Last Friday I joined 79 other people from 25 different countries in a ceremony to receive our Canadian citizenship. So after 7 and a half years I am finally Canadian.

I arrived at the room around 9am and showed my record of landing and my ceremony invitation to a lady who made sure I was supposed to be there. She gave me some papers and asked me to sit in chair #72 (I think…), the papers where: the words for the Canadian anthem in English and French, a letter from the Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet also in English and French and a triptic from the Public Service Commission of Canada. The judge gave a speech and then we swore allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada. First we had to do this in French but we were told we were not being tested on accent, so we all gave a sigh of relief and just repeated after the judge as best as we could. We then sang the Canadian anthem, but only in English. They gave us our Canadian Citizenship certificate and then I went to work.

So, what does all this mean to me? I can get a Canadian passport, vote in elections and be part of the government. I mean, this just makes it official, but I have been part of Canada for the past seven years; getting a piece of paper does not make me any more Canadian than I was last week. Go read Arieanna’s post about Canadian identity to see what I mean.

For others in the room it probably meant much more, some people might have come to Canada as refugees and getting their citizenship marks the end of a long road and the start of a new life.