Canada Welcomes 150,000 New Citizens In 2014

Canada’s Citizenship drive is moving at breakneck speed with a record 150,000 granted citizenship just this year 2014, and the year is not yet over! This is double the number of new citizens compared to the same period in 2013 and according to Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander the numbers were possible due to the action taken by the government to reduce backlogs and improve processing times.

Updated: August 30, 2014 2:48 AM IST

By The Weekly Voice

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The Weekly Voice

Scarborough–Canada’s Citizenship drive is moving at breakneck speed with a record 150,000 granted citizenship just this year 2014, and the year is not yet over! This is double the number of new citizens compared to the same period in 2013 and according to Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander the numbers were possible due to the action taken by the government to reduce backlogs and improve processing times.

Alexander attended a citizenship ceremony in Scarborough and welcomed the country’s newest Canadians. At the event, Alexander highlighted the government’s recent changes to the citizenship system, which have led to improved processing times and an eight percent reduction to the citizenship backlog.

Recent changes to the Citizenship Act, which received Royal Assent on June 19, 2014, will allow for further improvements to the efficiency of the Citizenship program. The new streamlined decision-making process and other changes to the Citizenship Act are expected to bring the processing time for citizenship applications down to under one year, reduce the citizenship application backlog by more than 80 percent and achieve a working inventory of applications in fiscal year 2015-2016.

“Our government is proud to welcome more new citizens to the Canadian family. The increased number of new Canadians in 2014 is an indication that our government’s changes to the citizenship system are working. With our recent changes to the Citizenship Act, we will see improved processing times and high numbers of new Canadians taking on the rights and responsibilities that come with citizenship,” said Alexander.

This story originally appeared on The Weekly Voice.

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