Sergio Marchi was Canada’s Minister of Citizenship and Immigration from 1993-1995.
Borderlines · #46 – An Interview with Sergio Marchi, Canada’s Immigration Minister from 1993-1995
3:00 – Does someone keep the Minister title their whole life?
4:50 – What was the political consensus regarding Canadian immigration at the end of the 1980s? How did the Reform Party impact things?
8:00 – The mix of immigrants between economic, family and humanitarian immigrants.
11:15 – What dictates whether IRCC meets its level targets?
14:30 – The Brian Mulroney government was considering moving immigration under Public Safety. Under Sergio Marchi it instead became it’s on Ministry. What prompted this?
17:30 – Canadian attitudes to refugee resettlements and misconceptions.
20:45 – Sources of resistance to refugee resettlement. Resettled refugees vs asylum seekers.
23:00 – Changes that Minister Marchi made to the refugee determination process.
25:00 – What was Minister Marchi’s approach to intervening on specific cases? When would Minister Marchi help Members of Parliament on constituent files? Did it matter which political party the MP was from?
32:00 – The impact of a police officer who was shot by an illegal immigrant on deportation policy.
36:00 – Whether the Canada Border Services Agency should be under the immigration umbrella.
37:30 – What Minister Marchi considers to be his main accomplishments and the implementation of the right of landing fee.
45:00 – Minister Marchi’s push to remove the Queen from the citizenship oath.
Read more ›Syed Farhan Ali shares his Canadian immigration story. During the time that his spousal sponsorship application was in process he was denied temporary entry to Canada, missed the birth of his first child and missed her first steps. He recently arrived in Canada after a three year application process.
Chantal Dube is a Spokesperson for Spousal Sponsorship Advocates, a group with more than 5,000 members in Canada that argues for reforms to the family reunification process.
Borderlines · #45 – Spousal Sponsorship Delays and Refusals, with Chantal Dube and Syed Farhan Ali
3:15 Said tells the story of his spousal sponsorship application. His application took 34 months to process. During the processing of his application Canada denied his visitor visa applications. He missed the birth of his children and their first steps, although he was able to reunite with his wife during brief trips to the United States, which did grant him a visitor visa.
21:00 We discuss the refusal of temporary resident visas for people with spousal sponsorship applications in process, people with frequent travel histories, people with American multiple entry visas, and judicial reviews.
25:00 How long a judicial review takes.
29:50 Assessing genuineness in a spousal sponsorship application, and the distinction between “low risk and high risk” in the checklists.
33:00 The strange quirk in the Family Class where people have to prove that their relationship is genuine but immigrants and foreign workers do not. The same is true for work permits, where the spouses of Canadians cannot apply for work permits from abroad, but the spouses of foreign workers can.
38:00 What are major issues that Sponsorship Advocates seeing?
39:45 What things can trigger genuineness concerns? » Read more about: Borderlines Podcast Episode 45 – Spousal Sponsorship Delays and Refusals, with Chantal Dube and Syed Farhan Ali »
Read more ›Last updated on February 14th, 2021
In this page I will be posting assorted statistics on asylum claims that I find interesting.
1) In 2010 the rate of asylum claimants claiming social assistance was 84% in Ontario, 79% in Quebec, 57% in BC, and 48% in BC.
2) Interesting chart showing asylum claimants based on country of citizenship and province of claim in 2013-14.
3) Charts Showing the Increase in Claims from Nigeria
» Read more about: Statistics on Asylum Claimants »
Read more ›A Labour Market Impact Assessment (a “LMIA“) is an assessment by the Department of Employment and Social Development Canada (“ESDC“) that the hiring of a foreign worker will have a positive, neutral or negative impact on Canada’s labour market.
An LMIA is often a requirement to hire a foreign worker.
There are certain situations in which ESDC will refuse to issue a LMIA. This effectively precludes employers from utilizing the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (the “TFWP“).
The Sex Industry
Regulations 183(b.1) and 196.1 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (the “IRPR”) provides that temporary residents are prohibited from entering into an employment agreement, or extending the term of an employment agreement, with an employer who, on a regular basis, offers striptease, erotic dance, escort services or erotic massages.
Regulation 200(3)(g.1) of the IRPR further provides that work permits cannot be issued to workers who intend to work for employers who, on a regular basis, offers striptease, erotic dance, escort services or erotic massages.
Because of this, ESDC will not issue LMIAs to employers who regularly offer services in the sex industry (striptease, erotic dance, escort services or erotic massage).
Ineligilibity List
Employers who hire temporary workers may be inspected to make sure they meet their responsibilities as an employer under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program or International Mobility Program. If an employer is found non-compliant, they can receive either a monetary penalty or a ban from hiring temporary workers for a specified period of time.
As such, ESDC will not issue LMIAs to employers who are on the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada ineligibility list which includes employers who:
- have been found non-compliant as result of an employer compliance review
- have been banned from the Temporary Foreign Worker Program because non-compliance was discovered during an inspection
- are in default of payment of an administrative monetary penalty.
» Read more about: Refusal to Process a Labour Market Impact Assessment »
Read more ›During the COVID-19 pandemic Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) has implemented numerous policies to try to process applications as normally as possible and also provide applicants who are unable to provide certain documents or meet deadlines with flexibility. Applicants should know that while IRCC is providing more flexibility than it normally does to incomplete applications that it is still returning applications that are technically incomplete where applicants do not provide an explanation. The return of these applications sometimes takes months due to pandemic related intake delays at IRCC, and it is very important that applicants submit complete applications.
IRCC’s COVID-19 Policy with Regard to Missing Documentation
Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations provides that IRCC can return applications that are missing mandatory information or documents.
During COVID-19, IRCC’s policies are that new, complete applications will be processed as normally possible.
If a new application is missing supporting documentation or information, then an applicant must include an explanation with their application that they are affected by a service disruption as a result of COVID-19. IRCC will then essentially put the application aside, and wait for the document to be provided.
If a new application is missing supporting documentation or information, and an applicant has not provided an explanation, or if the reason why the document or information is missing is not related to a disruption of services caused by COVID-19, then IRCC will return the application for being incomplete.
IRCC’s Public Messaging vs. Reality
IRCC officials have stated in public that during COVID-19 they have not returned incomplete applications, but rather contacted applicants to remedy the situation. On November 25, 2020, for example, Marco Mendicino, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada told the House of Commons Committee on Citizenship and Immigration that in the spousal sponsorship context visa officers work with Members of Parliament to troubleshoot incomplete applications with the goal being to reunited as many families as possible.
» Read more about: Returning Applications During COVID-19 »
Read more ›The Honourable Chris Alexander served as Canada’s Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada from July 2013 to November 2015. He represented the riding of Ajax—Pickering in the House of Commons of Canada from 2011 to 2015. Prior to that spent 18 years in the Canadian Foreign Service, serving as Canada’s first resident Ambassador to Afghnistan from 2003 – 2005. Subsequent to being an Member of Parliament he ran for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada.
As Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Mr. Alexander presided over the launch of Express Entry, the termination of the Immigrant Investor Program and the introduction of the Barbaric Cultural Practices Act, which prohibited forced and underaged marriages.
Borderlines · #44 – An Interview with Chris Alexander, Canada’s Immigration Minister from 2013-2015
5:09 – If there was one misconception about Canadian immigration law that Minister Alexander would like to change what would it be?
15:00 – Bill C-24 and the revocation of citizenship for dual nationals convicted of high crimes.
16:00 – Whether there was a strong anti-fraud and anti-exploitation mandate during Minister Alexander’s time as Minister.
22:00 – Combatting forced marriages.
23:00 – Preventing foreign worker abuse by sanctioning the employers who abuse them.
26:00 – The Barbaric Cultural Practices Act
36:45 – Ending the Immigrant Investor Program
41:45 – Entrepreneurial immigration and self-employed program.
49:00 – Points inflation in Express Entry and the increased demand for Canadian immigration.
52:30 – The launch of Express Entry
55:30 – Moving towards online applications
57:15 – What it was like following Jason Kenney as immigration minister, and the challenges posed,
Read more ›In R v. Kattenburg Justice Stratas of the Federal Court of Appeal cautioned judges against giving “virtue signalling and populism a go.” This prompted a largely philosophical discussion about the role of judges, a Toronto judge who wore a Make America Great Again hat in court, a Quebec judge who proclaimed herself a feminist before making statements about Quebec’s ban on religious attire, Ruth Bader Ginsburg criticizing President Trump, and defining what virtue signaling even is.
Borderlines · #41 – Judges Virtue Signalling Inside and Outside of Court, with Andrew Hayes
Andrew Hayes is a US immigration lawyer who practices out of Vancouver.
Read more ›On October 30, 2020, Marco Mendicino, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”), tabled Canada’s 2020 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration. The publication of the Report to Parliament on Immigration is an annual occurrence in which Canada’s immigration department summarizes Canadian immigration statistics of the previous year and provides immigration levels planning for the future. This year’s report was especially anticipated because of uncertainty over how Canada’s planned immigration levels would be impacted by COVID-19.
Where We Are Coming From
In 2019, Canada welcomed 341,180 permanent residents, the third highest level of immigration in the country’s history, exceeded only by 1912 and 1913. Of this, 74,586 were individuals who transitioned from temporary resident status to permanent. The economic immigration class continued to be the largest source of permanent resident admissions, at approximately 58% of all admissions in 2019. Overall numbers were also up for Canada’s family reunification, protected person and humanitarian classes.
IRCC in 2019 also approved 404,369 work permits and 402,427 study permits. When accompanying family members are factored in, this means that the number of people who entered Canada with temporary status greatly exceeded the number of permanent residents admitted.
To briefly digress, when it comes to the impacts of immigration on Canada’s economy, housing prices, social cohesion, etc., the media often focuses on the number of permanent residents admitted to Canada. However, as can be seen in the above statistics, the admission of permanent residents only tells part of the story regarding who is coming to Canada, and is not reflective of the total number of people actually admitted to Canada.
In the 2019 Report to Parliament on Immigration, IRCC stated that its goal was to welcome approximately 341,000 people as permanent residents.
» Read more about: The 2020 Report to Parliament on Immigration »
Read more ›Last updated on February 21st, 2021
In this episode we provide an overview of family law issues that immigrants and their Canadian sponsors should be aware of, inlcuding the recognition of foreign marriages, how divorce works, threatening to have an ex-spouse deported and the difference between common-law and marriage and getting a marriage anulled.
Ari Wormelli practices family law with YLAW Group.
Borderlines · #40 – Family Law Concepts That Immigrants and their Sponsors Should Understand, with Ari Wormelli
The topic is relevant to Canadian immigration law because sponsored spouses are statistically much more likely to get divorced than the general Canadian public.
Read more ›
There would be perhaps few things as frustrating for the potential employers of foreign workers than to go through the Labour Market Impact Assessment process only to learn that they were not considered to be an employer by the Department of Employment and Social Development Canada.
According to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program manual, an employer is an entity (e.g. person, business, corporation or organization) that makes an offer of employment to one or more foreign nationals who provide labour in return for compensation for a specified period of time. The employer is generally the entity that hires, controls working conditions and remunerates the foreign national.
The Manual further states:
Entities Considered the Employer of a Foreign National under the TFW Program:
Canadian-Based Entity
A person, business, corporation or organization based in Canada that makes an offer of employment to one or more foreign nationals.
Foreign-Based Entity
A person, business, corporation or organization that is not based in Canada that makes an offer of employment to one or more foreign nationals to work in Canada. For identification purposes, it is strongly recommended that the foreign-based employer obtain a Canadian business number to facilitate the TFW Program’s assessment of their genuineness.
Group of Employers
In cases where two or more entities are determined to share employer responsibilities by the Department, a group of employers may make an offer of employment to a foreign national.
• All parties handling employer responsibilities relating to the employment of a foreign national (via an LMIA) are considered to be part of a group of employers for the purpose of the TFW Program.
• The Department determines who is able to apply under a Group of Employers,
» Read more about: LMIAs – Who is the Employer »
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