The Faculty of Health hosted a citizenship ceremony in the Health Expansion building on May 30, making it the second on-campus ceremony at UW. The event was co-run by UW and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCD).

The opportunity first arose six years ago through a UW alumnus who currently works as a citizenship judge in the GTA, but the first ceremony was not held till last year. Lili Lui, the Dean of the Faculty of Health, explained how she felt that, due to the large international and immigrant student population at UW, this would be a significant event for the school to host. 

Lui discussed how not only does the event hold importance to UW as a whole, but it also aligns specifically with the Faculty of Health’s mission. 

“Our vision is a healthier world. And we have these objectives to…foster internal and external community engagement,” Lui said.

With the ceremony being open to the public, Lui encouraged people to go to be able to see a citizenship ceremony in-person, especially immigrants who would have been too young to attend when they became a citizen.

The ceremony also aimed to be more inclusive and representative of Canada as a whole. In particular, there is a highlighted Indigenous aspect which has been included so that the people being sworn in will understand the significance of recognizing and respecting the Indigenous peoples of Canada.

Lui discussed the emotional aspect of the ceremony saying, “for those 50 that are going to be sworn in, it’s the final step that they take to become a Canadian citizen. Last year was very emotional for many of these individuals. Some of them have brought children with them. And it really opens up a door of privileges and rights, such as voting. A lot of things that we as Canadians take for granted, it will be new for these individuals.”

Matthews Hall, one of the 50 people sworn in at the ceremony, also brought his family and found the experience to be emotional. Hall said he is excited to be a citizen in Canada because of how diverse the culture is and how welcoming he feels the people are. 

“We were happy, so definitely a big smile on our face, but at the same time there were teary eyes as well,” Hall said. 

Also in attendance at the ceremony was Bardish Chagger, Waterloo’s Liberal MP. Chagger described the event as a momentous occasion and explained how most citizenship ceremonies are held online now, which makes the ones happening in person so special to attend.

The MP praised UW for putting in effort to engage and connect with the community at large, especially during this time of year when the school is busy with other events such as convocation.

“I think it speaks to the foundation and values of the University of Waterloo and it’s important that individuals who might not interact with the University of Waterloo have an opportunity to do so through a citizenship ceremony,” Chagger said.

Looking forward, Lui said that she is hopeful that UW will continue to have the opportunity to keep hosting citizenship ceremonies on an annual basis since the IRCD is now familiar with working with the school and the planning process is already in place. 

With files from Emma Danesh.