A south Winnipeg school was a part of welcoming 51 new Canadians to our country and our communities this afternoon.

For Ryerson Elementary School, celebrating Canada's 150th birthday meant giving newcomers to Canada the chance to become full Canadian citizens. The school held a citizenship ceremony this afternoon, where 51 people from 16 different nations took the Canadian oath to become members of our country.

"A lot of our students are from a lot of different countries" said Sheena Braun, the principal at Ryerson, of a student population with 30 countries and 20 languages being represented. "Many have just become Canadian citizens [themselves], so it's important that they get to give back."

Julie Fisher, the chair of the board at Pembina Trails School Division, said "[the kids] get to see people coming to our country, loving our country . . . then they get to be a welcoming environment, and I think it's such a beautiful thing."

The 51 new Canadians were incredibly excited to become citizens today. "I feel very honored to be in this good country," said Sylvester, originally from Nigeria. "This country has given me an opportunity to meet up with different kinds of people . . . and it's given me an opportunity to be in different kind of jobs" "It's given me an opportunity to meet people, to make friends, in my work place, in my church, in my community and so on."

"I'm so grateful," said Raquel, who hails from the Philippines but is now a Canadian. ""One thing I'm very happy with and blessed with this country that I'm Christian, so I can expose that I am Christian"

Gabriel from Argentina said "it's a special proud.

"Being Canadian a thing many would like to be a part of and we are proud to be a part of that."