Category Archive

    Mike Moffatt is the Senior Director of Policy and Innovation at the Smart Prosperity Institute and an Assistant Professor in the Business, Economics and Public Policy group at Ivey Business School, Western University. He is the host of the Missing Middle podcast. 1:20       Mike’s speech to the Liberal Cabinet in August 2024 re. the impact of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) on housing. 5:15       Mike’s thoughts on recent changes to the TFWP. 6:45       What is the impact of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program on housing in Canada? 8:00       Discussion re. zoning and development fees. 13:00    What level of immigration would be ideal in order to reduce the impact on housing? 18:30   Consequences of promoting pathways to PR for international students. 24:00    Are recent changes to Canada’s international student program the end for private colleges? 28:00    Is the recent decline in rents attributable to the international student program changes? 34:00    Should there be a hard cap on Canada’s foreign worker programs? Also discussion re. stats manipulation. 48:00    Distinctions between new foreign workers and companies trying to retain existing ones. 54:00    How does Mike respond to allegations that he is anti-immigrant.

    Jason Kenney was Canada’s Minister of Citizenship and Immigration from 2008-2013. 1:30 – The story behind Jason Kenney showing up unannounced at a CBA Immigration Law conference. 4:30 – The difficulties of being an immigration minister and Minister Kenney’s relationship with the bureaucracy and Deanna’s thoughts on Jason Kenney’s tenure. 9:30 – Marc Miller’s attempts to introduce a program to regularize the status of undocumented workers, and his public statements that he was overruled by Cabinet. 16:20 – Prime Minister Harper’s teenager looking for work and the overnight imposition of the 2014 moratorium on new LMIAs in the Food Service Sector. 23:00 – Record immigration levels, wage suppression, the collapse of the general consensus on immigration, and whether Canada’s record population growth was deliberately planned or unintended. 32:15 – The introduction of Ministerial Instructions. 37:30 – Diploma mills. 41:00 – What the scariest thing Jason Kenney did as Minister. 44:15 – Ending the ability of people to simultaneously claim asylum and submit an H&C application, and soaring asylum claim numbers. 49:50 – Is there anything Minister Kenney wishes he had used the notwithstanding clause on and revisiting the 1951 Refugee Convention. 57:15 – Advice to people who are … Read More

In addition to automated triaging Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) has also introduced software so that officers can bulk process applications.  The software tool is known as Chinook. According to an affidavit that IRCC filed in Federal Court, Chinook is a standalone tool that streamlines administrative steps.  Applicant information is extracted from their applications and presented in a spreadsheet. Visa officers are assigned a workload of applications through Chinook. They are able to see multiple applications at a time on a single spreadsheet.  This allows them to review the contents of multiple applications on a single screen, and allows them to complete administrative steps through batch processes.  It also allows visa officers to create “risk indicators” and “local word flags” so that officers can identify possible applications in the processing queue of concern or priority. According to the Federal Court affidavit, when visa officers enter Chinook a message pops up which says, amongst other things, “The Chinook User Interface allows you to view multiple applications for review and initial assessment. It does not replace reviewing documents.. and/or reviewing other information… The refusal notes generator is meant to assist with general bona fide refusals. If the notes do not reflect … Read More

    Amandeep Hayer and Lisa Middlemiss join to discuss maintaining permanent resident status and upcoming changes to citizenship by descent law, both of which were topics in their recently published book Maintaining Permanent Residence Status and Acquiring Citizenship. Amandeep’s article in the Toronto Star about Bill C-71 can be found here. Bill C-71 can be found here. Cases discussed include Bi v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2012 FC 293. Amandeep Hayer is an immigration lawyer at Hayer Law, based out of Vancouver. Lisa Middlemiss is an immigration lawyer at Middlemiss Immigration Law Inc, based out of Montreal.

  Christopher Anders is a shareholder of Parker, Butte & Lane in Oregon. He focuses his practice on representing asylum seekers before the Asylum Offices of USCIS and in removal proceedings before the Immigration Courts of EOIR. We discuss how record refugee flows are impacting politics in both Canada and the United States.

The following are sample asylum claims involving Japanese nationals in Canada. As some of these cases were successful, and others were not, due to varying levels of documentation presented, I am posting it so that people are aware of where in the National Documentation Package objective evidence can be found.

    Sam Cooper is an award-winning investigative journalist and best-selling author. He is the founder of The Bureau, and his book, Wilful Blindness – How a Criminal network of narcos, tycoons and Chinese Communist Party agents infiltrated the West, debuted as a #1-seller on Amazon, in Canada. We discuss the United Front, foreign interference in Canada, Canadian enforcement issues, IRCC casting a wide security screening net that seems to encompass all Chinese with STEM backgrounds, Parliamentarians allegedly involved in collusion with foreign governments, international students voting in nomination ridings, the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, 3/PLA and whether things are improving. Published cases involving inadmissibility to Canada due to membership in either the United Front or the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office include Meng v Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness), Zhang v Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness) and Gao v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration).

The Canadian Experience Class (CEC) is a popular immigration program designed for skilled workers with Canadian work experience who wish to become permanent residents Regulation 87.1(3)(b) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations provides that any period of self-employment shall not be included in calculating Canadian work experience under the CEC. The Immigration Refugee and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC“) guidelines provide the following guidance to officers in assessing whether someone is self-employed: Determining an applicant’s employment status Applicants under the CEC must satisfy an IRCC officer that they meet all program requirements as per section R87.1. Any period of self-employment shall not be included in calculating the period of qualifying work experience under the CEC [R87.1(3)(b)]. As such, the CEC requires that applicants demonstrate they acquired skilled work experience in Canada through authorized employment by a third party. Principal applicants are requested to provide documentary evidence of their work experience in Canada through a combination of: a copy of their most recent work permit (unless they are work-permit exempt), copies of their most recent T4 tax information slips and Notice of Assessment (NOA) issued by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) or a sufficient combination of other supporting documentation, and employer letters of reference … Read More

    Arshdeep Kahlon is an immigration lawyer in Brampton. He was counsel in Singh v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2024 FC 1369, where the Court had to determine whether it is misrepresentation for an applicant in a visa application to not disclose that they were previously not granted entry to the United States while flagpoling. Topics include what flagpoling is, when one should flagpole vs. applying for a visa online, misrepresentation, how judicial reviews work and advocacy strategies and tips.

In this post are various Memorandums to the Minister.