After a 15-year-long journey that included jumping off a Russian ship into the Bedford Basin and being deported, a Halifax resident is now a Canadian Citizen.

"I'm happy," said Vladimir Zalipyatskikh Wednesday. "It's a special day."

He was one of 39 fishermen who jumped off the broken-down Russian factory trawler ship Bizon in August 2000.

Zalipyatskikh and 13 others from that boat remained in Canada as refugees and the Cole family in Porters Lake gave them jobs and a place to stay.

Colleen Cole says it didn't take long to realize Zalipyatskikh was special.

Vladimir Zalipyatskikh, his wife Natasha, and their son, Nicholas all became Canadian citizens on Wednesday. (Yvonne Colbert/CBC)

"Through that, we just got to know him, knew he was a man of integrity and a hard worker and how much he loved his family and how much he was committed to making a better life for them," she said.

Zalipyatskikh never forgot his own young family in Russia, sending every pay cheque back home.

In 2004, he was deported back to Russia. He expected to be back in Canada within months. Instead it took six years.

One of the big challenges for Zalipyatskikh was a lack of personal papers. When he dove off the ship that day, he left all of his papers behind, so he had no identity.

On Wednesday, Zalipyatskikh, his wife and son were able to put that all behind them when they became Canadian citizens at a ceremony in Halifax.

'I never dreamed it would be possible'

Zalipyatskikh had a lot of help to get to this point.

Cole and her family, owner of the PermaCrete company, sponsored Zalipyatskikh and worked behind the scenes with government officials to help get him back to Canada.

"I'm very proud of him, very emotional I never dreamed it would be possible, we had a lot of roadblocks along the way. It took a long time, longer than we ever anticipated," she said.

Colleen Cole and her family worked behind the scenes with government officials to help get Zalipyatskikh back to Canada. (CBC)

"I know he's very excited, very thankful. It's a big risk to pull up roots and bring your family to a foreign country."

Zalipyatskikh's wife and son were able to join him five years ago and knew no English when they arrived.

"The road to get here, five years later, to learn the language, to have mastered our transit system, to have a family doctor and dentist, these are all scary things and difficult things for immigrants," Cole said.

In all, 49 people from 26 countries were sworn in as new Canadians during the ceremony Wednesday.

Zalipyatskikh had no immediate plans to celebrate, but had a simple plan for his future in Canada.

"Good life, make Russian- Canadian community and friends and just a living," he said.