Virtual or In-Person Citizenship Ceremony

IRCC may invite you to a citizenship ceremony by video conference or in a room with other new citizens. Both make you a citizen in exactly the same way. They differ in the practical details, and you can ask to switch once. This is from IRCC's pages on the ceremony format, what to expect and when to go, checked on 23 September 2026.

What is the same

Both formats last a few hours. Both include registration, speeches, the oath, congratulations and O Canada, and both end with instructions about your certificate and a passport. At registration, officials verify your identity and ask questions to confirm nothing prevents you from becoming a citizen. Your invitation tells you which format you have, the time, and the language: mostly English, mostly French, or bilingual.

A virtual ceremony

• Join with the link in your invitation. To protect your privacy, replace your screen name with your seat number from the invitation.
• At larger ceremonies, with more than 100 candidates, you may wait up to 30 minutes before being let in.
• Registration is private, with you or your family. Officials cut your permanent resident card with scissors on camera.
• Before it ends, you get instructions on signing the Oath or Affirmation of Citizenship form from your invitation and emailing it back. Sign it on the day of the ceremony, not before or after.

The rules for the room are specific:

• choose a safe, quiet place, with your head and shoulders visible
• stabilize a handheld device so it does not fall
• stay seated throughout, including the oath and O Canada
• a plain background, a Canadian flag or symbol, or red and white behind you are fine, but no virtual backgrounds
• no photos or recordings during registration or the ceremony. IRCC may pause or reschedule if you do
• do not attend while driving or doing anything distracting or dangerous

An in-person ceremony

• Go to the registration table, where officials verify your identity and collect your PR card and the signed release and consent form from your invitation.
• You wait in the ceremony room while everyone is registered.
• You sign the oath form at the ceremony, and if you chose a paper certificate, you receive it there, along with your child's if they are under 14.
• Stand for the oath and O Canada if you can, and do not wear perfume or cologne.
• Photos of yourself and your family are allowed, for personal use.

Switching formats

You can ask to move from virtual to in-person, or the other way, but IRCC says you can request a format change only once, you get a new date, and you cannot keep the same date. Send the request within 30 days of the ceremony date, preferably by replying to the office that sent your invitation, with a subject line such as "Ceremony – Request for in-person ceremony".

Which to choose

A virtual ceremony saves travel and suits families who cannot easily get to an office. An in-person one gives you the certificate on the day and the sense of occasion many people want. Either way, the preparation that mattered was for the test. Our study guide is there for anyone in your family still getting ready.