Prepare for the citizenship ceremony

We’ll invite most applicants to a video oath ceremony (virtual citizenship ceremony).

Some applicants may be invited to an in-person ceremony.

We’re working on updating the information on this page. For more information, wait for and check your invitation.

Taking the Oath of Citizenship at a citizenship ceremony is your final step to become a Canadian citizen. Citizenship ceremonies take place across the country and at all times of the year. There are special ceremonies on Canada Day and during Citizenship Week.

Video: The Canadian Citizenship Ceremony: What you need to know

On this page

Who has to take the oath

Adults and children aged 14 or over must go to the citizenship ceremony and take the oath.

Parents will get certificates of citizenship for their children under age 14. Children under age 14 don’t have to go, but are welcome to.

Get an oath accommodation or waiver (exemption)

You may be in a situation where you need

  • help with the oath (accommodation) or
  • an exemption from taking it (waiver)

Accommodation

If you need help with the oath of citizenship, you can request an accommodation. For example, you can get sign language interpretation when you take the oath.

Learn more about accommodations

Waiver (exemption)

We’ll give a waiver only if a mental disability (like an intellectual or a developmental disability) prevents someone from understanding the oath.

  • For example, they don’t understand that taking the oath makes them a Canadian citizen.
  • If we approve the waiver request, the applicant doesn’t need to take the oath of citizenship.

Learn more about waivers  

Get your citizenship ceremony date

We’ll invite you to the citizenship ceremony by email or mail 1 to 2 weeks in advance.

The invitation will have the ceremony’s

Check your junk folder for our emails
  • If you gave us your email address in your application, we’ll contact you by email.
  • To avoid missing our emails, check your junk or spam folder.
  • Look for messages from email addresses ending in “@cic.gc.ca.”

Wait time for the ceremony invitation

Every application is different. The wait time for your ceremony invitation depends on

Check your application status

You can find the latest status information for your ceremony invitation by checking your application status.

If the “Citizenship ceremony” section of the citizenship status tracker has an “In progress” status, it means we

  • are in the process of scheduling your ceremony
  • will send you the invitation at least 1 week before the ceremony date

  If you contact us, we cannot give you more information than what’s available in your application status.

If you’re not available on the day of your ceremony, send us a message to explain why and get a new date. If you don’t give an explanation or your explanation isn’t reasonable, we may stop processing your application and not grant you citizenship. You can either:

Generally, once we receive your message, we’ll schedule your ceremony on a different day. We’ll let you know by email if you gave us your email address or letter mail if we don’t have your email address.

You need to stay in the room for the entire ceremony. If you’re bringing a young child, also bring a guest who can take them out of the room if they get restless and need to leave the ceremony room. If you can’t arrange child care, let us know and we’ll reschedule your ceremony date.

Language of your ceremony

Your notice tells you if your ceremony will be mostly in English, mostly in French, or bilingual. If you want to attend a bilingual ceremony, contact the office that sent you the notice.

What to bring

When you come to the ceremony, bring:

What happens at the ceremony

During your ceremony, you will:

A citizenship judge or official will preside over the ceremony and lead the Oath of Citizenship. Many people will take the oath with you. The ceremony official will say the oath in English and in French. As a group, you’ll repeat the words to the oath after the official. You must repeat the oath in at least one of the official languages, but we encourage you to say them in both. You’ll also be invited to sing the bilingual version of the national anthem.

You can swear or affirm the oath. Swearing is for people who want to refer to their religious beliefs and affirming is for people who don’t want to refer to religious text. If you want to swear the oath on your holy book, bring it with you.

Once you take the Oath of Citizenship, you’ll be a Canadian citizen. We’ll give you your citizenship certificate as proof that you’re a Canadian citizen. It will show the date that you became a citizen. Keep it in a safe place.

Prepare to say the oath and sing the anthem

We’ll give you the words to the oath and the anthem at the ceremony, but you can practice to prepare for the ceremony.

Oath of Citizenship

I swear (or affirm)
That I will be faithful
And bear true allegiance
To His Majesty
King Charles the Third
King of Canada
His Heirs and Successors
And that I will faithfully observe
The laws of Canada
Including the Constitution
Which recognizes and affirms
The Aboriginal and treaty rights of
First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples
And fulfil my duties
As a Canadian citizen.

Video: The Oath of Citizenship

National anthem: O Canada

In all provinces and territories, except Quebec, we use the bilingual, English first version (PDF, 824 KB):

O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all of us command.
Car ton bras sait porter l’épée,
Il sait porter la croix!
Ton histoire est une épopée
Des plus brillants exploits.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Listen to a bilingual, English first recording performed by our choir and musicians:

In Quebec, we use the bilingual, French first version (PDF, 817 KB):

Ô Canada! Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!
Car ton bras sait porter l’épée,
Il sait porter la croix!
Ton histoire est une épopée
Des plus brillants exploits.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Listen to a bilingual, French first recording performed by our choir and musicians:

Listen to an instrumental recording performed by our musicians:

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