Category Archive

Martin Basiri is a Co-Founder and the former Chief Executive Oofficer of ApplyBoard, a Start-Up Visa Program company that in 2021 reached a valuation of $3.2-billion. He is currently the Founder of and CEO of Passage, which enables immigrants and international students by providing financial access. Martin is part of Build Canada, an organization that helps Canadian entrepreneurs share their ideas for a bolder, richer, freer country. We discuss Martin’s proposal Great People, Greater Canada: A Talent First Immigration Strategy for Canada, which contains specific proposals to reposition Canadian immigration law, and particuarly its economic class, as one focused on bringing the best talent to Canada, rather than other political considerations that currently seem to be prioritized.

On March 14, 2025, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in John Howard Society of Saskatchewan v. Saskatchewan (Attorney General), 2025 SCC 6. Prior to the case, in Saskatchewan’s provincial correctional institutions, inmates charged with disciplinary offences had to appear before a disciplinary panel, where the standard of proof was a balance of probabilities, even for major offences that may result in up to 10 days of disciplinary segregation or the loss of up to 15 days of earned remission. The Supreme Court found that this violated sections 7 and 11(d) of the Charter, and held that to the extent that the law permitted the imposition of disciplinary segregation and loss of earned remission for an inmate disciplinary offence on a lower standard of proof, it is inconsistent with the Constitution and must therefore be declared to be of no force or effect. As noted by the dissent, the case could have implications for Canadian immigration law.

Deanna discusses the new Ministerial Instructions rolling out the long awaited caregiver pilots on 31 March 2025.

In Khorsand v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2025 FC 540, Madam Justice Aylen ruled that when assessing the mental health effects of removal it is insufficient for officers to simply state that the country of citizenship has medical facilities to deal with healthcare. Rather, officers must assess the actual evidence that it is the removal that can cause mental decline.

The issue of remote work and Canadian immigration is becomming an increasingly lively topic. Here are several IRCC e-mails on the matter. As well, here is another IRCC IMMreps response on the topic. Here are more IRCC e-mails confirming that it is possible to claim foreign work experience for work done remotely while in Canada.  

Over 300,000 Canadians have signed a petition calling on the government to revoke Elon Musk’s citizenship. Is this possible, and should it be? We also discuss the ongoing saga about changes to the law and policy regarding citizenship by descent.

Chantal Desloges is an immigration lawyer in Toronto. We discuss what the various Liberal leadership candidates have pledged regarding Canadian immigration policy, with a focus on Mark Carney and a speech that he gave to the Century Initiative.

  Kubeir Kamal is a regulated immigration consultant in Toronto. In October, 2024, Quebec announced that it was limiting the number of foreign nationals invited from any one country in its Regular Skilled Worker Program to 25%. In February, 2025, Marc Miller said that Canadian post-secondary institutions need to be more diverse in their recruitment, noting that there would always be applicants from India. India is by far the number one source country of immigrants to Canada. How likely is it that Canada will cap applications from India? Should they? @3:00    Marc Miller recently commented that “there will always be applicants from India.” Is this true? @7:00    The data on top source countries for new immigrants to Canada and why India does so well. @11:00 Why are so many people seeking to leave Canada? Has Canada lived up to their expectations? Is there a difference in the likelihood of success of immigrating to Canada vs. the United States? @20:00 Thoughts on restricting and capping immigration based on country of citizenship. @32:00 Audience comments on capping immigration. I note that in the episode both Steven and Kubeir refer to the removal of STEM and Tech occupations as priority occupations in Express Entry. Not all STEM and … Read More

The principle of functus officio is based upon the finality of judgments and jurisdiction that once a formal decision is rendered, signed and communicated to the parties it cannot be re-opened. The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Chandler v. Alberta Association of Architects,  [1989] 2 S.C.R. 848, is the leading case on functus officio.  There, Justice Sopinka wrote that: As a general rule, once such a tribunal has reached a final decision in respect to the matter that is before it in accordance with its enabling statute, that decision cannot be revisited because the tribunal has changed its mind, made an error within jurisdiction or because there has been a change of circumstances. It can only do so if authorized by statute or if there has been a slip or error within the exceptions enunciated in Paper Machinery Ltd. v. J. O. Ross Engineering Corp., supra. To this extent, the principle of functus officio applies. It is based, however, on the policy ground which favours finality of proceedingsrather than the rule which was developed with respect to formal judgments of a court whose decision was subject to a full appeal. For this reason I am of the opinion that its application must be more flexible and less formalistic … Read More