Nayaelah came to Canada with her family at the young age of thirteen. She says that as she grew up in Canada and integrated into Canadian society, she came to appreciate the country more and more. Nayaelah received her citizenship in 2014, completing her process in truly becoming a Canadian.
Nayaelah used her CAP card to visit local museums, but because she was working and going to school, she was unable to use it to travel that year. However, she since has been able to travel and has visited several museums, national parks and galleries. “I enjoy visiting cultural places as the diversity makes me feel welcome,” says Nayaelah, “I love learning from people of different cultural backgrounds.” She also encourages current CAP members to get out and use their CAP card during their first year of citizenship. “It’s a great way for new Canadians to explore the beauty of Canada,” says Nayaelah. “Canada has so much to offer, [and] it has really interesting people to learn from. With the Cultural Access Pass, Canadians can access those spaces and learn more about the country they live in.”
For Nayaelah, being an active citizen means giving back through volunteering and being active in one’s community. She has volunteered extensively, including tutoring youth, coaching children’s badminton, helping at fundraisers for different causes and spending time with seniors at a long-term care centre.
Now, at the age of only twenty-two, her main focus is running the non-profit organization that she started herself. Her organization, Empowerem, is a safe space initiative focused on providing marginalized, often racialized, newcomer Muslim female youth with programming that promotes social wellbeing, mental and physical health, and overall empowerment
“I am active in my community and love to help everyone – including people from other cultures – who share different practices and values from me,” says Nayaelah, “I think the best way to be Canadian is to give back to Canada in whatever way is possible for you.”
About CAP: For nearly 10 years, the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC) has delivered the Cultural Access Pass (CAP), an innovative, best-in-class program that gives new citizens access to Canadian culture. It’s time to shift CAP to the digital age. Support the ICC.
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“This country has been enriched by generations of people who have come from all over the world to make Canada a better place.” — The Right Honorable Beverley McLachlin, Chief Justice of Canada
The 2017 edition of 6 Degrees Citizen Space opened with a community citizenship ceremony, celebrating 50 new Canadian citizens with the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC) and Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Every year the ICC hosts 75 community citizenship ceremonies across the country that take place in the hearts of communities in cultural, welcoming, public spaces. Each ceremony includes an engaging roundtable discussion where new citizens, and community members share their stories of immigration and reflect on what it means to be an active and engaged citizen. Discussions are facilitated by roundtable hosts who have been invited for their interest in diversity, inclusion, and connection to citizenship. Several of today’s roundtable hosts were 6 Degrees speakers, participants, and Junior Fellows. It was a unique opportunity for attendees coming from around the world to experience a Canadian citizenship ceremony, and have a global conversation on citizenship and inclusion with new citizens.
The ceremony was presided over by the Chief Justice of Canada, The Right Honourable, Beverley McLachlin, who began by acknowledging the role immigrants have played in shaping Canada by adding, “welcoming newcomers is the story of Canada.” The Chief Justice went on to thank today’s new citizens for embracing Canada and contributing to the country’s future, “while we don’t share the same past, we share a common future.”
Following the Oath of Citizenship, ICC co-chair, and former Governor General, The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson shared her thoughts on the value of citizenship, as well as her own personal story of coming to Canada as a young refugee and how she was received in her new country, “I was welcomed here. And today I welcome you.” In her closing remarks she emphasized the bravery in immigration, “anyone who comes here from another country has guts. We need people like you with courage.” ICC co-chair, John Ralston Saul concluded the speeches by encouraging new citizens to take advantage of the rights citizenship offers by voting and to give back to the community with volunteer work, “volunteering is the core of this society, and the road into full citizenship,” and to more importantly be engaged, “this is your country now.”
Photos: ICC/Alyssa K. Faoro
For more information on partnering with the ICC to host a community citizenship ceremony, email us: ceremonypartnerships@forcitizenship.ca
“Thank you for choosing Canada. Thank you for building your lives and your futures amongst us, and as part of us.”
An excited audience of sixty-four new Canadian citizens along with friends, family, and well-wishers were treated to an unexpected visit from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Kelowna’s Stuart Park Wednesday afternoon. The event was a Community Citizenship Ceremony co-hosted by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship and Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada – one of 75 such special ceremonies held each year across the country. Trudeau greeted the new citizens by first acknowledging the millions of immigrants who came before them: “Immigrants and their descendants have made Canada what it is today.” “Diversity,” he told the audience, “is what makes us strong.”
Many of the day’s new citizens were able to shake hands with the Prime Minster as part of the ceremony. The ICC’s Building Citizenship Director Alykhan Haji had this to say about the Prime Minister’s appearance, “His words of welcome were not only inspiring to the new citizens but also a reminder to all Canadians of the importance of this very special day, one that every Canadian should experience! A citizenship ceremony is truly a special moment.”
ICC community citizenship ceremonies are unique in that they take place in the heart of communities across the country; in welcoming public spaces and places of celebration. Every ICC hosted community citizenship ceremony includes an engaging roundtable discussion where new citizens, friends, family and community members share their stories, and reflect on what it means to be a Canadian citizen. Several new citizens expressed that they felt Canadian and ‘at home’ in their communities long before taking the oath. This feeling of community was emphasized by Prime Minister Trudeau, who spoke about how Canadians value giving back. “We are not defined by our origins,” he said, “but by the values we share. We are defined by our willingness to help a stranger.”
Photos: ICC/ Kailey Barendregt
For more information on partnering with the ICC to host a community citizenship ceremony, email us: ceremonypartnerships@forcitizenship.ca
