Toronto – Advocates for Etobicoke Youth (AFEY) hosted their 15th annual Thanksgiving Luncheon on October 13th at Humber College in Etobicoke.
The more than three hundred seniors in attendance were feted to a turkey meal with all the trimmings. At the end of the day each of the seniors was given a gift bag to take home.
Many of the seniors danced with great abandon to The Hurban Johnson Steel Band music.
The co-chairs of AFEY, Toronto lawyer Dhaman Kissoon and Superintendent Ron Taverner of the Toronto Police Service, were lavish in their praise for the volunteers that included the Brampton Flower City Rotary Club, The Toronto Police, students from Humber College and ESL students from the Percy Johnson Secondary School. The ESL students were in Canada for less than two years and they took the opportunity presented by AFEY to give back something to the community.
The Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, made a welcome appearance and extended a special “Thank you” to the members of AFEY for their consistent and substantial contribution to the community over the last 15 years.

Toronto – This year during Citizenship Week, 6442 people became new Canadians at 72 special citizenship ceremonies across Canada. Citizenship Week (October 8-14) also marked the first anniversary of Bill C-6, which brought in changes to the Citizenship Act, helping qualified applicants to get citizenship faster.
For this year’s Citizenship Week celebrations, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) took some of the newest Canadians to literal great heights. Citizenship Week celebrations opened with a special outdoor citizenship ceremony at the top of the CN Tower, with six new Canadians taking the oath of citizenship while harnessed on the EdgeWalk, accompanied by Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen. This ceremony was followed by other elevated ceremonies at the top of the Vancouver Lookout, on October 11, and at the Olympic Stadium in Montréal, on October 12.
As Citizenship Week fell during Women’s History Month, citizenship ceremonies across Canada also celebrated the outstanding achievements of women who have shaped Canada, as Indigenous peoples, settlers, innovators and activists.
Prominent women in civics, business, science and other areas were guest speakers at several of the special citizenship ceremonies held across Canada.
The changes from Bill C-6 came into effect on October 11, 2017, and provided those wanting to become Canadian citizens with greater flexibility to meet the requirements. In particular, the changes reduced the time that permanent residents must be physically present in Canada before applying for citizenship from four out of six years to three out of five years.
By the end of October 2018, an estimated 152,000 people will have obtained Canadian citizenship since the changes came into effect, an increase of 40%, compared to the 108,000 people who obtained citizenship in the same period the year before.
Bill C-6 has allowed more permanent residents to apply for citizenship. In the 9-month period from October 2017 to June 2018, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) received 242,680 applications, more than double the 102,261 applications that were received in the same period the year before. Despite the increase in applications, processing times for routine citizenship applications remain under 12 months.