THUNDER BAY — Thunder Bay Multicultural Association is backing a call for in-person citizenship ceremonies in Thunder Bay.
In-person ceremonies haven’t happened in the city since they were suspended nation-wide during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Cathy Woodbeck, executive director of the multicultural association.
“(It’s) a special time for families to, all as a group, become Canadian citizens, and it's nice to watch,” Woodbeck said. “It's nice when they're in a group, they can sing the national anthem, they take the oath, they congratulate each other.”`
According to Woodbeck, a number of people from the area—including new Canadians—as well as community groups and individuals who want to help make the ceremonies happen have lobbied Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and minister Marc Miller.
Thunder Bay resident Julie Hutka started a change.org petition to raise awareness of the issue, saying that doing the ceremonies through a computer screen is not sufficient.
While the association hasn’t done any direct lobbying of its own, Woodbeck told Newswatch that they’re fully backing the call.
The multicultural association has historically partnered with the with the federal department responsible for citizenship to provide the ceremonies by coordinating with venues and other stakeholders in the city to make them happen, as well as preparing candidates for the required testing, Woodbeck said.
The in-person ceremonies would not only include new citizens who live in Thunder Bay, but also those from across northwestern Ontario. The larger ceremonies, Woodbeck added, could see 100 to 120 new Canadians (plus families and friends) happening three times a year.
In a statement to Newswatch from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the department said that the Government of Canada is committed to providing both in-person and virtual ceremonies in all regions, but acknowledged that Thunder Bay hasn’t seen any in-person ceremonies “recently.”
“In-person ceremonies are often organized when there is demand and/or multiple applicants from an area awaiting a ceremony,” the statement said, adding that it makes “best efforts” to accommodate people’s preferences. “Candidates are invited by the department to either an in-person or virtual ceremony based on operational considerations,” the statement said. It did not specify what those operational considerations are.
From Thunder Bay, the closest in-person ceremonies listed on the the Government of Canada website are in Winnipeg and the Greater Toronto Area.
Woodbeck said there’s no shortage of people and organizations in Thunder Bay who want to help, and that, especially given how geographically large the region is, and how far it is from southern Ontario, they should be brought back.
“We'd be encouraging them to come back to the in-person ceremonies, especially for a region like ours where travel is hard,” she said. “Where now you're doing it online, and it's not the same—and larger centres can do it in person—and it's a special day for people, so we would like to certainly see them do that again here in our city.”
