I have always considered my nationality a form of identity and I sought to better understand this identity when I left the shores of Nigeria to pursue a new career and educational prospects. I wanted to learn and experience a world beyond the one I was familiar with. That experience has been a journey in self-discovery; I did not realize how Nigerian I was until I moved to Canada. My cultural idiosyncrasies as a Nigerian became points of exceptionalism in my new Canadian environment—the kind of exceptionalism that gives room to learning, unlearning, and re-learning the world around me.
I discovered a world beyond the confines of my singular view during my postgraduate studies. I was learning with other students from different nationalities who, like me, were attempting to make sense of the world vis-à-vis their new experiences. I soon discovered a diaspora community that was a rich blend of cultures and worldviews that were vastly different from mine. I was becoming more conscious of my unconscious biases and the nuances of my new cultural environment—a world far from the one I had left behind. My new experiences spoke to new possibilities—the kind one would only find in a world that appreciates and gives voice to the unique and multifaceted experiences of people of different backgrounds and worldviews.
Canada soon became my definition of a multicultural society and as I got involved with my community, I found my place as part of its cultural mosaic. My experiences did not come without challenges, however. I found that workforce engagement or social inclusion is often skewed in favour of those with more similar or familiar experiences. Different is not always considered valuable, and maintaining the status quo is sometimes favoured by those who would rather not make the effort to learn new ways of being, doing and seeing.
Through my work on The Inclusion Project—a platform for engaging private and public sector stakeholders on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion—I’ve thought and learnt a lot about the correlation between a sense of belonging and one’s status on the citizenship spectrum. The project was inspired by some of the conversations at 6 Degrees Toronto, the forum presented by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship that I attended as part of my fellowship, as well as some international conversations around citizenship and migration.
Access to healthcare, employment, and some social services are sometimes allocated based on citizenship status. While there is a justifiable need to grant primary access to those who, by birth or naturalization, are citizens, this could also lead to the exclusion of those who do not (yet) have the privilege of citizenship. The illusion of permanence for immigrants, refugees or other newcomers becomes apparent when it becomes increasingly difficult to access much-needed services or the extent of their contribution to the society is limited by their residency status.
Certain rights (and privileges), such as the right to vote or run for office, should be reserved for citizens, but the growing need for skilled labour and the aging Canadian workforce no doubt, calls for new talent that would likely need to emerge from other parts of the world. Nova Scotia and Newfoundland have caught up to the need to support foreign medical talent to meet their needs; other provinces and professions need to catch up to this trend and consider new ways of gauging skills and experience beyond the number of years a person has spent in the country or their citizenship status.
For me, civic engagement and finding a sense of belonging in my local community goes beyond the parameters of a certificate and the accompanying privileges. I see citizenship as the everyday experience of contributing to my local community through responsible and active engagement. This, to me, is what it means to become Canadian.
Ruth Mojeed is a 2018–2019 ICC Fellow. For more information on the ICC Fellowship, visit https://www.icc-icc.ca/site/icc-fellowship.
Photo: Institute for Canadian Citizenship / Alyssa Faoro
By Ruth Mojeed
Joseph Lopez arrived in Canada in April of 2009 from New Zealand. He chose Canada because of its welcoming spirit towards immigrants. Joseph became a citizen on February 21, 2018. “My life has not really changed since coming to Canada – my dreams are still there,” says Joseph, “However, I am now proud to be Canadian and [am] feeling more at home.”
Joseph loves history, whether it’s reading about Canadian history or watching documentaries. Because of this, he used his Cultural Access Pass to explore Canada and its rich history. Joseph took advantage of his one-time 50% VIA Rail discount to take a trip from Vancouver to Winnipeg to Toronto and back to Saskatoon, then Vancouver. Along the way, he visited many museums and historic sites, including Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site and Fort York National Historic Site.
“I have been using my Cultural Access Pass to visit museums, art galleries, [and] historic homes in Vancouver, Victoria, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Toronto,” tells Joseph, “Cultural places are important in acquiring your identity as a Canadian. Going to cultural places and spaces made me more attached to my new country. Knowledge makes you see Canada in a different way – it feels more like home. I value my Cultural Access Pass because it has helped me know more about my new country, Canada, [..] my home and native land!”
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.
Be featured in our newsletter: Tag CAP and use the hashtag #CAPCanada in your social media posts for your chance to be the next CAP member or alumni featured, or send an email to cap@inclusion.ca
More than a week has passed since the horrific terror attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. During this time, many of us have been reflecting on that horrific event and searching for answers to the difficult questions it has raised. This is happening not just in New Zealand, but also here in Canada, where a similar attack occurred just over two years ago in Québec City.
We think of the victims and mourn with and for their families and friends. We think of the attacker and question what led him to commit mass murder. And we think of the different communities traumatized by this latest act of atrocity—Muslim communities, immigrant communities, and refugee communities, among others.
And after all of this thinking, we wonder what to do.
“We are one. They are us,” said the Rt. Hon. Jacinda Arden, Prime Minister of New Zealand, in a powerful statement of unity. In these six words, I believe we can find common cause and the building blocks of a call to action.
Inclusion and belonging are core tenets of the organization I now work with, the Institute for Canadian Citizenship. All of our work is rooted in a fundamental belief: Diversity is a reality. Inclusion a choice. This choice—this conscious decision to deny an “us and them” mentality in favour of seeing only “us”—is at the heart of what we believe Canadian citizenship to be.
Seventy-five times a year, we put this principle into practice, by producing citizenship ceremonies in co-operation with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada—often referred to as “enhanced” citizenship ceremonies. In cities big and small, in schools, libraries, sports arenas, galleries, and other iconic spaces, we bring together Canadians and those just about to take their oaths of citizenship. We ask them about their journeys to citizenship. We invite them to tell their stories. We solicit their opinions on what citizenship means to them. And we ask the new citizens why they decided to join us—because becoming a Canadian citizen is, on their part, an active choice. Not everyone who comes to Canada takes out citizenship—many remain permanent residents—but the vast majority, 86 percent, do. Why? Why do the majority of newcomers to Canada choose to become one of us, often at the cost of giving up another citizenship?
Hope. Undeniably, that is the common factor. Hope for themselves. Hope for their children. Hope for their extended family. Hope that they may benefit from—and contribute to—a better society than the one they left.
This was the hope with which my parents brought me, my brother, and my sister to Canada. And it is the same hope that prevails amongst every new citizen I meet in my new role as CEO of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship. It is this hope that resonates with me and that fuels my commitment to fulfil the promise set out by the Rt. Hon. Adrienne Clarkson and John Ralston Saul when they established our organization in 2006.
So, what is my call to action? It’s simple: Join us. Whether as an individual or as a group—from your neighbourhood, your workplace, your religious community, or any other association—join us. Come to one of our 75 annual enhanced citizenship ceremonies. Celebrate with new Canadians who are just joining our family. Talk to each other and share your stories. In doing so, realize for yourself—as we are convinced you will—that there is more that unites us than divides us. And that inevitably, truisms and clichés aside, you too will choose inclusion.
Information on upcoming citizenship ceremonies can be found here: https://inclusion.ca/program/building-citizenship/
By Yasir Naqvi, CEO of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship
It is just a two-hour flight between Boston and Toronto, and yet I had never visited Canada until my kickoff as an Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC) Fellow this past September. Little did I know that this experience would not only impact my professional growth, but also change me personally, as I incorporated the more global perspective of the ICC into my work on youth civic engagement in the United States.
I was immediately drawn to the ICC’s mission to “inspire inclusion, create opportunities to connect, and encourage active citizenship.” After graduating from college in 2017, I transitioned into the post-graduate realm of working full time and thought that I needed to have everything figured out. At 23, I was eager to continue learning through the ICC Fellowship, which supports youth empowerment up to age 30. This young professional period is pivotal for experiential development and early career investment as participants gain experiences to ground their passions and identity. Furthermore, the ICC Fellowship provides peer to peer resources that challenged me to innovate and strengthen my leadership skills.
Through this Fellowship, I realized that the difference between college and the professional world is not about whether learning takes place, but rather that the environment in which you learn shifts: from the classroom to the community. Now, I am putting ideas into action rather than studying them in theory. I incorporate active citizenship through my job at Generation Citizen (GC) as the FAO Schwarz Fellow and Senior Program Associate.
It is in the intersection of real-world application and citizenship building that my ICC project sits—a true marriage of GC’s action civics approach with the Fellowship’s investment in youth-led community projects. GC defines action civics as “a student-centered approach in which young people learn about democracy by actively working to address issues in their own communities.”
My project utilizes a collaborative technology platform known as “Padlet” to connect middle and high school students engaging in GC’s civic projects to one another across Boston. In each class, students collectively identify an issue in their community that they want to work on, begin conducting comprehensive and experiential research to hone in on a root cause and develop a policy goal at the local level which they want to address. The second half of the curriculum provides them with the tools to implement an action plan to work towards their policy goal. Through peer collaboration via this project, students grow their skills in communication, teamwork, research, making calls to elected officials, op-ed writing, and more. Further, I am studying students’ use of technology to carry out their civic project, as well as soliciting feedback from a peer classroom on its impact on students’ overall civic efficacy or confidence in their skills. Even more important, I am measuring students’ understanding of coalitions and developing a better understanding of whether they see themselves as part of a movement of young people invested in changing their community rather than individuals operating on their own.
During pivotal stages of the curriculum, students post updates about their class project and then comment on their peer class’ project. This enables students to hear different perspectives and enhances the overall project quality. The skill of collaborative project planning is important as our world becomes increasingly global and technology is at the heart of how we communicate.
I designed my project with input from those most involved in, and impacted by, the work. For example, I worked one-on-one with a teacher to ensure the Padlet design and framework would enhance, rather than hinder, her current class structure and student communication. Without her input, the Padlet platform would be less accessible and may not serve the needs of her students.
Since this is a pilot for GC, I am excited for the measurement and evaluation aspects, where I will assess whether this collaborative technology created a larger sense of community for our students. This fits well with the ICC Fellowship’s emphasis on connecting people through technology, as students in our program step into their full power as youth leaders who can combat community obstacles through collaborative civic action.
A big thank you to the ICC for providing such an immersive and relevant opportunity for global youth to engage with one another in a shared space of curiosity. I have immense gratitude to my stellar group of peer fellows who I was able to deeply connect with at 6 Degrees Toronto this fall. Through the ICC Fellowship, I have magnified my capacity as a youth change agent and am excited to continue pushing the envelope on active citizenship and civic inquiry in Boston.
Samantha Perlman is a 2018–2019 ICC Fellow. For more information on the ICC Fellowship, visit https://inclusion.ca/icc-fellowship.
Photo: Institute for Canadian Citizenship / Alyssa Faoro
By Samantha Perlman
John Albin and Geraldine Arceo immigrated to Canada in November 2012 from Pampanga, Philippines. Their first goal was to settle down; establish a stable, happy family; and “make new friends.”
They became citizens on April 24, 2018. “Life became easier for us. We enjoy everything we do. We were given the chance to travel [easily with Canadian passports]. [We are] enjoying all the privileges and opportunities for a healthy future,” says Geraldine.
John and Geraldine love spending time outdoors with their family. “[We] live and enjoy healthy lifestyles,” says Geraldine, “We love camping, road tripping, and adventures.”
John and Geraldine are taking full advantage of their Cultural Access Passes—they have visited museums, national parks and provincial parks with their CAP cards. They also plan on traveling with their family before their CAP cards expire next month.
Geraldine remarks, “Becoming a Canadian citizen is like finding a new and better home.”
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.
Be featured in our newsletter: Tag CAP and use the hashtag #CAPCanada in your social media posts for your chance to be the next CAP member or alumni featured, or send an email to cap@inclusion.ca
Noaman Ahmed received his Canadian citizenship on February 5, 2018 with his family. Noaman had more than 12 years of oil and gas experience when he arrived in Canada in 2013, which motivated him and his family to move from Pakistan to Calgary.
Reflecting on 2018, Noaman says that it was a “fantastic year” for his family. In addition to receiving their Canadian citizenship, they visited their home country of Pakistan; Noaman completed his Master’s degree from the University of Calgary; and they have used their Canoo (formerly known as Cultural Access Pass) cards to visit many places in Alberta. In addition to using their Canoo (CAP) cards to visit popular attractions such as the TELUS Spark science centre and the Royal Tyrrell Museum, Noaman and his family also received free tickets to the 2018 Calgary Stampede from the Canoo (Cultural Access Pass) program.
Noaman notes that his family loves hiking and camping, something that they started doing when they moved to Canada. He and his family have used their Canoo (CAP) cards to visit parks such as Jasper National Park. They “simply loved it.”
In regards to the Canoo (Cultural Access Pass) program, Noaman says that it feels like Canada is investing in his family as new citizens and wants them to learn about the rich Canadian culture and heritage. “Even the staff at these locations congratulate us on becoming citizens!” he explains. “[Canoo is an] awesome experience; after waiting for four years for our citizenship, this is an excellent gift. [I am] thoroughly enjoying it with my family.
“We as new Canadian citizens have sacrificed a lot for this citizenship,” says Noaman, “Leaving your country, loved ones, job, [and] friends is not easy. And because of all these sacrifices, we respect and value this citizenship and will do all it takes to grow and prosper [in] our new home, Canada.”
TORONTO, January 23, 2019—Thirty years after immigrating to Canada at the age of 15, Yasir Naqvi has been named CEO of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC). Pro-democracy advocates, Yasir’s family emigrated from Pakistan to Canada in 1988. Inspired by his parents, Yasir spent the past 11 years serving as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing a diverse community in Ottawa. In 2016, he was sworn in as the Attorney General of Ontario. Educated at McMaster University, University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, and Carleton University, Yasir was called to the Bar in Ontario in 2001 and went on to practise international trade and administrative law with major law firms.
Yasir has marked our idea of citizenship in multiple ways. While Attorney General of Ontario, he implemented the All Families Are Equal Actto ensure that all children are treated equally, regardless of how they are conceived, and recognize the legal status of all parents. He also championed new laws to prevent sexual violence and help survivors, increase respect for the rights and cultures of Indigenous peoples, expand access to restorative justice, and promote multiculturalism.
The ICC is Canada’s leading citizenship organization and the world’s foremost voice on citizenship and inclusion. Its national grassroots programs include the Cultural Access Pass, the only program of its kind in the world, and Building Citizenship, which organizes its acclaimed community citizenship ceremonies. Its cutting-edge Ideas & Insights program is redefining how we talk about diversity and belonging. The ICC is the convenor of 6 Degrees, an international conversation on immigration, refugees, diversity, and citizenship. Based in Toronto, 6 Degrees has taken place in cities across Canada, as well as in The Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland. 6 Degrees now has its European hub in Berlin, will soon be taking place in Mexico City, and will be back in Calgary on March 14, 2019.
Adrienne Clarkson, Co-Chair of the ICC:
“Yasir Naqvi’s powerful and moving story, and his engagement as a Canadian citizen, are a dynamic representation of what the ICC stands for—citizenship, diversity and belonging.”
John Ralston Saul, Co-Chair of the ICC:
“Yasir Naqvi’s passion for strengthening the wellbeing of citizens makes him a perfect match for the mission of the ICC, not only in Canada, but around the world.”
Yasir Naqvi, CEO of the ICC:
“I know firsthand that citizenship is far more than where you were born, as it is shaped by our communities and values. That is why I am proud to join the ICC to lead their drive to promote diversity and inclusion across Canada and around the world. I am looking forward to taking part in events and meeting new citizens and friends of the ICC across the country as quickly as possible, starting with upcoming citizenship ceremonies in Alberta, Quebec, and Ontario.”
About the Institute for Canadian Citizenship
Powered by a passionate and committed national network, the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC) is an independent civil society organization co-founded by The Rt. Hon. Adrienne Clarkson and John Ralston Saul. The ICC delivers programs and special projects that inspire Canadians to be inclusive, create opportunities to connect, and encourage active citizenship. The Cultural Access Pass is unique in the world, offering new citizens free access to more than 1400 cultural attractions during their first year of citizenship. Partnering with community volunteers and iconic cultural institutions, the ICC celebrates new Canadian citizens at more than 75 community citizenship ceremonies each year. Ideas & Insights is a leading source of research on citizenship and inclusion—social, cultural, political, and economic. 6 Degrees extends the reach of the ICC’s work through a global conversation on inclusion and belonging in the 21st century. www.inclusion.ca
The Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC) is pleased to announce it has received financial support of $75,000 from the Canada History Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage for its 6 Degrees Dictionary.
The 6 Degrees Dictionary offers a user’s guide to inclusion. We have taken 12 words, the currency of so much disagreement and misunderstanding, and recast them to provoke and inspire.
The first iteration of the dictionary was presented at this year’s 6 Degrees Toronto, an annual three-day forum in Toronto that brings together thousands of thinkers, doers, civic leaders, students, artists, and more from around the world for conversations on how to build inclusive societies. The funding from Canadian Heritage will enable the ICC to continue the conversation with even more people, giving all of us better language to raise the level of our civic dialogue.
“Our government is pleased to support projects like this one that provide an excellent opportunity for Canadians to learn about and participate in important civic discussions,” said the Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism. “This year, as we mark the 30th anniversary of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act, we are proud to reiterate its commitment to promote inclusion, and to show how diversity is a great source of strength and pride.”
“The ICC’s 6 Degrees Dictionary project has national and international implications. We need to know what we mean when we talk about immigration and belonging. This is essential for building inclusion,” said ICC Co-chair and Co-founder John Ralston Saul. “We are delighted that the Department of Canadian Heritage is supporting it. And we are very excited about the building of this dictionary, not only in French and English, but also in German and Spanish, given our current projects in Berlin and Mexico City.”
