandemic processing times.
Nowadays it is normal to wait close to two years to swear an oath to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and become a Canadian citizen. Sometimes it can take six or more months just to get an invitation to the oath ceremony. Does this mean that there are more people waiting for the oath ceremony? The short answer is: “no,” at least when it comes to the aspiring Canadians from the Hamilton region.
In February this year I asked Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (or IRCC) to provide an overview of citizenship tests and oath ceremonies taken by the applicants living in the Hamilton region between January 2018 and February 2022. I wanted to get an idea whether there is a big discrepancy between the number of people who take the test and the number of people who attend the oath ceremony. IRCC kindly provided the following table:
While no details regarding the applicants in Hamilton were received, the table shows that most new Canadians live in the following cities: London, Oakville, Kitchener, and Burlington. The table further suggests that there are slightly more people who attend the ceremony than who take the test.
Since it can take months to get invited to the oath ceremony, Immigration’s office in charge of the Hamilton area does sometimes schedule the oath ceremony per the applicant’s request.