After 17 years of living in Canada as a permanent resident, I finally took the final leap in becoming a Canadian citizen last week.
I spent years talking about Canadian politics to those closest to me in an attempt to influence them to vote and pestered them on the candidates they should follow. My husband will tell you that I created a guide for him during the last election, with notes on every candidate and their stance on major issues.
But now, I’ll finally be able to stop pestering everyone, as I’ll be allowed to cast my very own ballot in the next election.
To a lot of people, that may seem mundane, but to me, it’s pretty exciting.
Aside from a newfound ability to vote, I’m grateful to now be a dual citizen of Canada and the country where I spent my childhood– the Netherlands. (Yes, it is possible to hold dual citizenship under certain circumstances).
On Jan. 25, 2022, exactly 17 years and 15 days after the day I first arrived in Canada, I was invited to attend my Canadian citizenship ceremony.
Unfortunately, the ceremony was a little underwhelming due to it being held virtually in our COVID-19-restricted world.
After filling out a lot of paperwork that took nearly a year for the government to process and having completed a Canadian citizenship test last fall, I ended up sitting in front of my computer at home, cutting up my permanent residence card, reciting the Oath of Canadian Citizenship, and singing “O Canada” for the first time as a full-fledged Canadian citizen.
In her speech, the ceremony official noted this was a very special day for all of us who were officially becoming Canadian. She said this would likely be a day we would never forget. While this may be true if we were attending the ceremony in-person – speaking with others about their journey to becoming a Canadian, reciting the oath of citizenship in front of family and friends who support us, feeling the excited energy in the room while singing O Canada together, and shaking the official’s hand to receive our certificate – it just didn’t feel that way as I sat alone at home in front of my computer screen, watching the virtual ceremony during a quick work break.
I know many others have sacrificed a lot more than I ever have to come to Canada and work toward their citizenship. And I think for many, this accomplishment is something to be celebrated. I hope they can hold these ceremonies in-person again soon.
A lot has been sacrificed throughout these last two years during the pandemic, and sometimes it’s the small things you miss out on that make you realize just how much COVID-19 has changed everything within our society.
