An Olds resident is now a new Canadian – and proud of it.
Stephanie Rehaeuser officially became a Canadian citizen during a ceremony last week.
“It feels wonderful,” she said during an interview with the Albertan, noting her daughter, Chiara, 15, attended the ceremony as well.
Rehaeuser and her husband Michael immigrated to Canada from Bavaria in Germany. They've been permanent residents since 2009 and have been living in Olds for three years, after a brief stint in Saskatchewan and Innisfail.
She says in total, the process to become a Canadian citizen took about 22 months.
“You've got to learn a lot. You have to have your permanent residence status for a while,” she says. “You have to apply. You have to do a language test; you have to pass that. They send you a booklet; you have to study it.”
She had 30 minutes to answer 20 questions. A couple of them stumped her but she declines to say what they were because she's not allowed to talk about the test.
Rehaeuser says they left Germany “because of the opportunities Canada offered.” She runs a foot care business and is a cosmetic therapist. Michael is a baker.
She says they made the move especially for the sake of Chiara.
“She's a Canadian now too, so she can have any job, because for certain jobs you have to be a Canadian citizen. It opens all the doors for her,” Rehaeuser says.
Rehaeuser is very proud to be a Canadian and pleased by the response she's received from her clients and friends.
“I got a whole bunch of flowers from my clients; it was really wonderful. Everybody's been so nice,” she says.
When she officially became a Canadian citizen this past week, Rehaeuser did so alongside 71 other people from around the world during a ceremony in Calgary.
“It was pretty exciting,” she says. “The judge was really nice.”
Rehaeuser says when the family first moved to Canada it was a big adjustment – mostly because there was so much more space.
“Germany's three times smaller than Alberta. There are 85 million people living there. Coming here you see all the open space and it's just incredible,” she says.
“You can't believe all the space you have, and people live in the middle of nowhere. In the little town I lived in – Unity, Saskatchewan -- there were (only about) 2,400 people. For me that was like living on the farm.”
