Some Highlights and General Observations:
Proposed changes to the regulations are likely to come into force in June, 2023 (as indicated in officially published notice in February). They may even come into force BEFORE we see them published in the Gazette (I am not sure of current lag times, if any now, between when the new regulations are officially "
registered" and when published in the Gazette), but at the latest that will be is the day they are published in the Gazette (unless section 5 in the proposed amendments is revised), since that will be the version actually registered. And, again, as stated in the February notice,
this is scheduled for June.
That does not mean the anticipated changes in policies and practices in actual administration of the oath will happen immediately or even soon. Moreover, the new regulations give the Minister very broad discretion to make changes in policies and practices, especially as to the particular manner and means of administering the oath, so whatever changes happen soon, they could be replaced by later changes WITHOUT further NOTICE.
That's the real meat, and the potatoes and gravy too, of the proposed regulations, giving the Minister very broad discretion in making the rules. From the officially published notice:
Objective -- The purpose of the amendments to the Regulations is to add flexibility in how the Oath of Citizenship can be taken, including in the presence or not of an authorized person.
Description -- Amendments to the Citizenship Regulations are needed to provide flexibility in how the Oath of Citizenship is taken and to give the Minister discretion in determining how the requirements for taking the Oath are to be met.
Most of the particular details governing how the oath is administered in the current (to be replaced) regulations, thus governed by regulation, will be determined by the Minister going forward. So future changes will not require the formal procedures applicable to changing the regulations. No required public notice in advance. The Minister will have the discretion,
very broad discretion, to dictate how, when, by what means, and so on, the oath is taken. Presumably such changes will be published, probably as PDIs, but that could be the day the changes are put into effect, or publication could lag behind implementation of the Minister's changes.
Those pleased to see a more flexible, liberal approach, may be pleased with what the Minister actually implements. But of course that will depend in large part on what policies and practices the Minister actually does implement.
For example: while I do not know how the current government will approach whether to allow Section 5(1) grants of citizenship (the type which the vast majority of forum participants are applying for) to take the oath outside Canada, similar to how Section 5(2) and, 5(4) grants are currently allowed under the existing (to be replaced) regulations, but it would be little if any surprise at all if the newly adopted means of taking the oath still retains this distinction, NOT facilitating taking oath outside Canada for 5(1) grants, while still facilitating taking the oath outside Canada for Section 5(2) and, 5(4) grants.
It warrants noting that the current Liberal government is a minority government, and is one with a rather vulnerable hold that could be forced into facing another election just about anytime. No crystal ball necessary to apprehend what direction changes are likely to take when a new Conservative Minister is holding the reins and can make changes without notice, without public consultation, without the transparency that amending regulations inherently involves. Has anyone ever mentioned that sometimes it is wise to exercise caution in what you wish for?
Hello will this pass soon , I am outside canada and missed one oath invite , I want to take from outside country due to personal reasons can’t travel
The official notice of proposed regulation, published in February in the Gazette Part I, Volume 157, Number 8 (copy published here:
https://canadagazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2023/2023-02-25/html/reg1-eng.html ) specifically indicates that the proposed regulation is expected to come into force in June 2023. So, soon.
It is possible this does not happen in June, that perhaps some revisions/modifications are being considered, and there could even be another round of "
proposed" regulations published and open to comment resulting in this being delayed many more months. But this seems unlikely. It is far more likely that, just as the official notice stated, the proposed regulations will be "
registered," taking effect as of registration, and accordingly published, and that this happens in June.
A big part of why it is likely that the proposed regulations (as published in February) will be adopted and come into force, without further changes (not sure to what extent clerical, non-substantive changes may be done), is that the proposed changes as published are obviously broad enough to give the Minister plenty of leeway to regulate the administration of the oath by various means and methods. I discussed this above.
But the gazette proposed says oath can be taken inside or outside canada , isn’t it true ?
Not exactly. The new version of Section 19(1) in the Citizenship Regulations effectively consolidates the current (soon to be former) Section 19 (governing Citizenship Act Section 5(1) grants) and Section 20 (governing Citizenship Act Section 5(2) and 5(4) grants), instead of specifically distinguishing these, which under the current regulations allow for the administration of the oath outside Canada for the latter, but does not for the former (for the general, adult applicant, that is Section 5(1) grants).
Even under the current regulations the Minister may specifically allow Section 5(1) applicants to take the oath outside Canada, but this is a highly unusual exception which, so far as we have seen, is RARELY, as in VERY RARELY done (in addition to a couple cases reported in news media, there have been maybe two or four anecdotal claims here in the forum).
Again, I do not know, but it would be no surprise, none at all, if whatever the means "
specified by the Minister" under the new regulations perpetuate this difference, still requiring Section 5(1) grants be consummated by taking the oath while IN Canada.
. . . the proposal did mention that a self-administered oath may be taken either inside or outside of Canada. But we don't know what final text will be adopted after the public comments and feedback are incorporated, and I'm usually pessimistic on these things. We'll just have to wait and see till June 7 or 21 or beyond for this to go through.
Yeah. The amended regulations will allow the Minister to adopt means which could include allowing the oath to be taken outside Canada for Section 5(1) grants as well as Section 5(2) and 5(4) grants. Again, should be no surprise if that is not a change the Minister makes.
It depends on how the rule will be implemented. It may only be allowed in very rare circumstances and for very specific reasons.
Nothing is guaranteed
As of now you'll need to be on Canadian Soil to be able to naturalise and complete your oath ceremony
Yep. Now (as of when the amended regulations come into force), the Minister makes the rules.
And we have yet to see what those rules will be. Might not happen for awhile, even quite a long while. And what gets implemented might not look a whole lot different than what is currently done. The self-administered oath, for example, could still be online and still require the candidate be IN Canada . . . the substantive change coming to the IRCC side of that.
