What does it mean to become a Canadian citizen?
‘As an immigrant, I am becoming increasingly concerned about some of the rhetoric that is emanating from every angle of society.’
I remember the first time I applied for my passport. I was 12 years old. I was due to travel with my grandparents, and prior to this, I had always travelled with my parents, and I, as a minor, was included in their passport, so a child did not need their own identity document. This was also in the United Kingdom in 1995, where I am from.
Applying for a passport when one is born in the country of origin is an administrative process that requires very little thought. As a British-born national, I am in my rights to be a holder of a UK passport, and to travel freely under the rights and protections the documents holds. The passport, in essence, is proof of citizenship, and a tangible and symbolic piece of material that relates to identity, a sense of belonging and recognition of heritage.
So, what does it mean and feel like to proceed through a process to become another citizen, and in my case, Canadian? For the record, I will retain my British citizenship, so in effect, I am adopting a secondary citizenship, and to become dual nationality. But, let’s backtrack for a moment.
Since October 2017, the laws to apply to become a Canadian citizen changed. A person who holds permanent residency in Canada (as I did) had to be in the country for a period of 3 years out of 5, among other things. The most interesting part of the 12-month process was writing the citizenship examination. I do not have the time to go into detail about this experience, suffice to say, I passed the test with 100 per cent accuracy.
To date, I have been approved to become a Canadian citizen, and am awaiting the date to take the oath of citizenship ceremony that happens periodically throughout the year. Hopefully, I will be able to share this experience with you, but for now, let’s return to the opening question, what does it mean to become a Canadian citizen?
In recent years, I hosted and produced a TV on Cable 14 called ‘Coming To Hamilton’, which focused on newcomers, and the topic of immigration. Each of the guests who immigrated to Canada spoke of their lived experiences of this process. So, what it means to become a Canadian for each individual is a personal, unique and meaningful experience.
But what does it mean? I think the central theme for everyone, including myself, to become Canadian is to be proud of the open-mindedness of its citizens. It is also a responsibility to uphold the values and privileges that have been fought for many decades. But, it also intensifies the willingness of the individual to give back to their community that welcomed them in. New Canadians want to make a contribution. It’s a personal way of giving thanks. But it also relates to why people come to Canada. They want better for themselves, but they also want to improve the lives of those around them.
Becoming a citizen from birth is a very different feeling to that of becoming a citizenship through an application process, and this, I find, is something that is not spoken about as much in the whole topic of immigration, that seems, for better or worse, to dominate local, provincial and national media and politics. As a country, we seem to be at odds of what to do to maintain and sustain an effective immigration and citizenship process. As an immigrant, I am becoming increasingly concerned about some of the rhetoric that is emanating from every angle of society. It frightens me that what we are seeing in Europe and the USA is trickling to Canada, and I feel strongly that we need to deal with it headon. But how? I am one voice, but I feel I must raise my voice. And what I’d like to say is, please listen to the individual stories of those who come to Canada, and successfully go through the process of citizenship. In order to make a productive immigration system, we need to listen to those who have actually undertaken it.
Daniel Hyams, PhD, hosted and produced ‘Coming To Hamilton’ on Cable 14, currently divides his time between living in Hamilton and working in legislation in the House of Commons in Ottawa, and writes research and policy for the United Nations. He is the owner of Fermata Inc., a Hamilton-based music therapy company providing programs for people with special needs. Follow him on Twitter @DanielAHyams