Manu Gilbert was one of a record of 169 people to become a citizen of the land 'down under' on Friday morning.
The now proud Kahibah local, joined others from 39 different countries at two separate ceremonies in Rathmines, Lake Macquarie.
Mr Gilbert was born in Rwanda, before moving to Canada when he was two years old. He grew up in rural Quebec and spoke French.
Fast-forward to the future, he met his fiance Renea on the slopes in Banff in the Rocky Mountains.
And over the past seven years the couple have been living in Australia with their first son Louis and will be getting married in October.
Seven years is enough to adjust to most things 'Aussie', but some aspects of the culture still make Mr Gilbert shake his head or laugh.
"Vegemite totally weirds me out - I don't get why every Aussie loves it," he said.
"And a Bunnings sausage sanga - is it meant to be a hot dog?"
While Mr Gilbert is fluent in English and French, he's still getting used to the 'Aussie' vernacular.
"The Australian slang has to be the funniest," he said.
"You shorten every word. There's been a lot of translating that Renea's had to do."
He said Friday's ceremony marked "the closure of a chapter".
"It's the last part of a long journey we've been through since I made the big move. It also means a lot to be an Australian citizen as we've now started our family here. I definitely now feel at home in Australia," he said.
Every three months Lake Macquarie City is hosting citizenship ceremonies to keep up with the demand.
Lake Macquarie mayor Kay Fraser said demand for new citizenship had prompted Council to host two ceremonies on one day.
"It's wonderful to welcome so many people from all over the world. They've each got a story to tell about how and why they ended up here," she said.
It was a day of sentiment shared by Gita Bhandari Timilsina, who moved to Australia from Nepal 12 years ago.
With beaming three-year-old daughter, Aavni, in her arms by the lake, Ms Bhandari Timilsina explained Australia symbolised hope and opportunity for her family.
"It's a nice community here and there are many opportunities," she said.
"It means a future for my kids as well."
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