The Ottawa Senators are hosting a special citizenship ceremony, welcoming 186 new citizens from 39 countries into the Canadian family today.
The ceremony started at 2:30 p.m., ahead of tonight’s game with the Calgary Flames. This is the largest Canadian citizenship ceremony ever hosted by an NHL team. Once sworn in, Canada’s new citizens will walk the red carpet onto centre ice at 7 p.m. to sing “O Canada” to open the game. They will then stay and watch the game as guests of the Ottawa Senators.
The ceremony is being attended by Nicolas Ruszkowski, COO, Senators Sports & Entertainment, and on behalf of the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, by Karen McCrimmon, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and Member of Parliament for Kanata–Carleton. Chris Neil, former Ottawa Senators player, is also in attendance. Citizenship Judge Rania Sfeir is presiding over the ceremony. Minister Hussen will join the new citizens in singing the national anthem.
