Technically you can get a passport in 2 days if you have proof of travel and if you are ready to stand in line from 5 am in the morning atleast here in the GTA. I don’t plan to travel soon so I have no real need to get the passport in a hurry.Many congratulations on getting your Canadian Citizenship! Correct me if I am wrong. But, I think you can have a passport in two days' time if you pay a little premium for the same and are able to show proof of your travel. Are you saying that the timeline has changed for their express service as well?
Also, when exactly are we supposed to surrender our Indian passports? Let us say I get my Canadian citizenship certificate after completing the oath ceremony and travel to India using an Indian passport. Would that be a problem? How is the Indian government going to know whether one has become a Canadian Citizen or not? The only problem I see is that entry into Canada without a PR card or passport would be a little problematic. Do they get you to tear up your PR card during the Oath ceremony?
I need to travel to India for some work and the citizenship ceremony has held me up somehow.
There is a 3 month grace period for you to surrender you’re passport and relinquish you’re citizenship. As another poster has said above, you can surrender even later. They will probably give you fine. The issue is that you cannot apply for OCI or even a simple visit visa to enter india to see you’re family without you surrendering you’re indian passport/citizenship.
With regard to flying to india with an indian passport, the issue is getting back to Canada. They ask you to cut the PR card and they make you do it in front of them and show them the pieces on camera during the oath ceremony. As per Canada, you aren’t a PR anymore and hence you shouldn’t be having a PR card. So cutting up the card is an essential part of the process and is done during the oath ceremony.
You cannot use one passport to go to india and another passport to come back Canada. You will be flagged in the system and that could complicate things further at the airport.