After living apart from her husband for more than five years, Bernadette Osabel-Alamer came from the Philippines to Canada on August 21st, 2009. Her goal was to build a new life together with her husband in Canada.
As part of building that new life, Bernadette became a Canadian citizen on October 30th, 2013. She said that although the process of becoming a citizen has its ups and down, it is an achievement that she is proud of. She truly believes that being a Canadian citizen is a privilege, and that each new citizen should take care of this privilege and “live a good life.”
After becoming a Canadian citizen, Bernadette got her CAP card and started exploring not only local communities in Mississauga and Brampton, but also the city of Toronto and more. One of her favourite things to do is “nature-tripping”; Bernadette and her husband enjoy visiting green spaces like parks in her area, national parks and Niagara Falls. Her and her husband also took advantage of her free admission to the Royal Ontario Museum and brought along guests who had traveled all the way from the Philippines.
Although her CAP card has now expired, Bernadette and her husband continue to explore Canada. They recently visited Ottawa to explore more parks and museums, and their goal is to travel to all the famous landmarks in Canada such as Banff National Park in Alberta and Granville Island in British Columbia, as well as the East Coast.
In regards to what being a Canadian citizen means to her personally, Bernadette said, “Being a Canadian [means] I am home.”
View the CAP August Newsletter where this article first appeared.
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CBC’s Marivel Taruc, host of Our Toronto, attended a community citizenship hosted by The Institute for Canadian Citizenship in partnership with the Luminato Festival in Toronto. This special partnership brings together community and culture to celebrate new Canadian citizens. Marivel spoke during the ceremony, and shared her own personal story of immigrating to Canada from the Philippines 37 years ago. Overall, it was a joyous day of celebrating all that we most value as Canadians, with incredible performances, moving speeches, and a strong sense of community. Steve Paikin (from TVO’s The Agenda) who presided over the ceremony, and put it simply, “We have 29 new Canadian citizens now. Brilliant!”
Click here to read more about the ICC and Luminato’s community citizenship ceremony.
The Institute for Canadian’s Citizenship’s Alykhan Haji (Director, Building Citizenship) sat down with the hosts of CTV’s The Social to discuss the importance of celebrating new Canadian citizens and highlighting some of the beautiful moments witnessed at ICC community citizenship ceremonies across the country. The Social’s Digital Correspondent Jessica Allen also joined the ICC at Nathan Phillips Square to take part in the Newcomer Day celebrations in Toronto.
