Hoda Shawki says completing the residence questionnaire is a time-consuming process.
Photo Credit: CBC

Canadian citizenship takes longer

Permanent residents may routinely wait 23 months to get their Canadian citizenship. The wait used to be 12 to 15 months in 2008.

People applying used to number 189,886 in 2007. Now they number close to 350,000.

The government blames the growing wait list on an increase in immigration applications. It says new visa and border screening in the U.S. is affecting permanent residents as well as new rules in some countries allowing for multiple nationalities.

Immigration lawyers, union officials and people who are applying say the process has become much more complicated. Many agree the system needed to be tightened to stop people who said they lived here when they really didn’t. But they question whether changed rules are really limiting fraud or just making it much more difficult for everyone.

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