The judge who presided over a citizenship reaffirmation ceremony at the Sun News Network says he had no idea six of the participants were bureaucrats.

But it wouldn't matter even if they were because all Canadian citizens are welcome to take part, said Aris Babikian, reached by phone in Toronto.

"These ceremonies take place all the time, people with 40 or 50 years of citizenship take the oath, even if they got their citizenship a long time ago," he told CTVNews.ca.

"Any Canadian citizen is welcome to take part and reaffirm their oath."

The ceremony, which was organized by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, was televised on Sun TV and co-hosted by anchors Pat Bollard and Alex Pierson in Toronto.

However, the Canadian Press revealed through emails obtained via access to information requests that only three of the 10 participants were actually new Canadians. Six others were federal bureaucrats drafted to pose as new Canadians.

During his address at the ceremony, Babikian mentioned several times that participants were reaffirming the Canadian citizenship they already possessed.

But the hosts repeatedly described them as "10 new Canadians" taking part in a "citizenship ceremony."

Babikian said he played no role in selecting the participants and had no idea how long any of them had been in Canada.

"I came to the studio and there were people already there, the communications staff were there, they were making the arrangements with the Sun TV station and with the manager. My role was just to preside over the reaffirmation ceremony," he said, explaining that he was not authorized to discuss policy issues with the media.

He also said there is a difference between a citizenship ceremony, where people take the oath and become Canadian citizens, and a reaffirmation ceremony, when participants simply reaffirm their citizenship. These ceremonies are often held at schools or special events and all involved receive an honourary certificate, he said.

During the televised ceremony all 10 participants held Canadian flags and recited the citizenship oath.

The oath was not something to be "entered into lightly or for selfish reasons," Babikian warned.

"By affirming your citizenship oath today you are publicly saying you want to help shape the future of Canada. By reciting the oath you are telling your neighbours, colleagues and friends you want to join them in creating something great," Babikian said just before participants raised their right hand and recited the oath.

Afterwards, the group sang O Canada before Babikian congratulated each participant and handed them a certificate.