Thunder Bay, Ont., celebrates new Canadians in first in-person citizenship ceremony in 5 years

Sarah Law · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 25, 2025 1:43 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

Haban Beyene came to Thunder Bay, Ont., from Ethiopia arsenic a exile erstwhile helium was 16 years old.

On Friday, helium was 1 of 60 caller Canadians to transverse the signifier successful the northwestern Ontario city's archetypal in-person citizenship ceremonial successful 5 years.

"It was amazing. It was precise good," Beyene said arsenic helium reflected connected Friday's lawsuit astatine the Italian Cultural Centre. "I'm truthful arrogant to beryllium a Canadian."

In-person citizenship ceremonies were suspended aft the COVID-19 pandemic. Up until past week, the ceremonies continued to beryllium held virtually successful Thunder Bay, adjacent aft carnal distancing restrictions were lifted. 

Earlier this year, Thunder Bay nonmigratory Julie Hutka started a petition successful the hopes of bringing in-person ceremonies back.

Beyene said his begetter took his Canadian citizenship oath online, and it wasn't the aforesaid benignant of experience.

"I consciousness similar it's [more] amusive successful idiosyncratic alternatively than online," helium said.

LISTEN | Cathy Woodbeck: New Canadian Citizenship Ceremony 

Friday's ceremonial saw radical from 18 antithetic countries instrumentality their oath, immoderate having lived successful Thunder Bay for a fewer years and others having been successful the assemblage for decades, said Cathy Woodbeck, enforcement manager of the Thunder Bay Multicultural Centre, which organized the event.

"Many of those who received citizenship past week were radical that we met the time they arrived successful Canada, the time that they got disconnected the plane," Woodbeck said.

"It's truly bully to observe that with them … to spot the pride, to spot the celebration, to spot their families travel and witnesser that to ticker them each this time."

Virtual ceremonies 'just not the same'

The Thunder Bay Multicultural Centre helps immigrants, refugees and caller Canadians with everything from translation and mentation services to preparing for their citizenship tests.

"Helping them registry their children successful school, giving them immoderate accusation connected filing income taxation for the archetypal time, looking for a job," Woodbeck said.

"Some request much help, immoderate request less. Some integrate perfectly good speaking English arsenic their archetypal connection — it conscionable depends connected wherever they are successful that journey."

Woodbeck said citizenship ceremonies are 1 of the highlights of her work, and the feedback she's heard from those who took their oath on Friday has been overwhelmingly positive.

"They truly bash admit the information that it's successful person," she said. "They get to enactment a small much than erstwhile you're staring astatine a surface by yourself. You whitethorn person radical with you but it's conscionable not the same."

She encourages radical to look into the services and enactment the Multicultural Association has to offer, peculiarly erstwhile it comes to getting acceptable for the citizenship test.

"It's truly bully to get familiarized and conscionable beryllium acceptable for that and consciousness a small much assured erstwhile the trial comes around," she said.