Citizenship Judges: Roles and responsibilities

Senior Citizenship Judge

The Citizenship Commission is headed by the Senior Citizenship Judge, who is first among equals.
The Senior Citizenship Judge is responsible for ensuring that citizenship judges perform their statutory and administrative duties under the Citizenship Act, and acts as the link between citizenship judges, the Minister and the Department of Citizenship and Immigration on citizenship issues.
The Senior Judge also acts as a spokesperson for the Commission, and manages the administrative and professional services that the Commission provides for judges.

Citizenship Judges

Citizenship judges play a number of roles:

• Review approximately 160,000 citizenship applications per year;
• Assess applicants to ensure they meet the requirements of the Citizenship Act and theCitizenship Regulations;
• Administer the oath of citizenship and highlight the rights and responsibilities of Canadian citizenship to new Canadians;
• Maintain the integrity of the citizenship process; and
• Promote citizenship by working with school boards, service clubs, multicultural groups and other community organizations.

Role as Decision Makers

Citizenship judges are independent, quasi-judicial decision makers. At least 90% of their time is spent reviewing citizenship applications, making decisions and explaining those decisions in writing.
Citizenship judges work closely with the staff of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). Applications are first processed by CIC staff who make preliminary checks to determine if the applicant meets the criteria set out in theCitizenship Act and the Citizenship Regulations to become a citizen.
CIC staff administer a knowledge test and conduct a preliminary screening of applicants’ capacity in French or English. All files are sent to citizenship judges for their review and decision. Based on the information on file, the judge decides whether or not the applicant meets the criteria to become a citizen.
Before making a decision, a judge may hold an oral hearing in which he or she meets with the applicant to obtain more information and assess whether the applicant meets the requirements for citizenship. Depending on the nature of the hearing and at the request of the applicant, they may be accompanied by a translator, legal counsel or other representative. Oral hearings are only required for a small percentage of files but are a significant element of the judge’s normal work.
Judges must provide written decisions within 60 days of the hearing, setting out the reasons for their decision. Decisions can be appealed to the Federal Court of Canada by either a non-approved applicant or the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism.

Citizenship Ceremonies

Although citizenship judges are, first and foremost, quasi-judicial decision makers, the public is much more aware of their ceremonial and ambassadorial roles.
Judges preside over citizenship ceremonies where they have the honour and privilege of welcoming new citizens into the Canadian family. To reflect Canada’s bilingual nature, judges administer the oath of citizenship in both French and English and incorporate both official languages into their remarks. Citizenship judges speak to new citizens about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, but it is also at these ceremonies and at promotional events in the community that judges pass on their pride, enthusiasm and respect for the institution of Canadian citizenship.