Practicing Exclusively in Canadian Immigration Law
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Who we are
Steven Meurrens is a Partner at Larlee Rosenberg, a highly regarded law firm in Vancouver, British Columbia that practices exclusively in Canadian immigration law.
Practice Areas
Our firm practices almost exclusively in Canadian immigration matters, including work permit applications, provincial nominations, skilled worker applications, and more.
Immigration Blog
Section 87 Orders
When immigration judicial reviews involve sensitive national security information, the ordinary rules of open court proceedings can change dramatically. Section 87 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act ("IRPA") creates a unique procedure that allows the Minister to ask the Federal Court to protect certain information from disclosure during a judicial review. Although these applications are relatively uncommon, they play an important role in cases involving security screening, intelligence information, or confidential investigative material. What is a Section 87 Order? Section 87 of the IRPA permits the Minister, during a judicial review, to apply for an order preventing the disclosure of information or other evidence. Rather than creating a standalone procedure, s. 87 incorporates the procedural framework found in s. 83 of the IRPA—with the exception of the requirements to appoint a special advocate and provide a summary of the confidential information. In practical terms, this allows the Federal Court to receive evidence in a closed hearing, outside the presence of the applicant and their counsel, if disclosure could: injure international relations; injure national defence; injure national security; or endanger the safety of any person. How Does the Process Work? When the Minister brings a s. 87 application, the Court ...
Work Experience Under the FSWP and the CEC
In both the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Canadian Experience Class, and indeed most economic immigration programs, the government of Canada relies on Service Canada's National Occupational Classification ("NOC") system to determine eligibility. In the Canadian Experience Class, for example, subsections 87.1(2)(b) and (c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (the "IRPR") set out the job duties that applicants to the Canadian Experience Class must perform in order to meet the requirements of having experience in an eligible NOC. Subsection 87.1(2)(b) provides that an applicant must have performed the “actions described in the lead statement for the occupation as set out [in the NOC]”, while subsection 87.1(2)(c) provides that an applicant also must have performed a “substantial number of the main duties of the occupation as set out in the NOC, including all of the essential duties.” In the Federal Skilled Worker Program, meanwhile, s. 75(2)(a)-(c) of the IRPR states: A foreign national is a skilled worker if (a) within the 10 years before the date on which their application for a permanent resident visa is made, they have accumulated, over a continuous period, at least one year of full-time work experience, or the equivalent in part-time work, in the occupation ...
Anonymity Orders
One of the defining features of the Canadian justice system is the open court principle. Court proceedings are presumed to be open to the public, reflecting the principle that justice should not only be done, but should be seen to be done. As the Federal Court recently noted, courts "do their business in public." That presumption, however, is not absolute. In limited circumstances, the Federal Court will order that a party's identity be anonymized. The Starting Point: The Open Court Principle The Supreme Court of Canada reaffirmed in Sherman Estate v. Donovan, 2021 SCC 25, that openness is the default position in Canadian courts. Anyone seeking to restrict public access to court proceedings bears a significant burden. To obtain an anonymity order (or another order limiting public access), an applicant must establish three things: Court openness poses a serious risk to an important public interest; The order is necessary because no reasonable alternative would adequately protect that interest; and The benefits of the order outweigh its negative effects on the open court principle. This is a demanding test. Mere embarrassment or inconvenience will not suffice. What Qualifies as an "Important Public Interest"? The Supreme Court identified several interests that may ...
