As previously noted on this blog, big changes are afoot in the Canadian immigration consultant world.  On March 18, 2011, the Canadian government announced that the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC) would replace the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (CSIC) as the body that regulates immigration consultants. Accordingly, immigration consultants that want to continue to represent applicants must become members of the ICCRC.  Pursuant to Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s Operational Bulletin 317, all CSIC members in good standing as of June 30, 2011 are temporarily deemed to be members of the ICCRC.  This transition period will last until October 28, 2011, after which anyone who wishes to be an immigration consultant must register with the ICCRC. CSIC Gets Sued As is evident from the above, in order to continue practicing as an immigration consultant, it is necessary for CSIC members to maintain their standing with CSIC during the transition process. Since the Minister announced that the ICCRC would replace CSIC, CSIC has suspended roughly 600 members for failing to pay their fees.  They have since removed the list of suspended members from their website, however, numerous people saved screen shots of who was suspended, and the list can … Read More

People wishing to sponsor family members to immigrate to Canada generally have to meet numerous requirements.  These include, but are not limited to: Not be subject to a removal order; Not be detained in any penitentiary, jail, reformatory, or prison; Not be convicted under the Criminal Code for certain offenses (see this post for more on this requirement); Not be in default in respect of any previous undertaking; Not be an undischarged bankrupt; Not be in receipt of social assistance other than for a disability; and Meet the minimum necessary income requirements. The Minimum Income Requirement The financial requirement for sponsors is necessary to ensure that sponsors can support their sponsorees for the duration of their sponsorship undertaking.  People sponsoring spouses, common-law partners, conjugal partners, or dependent children are exempted from this requirement. For all other family sponsorship applications, the sponsor’s income must meet the minimum necessary income requirement as identified annually by Statistics Canada in Low Income Cut Off levels (“LICO”).  The sponsor must meet the cut-off to support all members of a sponsor’s own family, the sponsored person, and the sponsored person’s family members.  This includes non-accompanying family members. The current LICO rates for 2011 outside of Quebec … Read More

In a case that has generated media publicity, the Federal Court of Appeal has ruled that illegal immigrants do not have a Charter right to health care.  The facts in Toussaint v. Canada, 2011 FCA 213, were simple.  In 1999, the appellant entered Canada as a visitor.  She never left, and never attempted to normalize her status.  In 2006, her health began to deteriorate.  In 2009, she applied to Citizenship and Immigration Canada for medical coverage under the Interim Federal Health Program (the “IFHP”).  Her request was denied, as the IFHP is limited to refugee claimants, resettled refugees, persons detained under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and Victims of Trafficking in Persons. The Federal Court of Appeal found that the appellant met none of these conditions, and that the IFHP could not have been intended to pay for the medical expenses of those who arrive as visitors but remain illegally in Canada. A significant portion of the judgment related to Charter arguments regarding whether denying illegal immigrants access to the IFHP breached the right to life and security of the person (s. 7 of the Charter) or the right to equality (s. 15 of the Charter). The Right to … Read More

On July 1, 2011, the third set of Ministerial Instructions came into affect. Dubbed M-3, the changes introduced have certainly grabbed the attention of what one immigration lawyer calls the oligarchy of overseas consultancy firms that specialize exclusively in investor applications. Under the changes, a maximum of 700 new federal Immigrant Investor applications will be considered for processing each year. Assuming that success rates remain constant, this means that around just over 600 applications will be accepted each year. All applications are to be sent to the Centralized Intake Office in Sydney, Nova Scotia. The cap began on July 1, 2011. It was full by July 5, 2011, as numerous overseas facilitators and consultants rushed applications. Given the speed with which the applications were filed, I cannot think of any way that an individual can apply to permanent residency under the Immigrant Investor Program without the assistance of an extremely skilled facilitator or representative.

On July 1, 2011, the third set of Ministerial Instructions (“MI-3”) came into affect.  MI-3 introduced significant changes to the Federal Skilled Worker Program (“FSW”). Cap on the number of applications to be processed per year reduced On June 26, 2010, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) announced that a maximum of 20,000 Federal Skilled Worker applications, without an offer of arranged employment, would be considered for processing each year.  MI-3 reduced this amount to 10,000. The occupations that are eligible under the FSW without an offer of arranged employment are: 0631 Restaurant and Food Service Managers 0811 Primary Production Managers (Except Agriculture) 1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management 1233 Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners 2121 Biologists and Related Scientists 2151 Architects 3111 Specialist Physicians 3112 General Practitioners and Family Physicians 3113 Dentists 3131 Pharmacists 3142 Physiotherapists 3152 Registered Nurses 3215 Medical Radiation Technologists 3222 Dental Hygienists & Dental Therapists 3233 Licensed Practical Nurses 4151 Psychologists 4152 Social Workers 6241 Chefs 6242 Cooks 7215 Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades 7216 Contractors and Supervisors, Mechanic Trades 7241 Electricians (Except Industrial & Power System) 7242 Industrial Electricians 7251 Plumbers 7265 Welders & Related Machine Operators 7312 Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics 7371 Crane … Read More

If you are a multi-national employer looking to transfer an employee to Canada what is the minimum that you should be forced to be that employee?  Is it the minimum wage the employee’s current country?  Is it the minimum wage in the employee’s future respective province?  Or should it be more?  Should it be on the higher end of what that employee’s position generally plays?  Or should anywhere in the acceptable range of salaries be permitted?  Does the fact that it is a transfer as opposed to a Canadian company hiring a foreign worker even matter? These are the questions that we explore in today’s post. The Intra-Company Transferee Program A key feature of temporary foreign worker law is the delicate balancing act of protecting the Canadian labour market while ensuring that companies can hire the employees that they want.   The Canadian government has attempted to navigate this tight rope through the requirement that companies wishing to hire foreign workers first obtain a Labour Market Opinion confirming that the hiring of a foreign worker will not negatively impact the Canadian labour market. There are several exceptions to this requirement, however.  In a previous post, I discussed the numerous alternatives to … Read More