I was fortunate to have been born in Vancouver, British Columbia. I have lived, however, in numerous other cities, including Victoria, Toronto, Montreal, Minnesota, Tianjin, Guang Zhou, Beijing, and Budapest. I’ve also had the opportunity to travel to dozens of countries in 6 continents. I am lucky in that so far I have not had any difficulty pursuing opportunities around the globe.
During my travels, however, it quickly became apparent to me that not everyone can say that. As I heard the stories of people whose hopes had been shattered by the seemingly impenetrable border that is Canada’s immigration system, I began to grow frustrated by the rules and regulations that limit peoples’ mobility.
That frustration has turned into a career. After graduating from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law in 2009, and articling a national law firm in Vancouver, I work at Larlee Rosenberg, where I am a Partner.
Our firm practices almost exclusively in Canadian immigration matters, including work permit applications, provincial nominations, skilled worker applications, spousal sponsorships, applications on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, business applications, residency and sponsorship appeals, and judicial review applications at Federal Court.
I am generally in the office on Mondays – Fridays. I check my e-mail daily.
Education
- J.D., University of Toronto, 2009
Place and Year of Call
- British Columbia, 2010
Professional Memberships and Activities
- Member, Law Society of British Columbia
- Instructor – UBC Extended Learning – Immigration: Laws, Policies and Procedures, 2017 – present
- Member of the Executive (Past-Chair), Immigration Section, Canadian Bar Association of British Columbia (2015 – 2017)
- Member of the Executive, Immigration Section, Canadian Bar Association (2015 – present)
- Member of the City of Vancouver’s Mayors Taskforce on Immigration (2015 – present)
- International Associate, American Immigration Lawyers Association (2016 – present)
- Member of the Executive (Vice-Chair), Immigration Section, Canadian Bar Association of British Columbia (2013 – 2015)
- Member of the Executive (Secretary), Immigration Section, Canadian Bar Association (BC) and Chair of the BC PNP Subsection (2011-13),
Publications
- “A Closer Look at Canada’ Immigration Levels Plan 2024-2026,” The Canadian Immigrant, November 21st, 2023
- “Immigration to Canada Becoming Less Predictable,” The Canadian Immigrant, September 11th 2023
- “Clearing the Visitor Visa Backlog,” The Canadian Immigrant, July 12th 2023
- “Entering Canada Temporarily When you Want to Visit,” The Canadian Immigrant, May 29th 2023
- “Significant Benefit Work Permits: Understanding the LMIA Exemptions,” The Canadian Immigrant, January 23rd, 2023
- “Regulations to Protect Temporary Foreign Workers in Canada,” The Canadian Immigrant, December 20th, 2022
- “Canada Boosts Immigration Targets: Immigration Levels Plan 2023-2025,” The Canadian Immigrant, November 7, 2022
- “Clearing the Backlog: Upcoming Measures to Reduce Processing Times,” The Canadian Immigrant, September 12, 2022
- “Misrepresentation in Immigration Applications and Its Consequences,” The Canadian Immigrant, July 12, 2022
- “Visiting a Spouse in Canada: How to Best Present Your Application,” The Canadian Immigrant, May 9, 2022
- “Can your Country of Origin Affect your Visa Application” The Canadian Immigrant, February 2, 2022
- “Growing Backlogs at IRCC: What 2022 Will Bring for Canadian Immigration” The Canadian Immigrant, January 26, 2022
- “The increasing Role of AI in Visa Processing” The Canadian Immigrant, November 18th, 2021
- “Canada’s 44th Parliamentary Election: Where Political Parties Stand on Immigration” The Canadian Immigrant, September 7, 2021
- “Language Requirements for Work Permit Applications” The Canadian Immigrant, July 21, 2021
- “Not Sure Why Your Application was Refused? You Can Submit a Request for Further Details” The Canadian Immigrant, June 2, 2021
- “Cannabis Act Stricter Driving Rules can Impact Immigrants,” The Canadian Immigrant, August 2018
- “One-Third of Study Permit Applications are Refused,” The Canadian Immigrant, July 2018
- “Promotions can Impact a Temporary Foreign Worker’s Immigration Prospects,” The Canadian Immigrant, June 2018
- “Lonely? Sponsor a Relative to Immigrate,” The Canadian Immigrant, May 2018
- “Lost your status? How to restore your expired visa or permit,” The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, October 2016
- “How to Help International Students Stay in Canada,” The Institute for Research on Public Policy – Policy Options, September 12, 2016
- “Providing a right of appeal to medically inadmissible immigrants,” The Institute for Research on Public Policy – Policy Options, April 7, 2016
- “Five reasons an Express Entry application might get bounced for incompleteness,” The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, April 2016
- “Liberal immigration plan to welcome 300,000, with increased focus on family reunification, less on economic immigrants,” The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, March 2016
- “Analyzing the Liberal changes to Canada’s citizenship act,” The Institute for Research on Public Policy – Policy Options, February 29, 2016
- “The complexities of the post-graduate work permit for international students,” The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, February 2016
- “Let’s abolish PR cards and implement a residency obligation amnesty,” The Institute for Research on Public Policy – Policy Options, February 1, 2016
- “Supreme Court of Canada expands humanitarian and compassionate grounds,” The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, January 2016
- “It is time to end Canada’s visa requirement for Mexican citizens,” The Institute for Research on Public Policy – Policy Options, December 17, 2015
- “The good, the bad … and the barbaric: a review of outgoing Immigration Minister Chris Alexander’s legacy, and what’s to come,” The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, November 2015
- “Immigration Detainees Granted Access to Habeas Corpus,” The Institute for Research on Public Policy – Policy Options, October 21, 2015
- “Immigration after the Conservative Transformation,” The Institute for Research on Public Policy – Policy Options, October 16, 2015
- “The Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program After Alan Kurdi,” The Institute for Research on Public Policy – Policy Options, September 25, 2015
- “How to Analyze Campaign Promises Regarding Immigration Programs,” The Institute for Research on Public Policy – Policy Options, September 21, 2015
- “Same-sex sponsorship: apply as a spouse, common-law or conjugal partner,” The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, July 2015
- “Application refused? What CIC states in refusal letters is not the whole story,” The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, July 2015
- “Program fail? Where are the applications for the investor immigration stream?” The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, April 2015
- “Administrative Burden for Employers Using LMIA and Express Entry,” The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, February 2015
- “Consequences of Recent Changes to Live-in Caregiver Program,” The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, December 2014
- “Are Options for International Students to Immigrate Permanently Narrowing?” The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, December 2014
- “Lost in Transmission? Communicating by E-mail with CIC,” The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, November 2014
- “Temporary Workers Program: an Overview of the New Labour Market Impact Assessment,” The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, July 2014
- “Bill C-24 is now law: Canadian Citizenship is Harder to Get, Easier to Lose,” The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, June 2014
- “Government Commits to Initiate Proceedings Against 875 Refugee Per Year,” The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, May 2014
- “Implied Status: What Is It and What Changed Recently,” The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, March 2014
- “Electronic Travel Authorization System and Other Changes for Travelers to Canada,” The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, February 2014
- “Introducing Biometrics for Certain Foreign Nationals”, October 2013
- “Kenny’s Legacy on Immigration: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”, The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, July 2013, August 2013
- “Hiring Foreign Workers Becomes More Difficult”, The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, July 2013
- “Beyond the Post-Graduate Work Permit”, The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, May 2013
- “Moving to Canada: What Exactly is the New Federal Skilled Trades Program?”, The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, March 2013
- “Sponsorship Bar and Conditional Permanent Residency In Effect”, The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, February 2013
- “Renewing Your Temporary Resident Visa from Within Canada”, The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, December 2012
- “Compliant Employers of Temporary Foreign Workers Being Rewarded with Accelerated Labour Market Opinions”, The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, October 2012
- “What Applicants Should Look out for In New Immigration Rules”, The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, September 2012
- “Language Tests Coming to Immigration Programs Soon”, The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, June 2012
- “Can you Enter Canada if You Have a Criminal Conviction”, The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, May 2012
- “Know How to Minimize Your Tax Burden”, The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, April 2012
- “Understanding New Immigration Application Regulations”, The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, November 2011
- Author, Sponsorship Bars and Conditional Permanent Residency: Coming Soon to the Spousal Sponsorship Program?, UNB Law Journal, VOL. LXII, 2011.
- “CIC brings significant changes to the temporary foreign worker program”, The Canadian Immigrant Magazine, July 2011
- Author, Unilateral Disclaimer of Collective Agreements; Exploring the Constitutional Implications, (Banking & Finance Law Review, September 2009)
- Author (with Kendall Andersen), Canada: Creativity in Restructuring (Creditflux, April 2009)
Presentations
- Spoke at Ashton College on significant Federal Court of Canada decisions, Vancouver, June 15, 2023
- Moderated at the CBA’s 2023 National Immigration Law Conference, Ottawa, June 3, 2023Moderated a panel at the
- Canadian Bar Association’s 2022 National Immigration Law Conference on port of entry matters
- Presented at the CBABC’s 2022 Immigration Law conference on Express Entry
- Spoke at CLEBC’s 2021 Immigration Issues in Depth on the top Federal Court decisions of the year
- Spoke at CLEBC’s 2021 Working Your Way into Canada seminar on authorization to work without a work permit
- Spoke at CAPIC’s National Citizenship and Immigration Conference on employer compliance
- Presented at IMMSeminars on “Employer Compliance”, June 6, 2019
- “Update on Case Law Related to the Immigration Appeal Division,” Presenter, Ashton College Continuing Professional Development, September 22, 2018
- Co-Chair, Canadian Bar Association National Immigration Conference, Vancouver, May 2016
- “Permanent Residency for Students,” The University of Victoria, March 2, 2016
- “Temporary Residency,” Guest Lecturer, University of British Columbia Faculty of Law – Immigration Law – LAW 377.991, February 2, 2016
- “Business Visitors,” Panelist, “Working Your Way into Canada,” Continuing Legal Education of British Columbia, Vancouver, October 23, 2015
- “Natural Justice, Administrative Law and the Federal Court” IMEDA, Vancouver, March, 2015
- “Permanent Residency for Students” The University of Victoria, March 2, 2015
- “The Five Ws of Express Entry,” Guest Lecturer, The University of British Columbia Continuing Studies, Vancouver, March, 2015 Canadian Bar Association – British Columbia Branch Annual Immigration Law Conference, Moderator and Co-Chair, February 27, 2015
- “The British Columbia Provincial Nomination Program,” Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants – National Education Conference, Presenter, November 2014
- “Beyond Graduation: Immigration Planning for Douglas International Students” Douglas College, November 2014
- “I Do. Now What? Family Class Applications.” Canadian Bar Association National Immigration Conference, Presenter, May 2014 Canadian Bar Association – British Columbia Branch Annual Immigration Law Conference, Moderator and Co-Chair, February 28, 2014
- “Advanced Labour Market Opinions,” Paper and Panelist, “Working Your Way into Canada,” Continuing Legal Education of British Columbia, Vancouver, September 2013
- “Federal Skilled Worker Class,” Presenter, Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants – BC Chapter AGM, Vancouver, September 2013
- “Bill C-35 and Other Changes to Immigration and Post-Secondary Institutions,” Capilano College, July 2013
- “Federal Skilled Worker Class and Canadian Experience Class,” Paper and Panelist, Canadian Bar Association Immigration Section Annual Conference, Montreal, May 2013
- “The BC PNP,” Moderator, Canadian Bar Association (BC) Immigration Section Annual Conference, Vancouver, February 2013
- “The Immigration Appeal Division” Moderator, Canadian Bar Association (BC) Immigration Section Annual Conference, Vancouver, February 2012
