Indeed my own father waited almost 30 years before he finally got his Canadian citizenship, and lived as a landed immigrant (with German citizenship); paying his taxes and participating in society but not becoming a citizen (and not getting to vote despite being a strong NDP supporter...) and his stated reason for this was his abhorrence for declaring allegiance to the monarchy. A monarchy which many Germans blame for the mass firebombing of civilians at the end of WWII.

It's fine for you and I who are born into citizenship without having to do this ritual. For immigrants, this can be very jarring.