Rajendra Goorye and his family came to Canada in November of 2012. He was in search of not only a better life and a higher standard of living, but also the chance for his young family to access strong education. One of his first goals when settling into Canada was to find a good school for his three young children. He became a citizen in February of 2017.

Now that he is a Canadian citizen, Rajendra is looking forward to traveling. His Canadian passport has opened up doors for him, allowing him to visit the United States, and he soon wants to visit the East and West coasts of Canada. During his spare time, Rajendra likes to garden, watch movies and go for long drives just to discover new places.

Rajendra used his Cultural Access Pass often with his family; he visited museums, parks and more in both Ottawa and Toronto, including Algonquin Park. He says that he always brought along his children and they enjoyed all the activities. In particular, they love visiting the Ontario Science Centre. “[CAP is] very beneficial, helpful and worth it! I have a family of 5 and if I had to pay to visit all these places…” he says. “To be honest it would not always be possible, so thanks a lot [to the Cultural Access Pass].”

A key part of active citizenship, Rajendra believes, is embracing the culture of others and showing respect to every person, and cultural spaces play a key role in building that inclusion. “By going to cultural places I get to know Canada better, learn more about its history and feel part of the community. [Cultural places allow] people to learn more and increase their knowledge,” he says, “and then they are able to transfer this into their daily lives in their neighbourhood, at school or at work.  We get to meet and connect with other people. We are all part of the same community, we all work [here] and we should be happy to live in a multicultural country.”

About CAP: For nearly 10 years, the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC) has delivered the Cultural Access Pass (CAP), an innovative, best-in-class program that gives new citizens access to Canadian culture. It’s time to shift CAP to the digital age. Support the ICC.

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