Ottawa welcomed more than 1,100 new citizens from 122 countries this week. The citizenship ceremonies took place at 15 different locations across the city.
50 of the new citizens were welcomed and congratulated by Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander and Governor General David Johnson at a special ceremony held at Rideau Hall. The event was hosted by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship.
The ceremonies held in Ottawa are a reflection of the improved efficiency of the citizenship program. With the new simplified application and approval process the government projects that citizenship processing times will be reduced to less than one year. The government also projects that the citizenship application backlog will be reduced by more than 80% by 2015-2016.
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