May 24, 2016

 

Mayor John Tory hosted the annual Toronto Newcomer Day festivities at City Hall today to welcome newcomers to Toronto and to celebrate their contributions. The Honourable John McCallum, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, and Senator Ratna Omidvar, Distinguished Visiting Professor, Global Diversity Exchange at Ryerson University were special guests and participants in the event. One of the many highlights of the day was a citizenship ceremony for 60 candidates who took the Oath of Citizenship in the City Hall Council Chamber.

 

“Every year, Toronto welcomes thousands of people from around the world. The world admires how we have chosen to live together here in the most diverse city in the entire world," said Mayor Tory. “We have only gained in strength by all the people who have come here and now call Toronto home. Stewardship of that strength may be my most important responsibility as mayor.”

 

“It is clear that immigration makes us richer as a society,” said Minister McCallum. “Ours is a shared history of embracing differences in culture, language, and religion—and an abiding belief in values like human dignity and the fundamental freedoms we’ve built our country upon.”

 

“Toronto is a city defined by its diversity. Newcomers make up half of all Torontonians, hailing from over 200 different nationalities,” said Senator Omidvar. “It is important to come together and recognize the contributions that immigrants make to the economic and cultural life of the city.” 

 

Toronto Newcomer Day was sponsored by Tim Hortons and Metroland Media. More information about Newcomer Day is available at http://www.toronto.ca/newcomer.

 

This news release is also available on the City of Toronto website at http://ow.ly/cmTV300xRfE.

 

Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms.

 

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Media contact: Jennifer Wing, Strategic Communications, 416-392-5349, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.