April 12, 2016

 

This morning at Toronto Paramedic Services headquarters in North York, Chief Paul Raftis hosted a Canadian citizenship ceremony for 50 new Canadians and their families. Citizenship Judge Lilian Klein presided over the ceremony and administered the oath of Canadian citizenship to the participants.

 

"In this growing and culturally diverse City, it is important for our service to educate new Canadians, who will use our service in the City of Toronto, on what to expect when they call 911 in a medical emergency," said Chief Raftis. "Many residents don't realize that they can speak to our emergency medical dispatchers in over 150 languages."

 

"It is always very moving for me to welcome new citizens to the Canadian family," said Judge Klein. "Today, they come from 19 different countries, reflecting the diversity of those who proudly call Canada their home.”

 

This is the second year Toronto Paramedic Services has hosted a citizenship ceremony during Telecommunicators Week. Toronto's emergency medical dispatchers work in an Accredited Centre of Excellence as conferred by the International Academy of Emergency Medical Dispatch. Providing 911 service to people in over 170 languages is an important component of the service they provide.

 

While English remains the most frequently used language, about 2,000 times a year emergency medical dispatchers will respond to 911 calls for help in other languages including Mandarin, Cantonese, Hungarian, Farsi, Korean, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, Tamil, Greek, Vietnamese, Spanish, Polish and Somali. 

 

This news release is also available on the City's website: http://ow.ly/10AgNQ

 

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.

 

- 30 -

 

Media contact: Kim McKinnon, Toronto Paramedic Services, 416-392-2255, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.