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"With support for immigration at an all-time low, returning to inclusive, nation-building ceremonies is a no-brainer. In-person citizenship ceremonies are the essential unifying bedrock of Canada's civic life," Rempel Garner said.

"Swearing the oath of citizenship in front of an official should be upheld as an integral part of committing to those responsibilities that come along with being ºÃÉ«tv."

ºÃÉ«tvhas reached to Immigration Minister Lena Diab's office for comment but has not yet received a response.

The formal citizenship oath is the final legal step to becoming a ºÃÉ«tv citizen.

The government introduced virtual citizenship ceremonies during the COVID-19 pandemic and the practice continued afterward.

The immigration department says the option of virtual ceremonies helped improve citizenship application processing times, which grew longer during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In January 2022, 46 per cent of citizenship applications were not being processed within the target period of 12 months. The government got back to its target of processing 80 per cent of citizenship applications within a year in November 2023.

In 2022, almost 358,000 people took the citizenship oath in either an in-person ceremony or a virtual event, up from about 250,000 in 2019 — the last year with no virtual ceremonies.

The current inventory of pending citizenship applications is just under 258,000 according to the immigration department.

This report by ºÃÉ«tvwas first published Dec. 3, 2025.