Part 1 of 2 in a historical deep dive of Chinese immigration to Canada. This episode covers the period of 1850 – 1885, and includes an overview of events in China at the time (including the Opium Wars and the Taiping Rebellion), Chinese migration during the British Columbia gold rush, the merger of the Colony of Vancouver Island and the Colony of British Columbia, numerous British Columbian laws designed to make reduce the number of Chinese in the Province, the building of the Trans Canada Railway, the Royal Commission on Chinese Migration to Canada and the Chinese Head Tax.
The “Innocent Mistake” Defence to Misrepresentation
Canadian immigration law provides that a person who makes an application must answer truthfully all questions put to them for the purpose of the examination. One of the most difficult issues to resolve when an individual is immigrating to Canada are allegations from the Government of Canada about misrepresentation. Section 40(1)(a) of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act states provides that a permanent resident or a foreign national is inadmissible to Canada for misrepresentation for directly or indirectly misrepresenting or withholding material facts relating to a relevant matter that induces or could induce an error in the administration of Canadian immigration law. Every visa applicant has a duty of candour to provide complete, honest and truthful information when applying for entry to Canada. Any misrepresentation, whether direct or indirect, that either induces, or could induce, an error by a visa officer in the performance of his or her duties, can result in a person being barred from Canada for five years. Intention A significant issue that often arises is whether or not a misrepresentation has to be intentional. The jurisprudence consistently provides that in order for a finding of misrepresentation to be made an applicant does not have to intend to … Read More
Extrinsic Evidence
Where immigration officers have extrinsic evidence particular to an applicant, and that applicant is unaware that the immigration officer has that evidence, then procedural fairness requires that immigration officers disclose this evidence to the applicant.
Borderlines Podcast #116 – Chinook, AI Triaging and ITAT, with Zeynab Ziaie Moayyed
Zeynab Ziaie Moayyed is an immigration lawyer in Toronto. She can be found on X at @ZeynabZiaie We discuss Chinook, AI triage and IRCC’s Integrity Trend Analysis Tool.
LMIA Exemption for Francophones
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC“) has a program to facilitate the ability of francophone foreign workers to enter Canada. The benefit of the program, called Moibilte Francophone, is that no Labour Market Impact Assessment (“LMIA“) is required. This means that employers of prospective francophone foreign workers do not need to pass a labour market test in order to employ francophone foreign workers. To qualify for the LMIA exemption, applicants must: apply at a visa office outside Canada; be going to work in an occupation which falls under National Occupation Classification 0, A or B; have French as his/her habitual language; and be destined to a province other than Quebec. Here are some other key things to note about the program. 1. Recruitment through a francophone immigration promotional event coordinated between the federal government and francophone minority communities is no longer required. Previously, participation in Moibilte Francophone was restricted to prospective foreign workers recruited through government promotional events. This requirement, which the government interpreted incredibly broadly in any event, is no longer the case. Previously, the program worked as follows: 2. Habitual French speaking abilities are required, but not for the job. To approve the work permit application officers must be satisfied … Read More
Borderlines Podcast #115 – The Walls Have Eyes, Artificial Intelligence in Border Surveillance, with Petra Molnar
Petra Molnar is a lawyer and anthropologist specializing in migration and human rights. We discuss her recent book, The Walls Have Eyes Surviving Migration in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Topics include the use of technology at borders, surveillance, the role of the private sector, the border industrial complex, Palantir and other companies, whether countries may withdraw from refugee conventions, ankle monitoring, UNHCR camps, the Belarus-Poland border, and more.
Off Campus Work
Regulation 186(v) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations provides that a foreign national may work off campus if: (v) if they are the holder of a study permit and (i) they are a full-time student enrolled at a designated learning institution as defined in section 211.1, (ii) the program in which they are enrolled is a post-secondary academic, vocational or professional training program, or a vocational training program at the secondary level offered in Quebec, in each case, of a duration of six months or more that leads to a degree, diploma or certificate, and (iii) although they are permitted to engage in full-time work during a regularly scheduled break between academic sessions, they work no more than 20 hours per week during a regular academic session; In brief, international students can work can work part time (up to 20 hours a week) during a regular academic session and full time during regularly scheduled breaks between academic sessions. The Guidelines According to the IRCC Guidelines, international students can work off campus without a permit, provided that all of the following statements are true: they hold a valid study permit they are full-time students enrolled at a designated learning institution (DLI) the program in … Read More
Digital Nomads and Immigration
Over the course of the past several years I have noticed a steady increase in the number of what I call digital nomads seeking to immigrate to Canada. These individuals, often avid readers of Tim Ferris’s The Four Hour Work Week, typically work from home. They are hyper efficient, and through delegation and automation can accomplish in twenty hours what most people take forty hours to do. They work on contract, often with multiple employers, or are self-employed. While they have skills that would make them very marketable in the Canadian labour force, most do not want to give up the freedom that they have built just to obtain permanent residency. The question that they all have is simple. Can they immigrate to Canada without having to become an employee? Economic Immigration Programs Specifically for Entrepreneurs Most Canadian economic immigration programs discourage self-employment. For example, in the Canadian Experience Class, self-employment in Canada does not count towards the one-year work experience requirement. In Express Entry, meanwhile, self-employment does not earn any points for Canadian work experience. Most skills-based provincial nomination programs also prohibit independent contractor work, and even set caps on what percentage of a Canadian business a prospective immigrant … Read More
Work Permits for Vulnerable Workers
Section 207.1 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (the “IRPR”) states that (modified for ease of reading): 207.1 (1) A work permit may be issued under section 200 to a foreign national in Canada if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the foreign national is experiencing or is at risk of experiencing abuse in the context of their employment in Canada and if they (a) hold a work permit; or (b) previously held a work permit, have applied for a renewal of that permit and are authorized to work in Canada under implied status. Family member of vulnerable worker (2) A work permit may be issued to a foreign national in Canada who is a family member of a person described in paragraph (1)(a) or (b). In other words, temporary foreign workers in Canada who are experiencing, or have experienced abuse, can apply for open work permits. People who have engaged in unauthorized work or have not complied with employment conditions are not excluded from the program. The objectives of IRPR r. 207.1 are to: provide migrant workers who are experiencing abuse, or who are at risk of abuse, with a distinct means to leave their employer; mitigate the … Read More
Borderlines Podcast #114 – Are Immigration Policies Hurting Canada’s Economy, with Mikal Skuterud
Mikal Skuterud is a Professor at the University of Waterloo. We discuss the impact of immigration on housing prices, foreign workers, lumping Francophone migration objectives under economic immigration, international graduates facing barriers to immigrating and more. Mikal’s previous appearance on Borderlines can be downloaded here. The former immigration minister interviews that Mikal mentions include Chris Alexander, John McCallum and Sergio Marchi.