‘Travesty’ or ‘forward thinking’? Hundreds weigh in on one-click citizenship oath

That’s according to the hundreds of comments the government received about the idea over the last few months. In February, the Liberals asked the public to weigh in on their plan to let people opt out of a formal in-person or online ceremony and instead take the Oath of Citizenship with the click of a mouse. It’s expected to save people roughly three months of waiting between taking their citizenship test and officially becoming a Canadian. In the latter half of 2022, fewer than 10 per cent of citizenship ceremonies were in person, and the vast majority were held over video conference, according to government data provided to Parliament. Critics said government backlogs and a lack of available in-person ceremonies were a poor reason to threaten the time-honoured tradition.