Jerome Tan has spent the last 13 years working in Canada and now he can finally say he is a Canadian citizen.
Tan and two of his children, Jeremy and Jared, received their citizenship at a ceremony on March 12. The family were three of 251 people living on both sides of the border to be congratulated after taking the Oath of citizenship at the Centennial Civic Centre.
“It’s wonderful. Me and my family are glad to be Canadian,” Tan says.
Tan first moved from the Philippines in 2007 looking for new opportunities and eventually found himself working for Telus. He brought his family to the country in 2013 and they now live in Cold Lake.
“It was a dream for us to come here. We’ve been waiting for this for a long time. Ever since we got permanent residency we planned on getting citizenship right away.”
He says he’s sure to raise his children as responsible Canadian citizens.
“Canada is a diverse country. Everybody welcomes Canada and it is an equal opportunity country and we’re glad to embrace that opportunity.”
Two citizenship ceremonies took place in Lloydminster with new Canadians coming in from both Alberta and Saskatchewan. Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright MLA Garth Rowswell and Mayor Gerald Aalbers were in attendance and touched elbows with the new Canadians instead of shaking hands.