This Canada Day is a bit special to me since I will become a Canadian citizen this Friday. So I walked around, from Parliament Hill to the Byward, from Rideau Street to Kind Edward, taking pictures and enjoying a small burst of patriotism. Hope you don’t OD on Canadian flags!

Summer is definitely here: hot and humid weather, checked. People on holidays? Checked. Canada Day and a bunch of cool festivals coming up? Checked. Outdoor BBQs? Checked.

North Americans love BBQ. Well, the tradition is best honored in Southern US, but Canadians like it too. And every year, the Sparks Street BBQ contest attracts a lot of people. Eleven teams from across Canada and the USA “compete” for the best ribs and the best chicken pieces. It is a lot of meat — basically, a vegetarian nightmare.

After you become a landed immigrant, you must apply for three very important pieces of IDs: a permanent resident card, a SIN card and a health card.

I knew this envelope, with the little Canadian flag on it: it had brought me good news and bad news over the last five years. I was usually in a hurry to ripe it open, to read the letter inside. But this time, I paused.

National Aboriginal Day is a day for all Canadians to celebrate the cultures and contributions to Canada of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples

Here are the answers to the ten most common immigration questions.