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 4) Refugee Claims Analysis Report (RCAR) 2020 Here is the 2020 Refugee Claims Analysis Report. 5) Number of Claims
Borderlines Podcast #96 – Inadmissibility for Espionage and Chinese Immigration, with Will Tao
Will Tao is a Canadian immigration and the founder of Heron Law Office. In January 2024 Justice Crampton, the Chief Justice of the Federal Court released a decision where he ruled that what constitutes “espionage” in Canadian immigration law must evolve “as hostile state actors increasingly make use of non-traditional methods to obtain sensitive information in Canada or abroad, contrary to Canada’s interests.” He held that it was reasonable for a visa officer to determine that a prospective Chinese PhD student, Mr. Li, was inadmissible to Canada for espionage because he may in the future be targeted and coerced by the Chinese government into providing information that would be detrimental to or contrary to Canada’s interests. There was nothing to suggest that Mr. Li has a present or future intention to provide such information to the Chinese government. Rather, the concern was future coercion or co-opting. Later that month, the Government of Canada’s announcement of a New Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (the “Policy”). The Policy included the publishing of a list of around 100 research organizations and institutions in China, Russia and Iran that pose “the highest risk to Canada’s national security due to … Read More
Access to Information Act Requests
This video explains the benefits of Access to Information Act requests. The following chart is a helpful summary of the exemptions to disclosure under the Access to Information Act.
Inadequacy of State Protection
Many refugee claimants are not based on situations where the state is the agent of persecution. Rather, the source of risk is a quasi-governmental authority or private actors. In such cases, the issue turns to one of the adequacy of state protection. Ward v. Canada The leading decision on the issue of state protection in the context of refugee and pre-removal risk assessment decisions is the Supreme Court of Canada decision Canada (Attorney General) v. Ward, [1993] 2 S.C.R. 689. There, the Supreme Court of Canada held that a state’s inability to protect its citizens is the crucial element in determining whether a claimant’s fear of persecution is well-founded as it determines the reasonableness of his or her unwillingness to seek the protection of his or her state of nationality. Specifically, the Supreme Court noted that: Having established that the claimant has a fear, the Board is, in my view, entitled to presume that persecution will be likely, and the fear well-founded, if there is an absence of state protection. The presumption goes to the heart of the inquiry, which is whether there is a likelihood of persecution. But I see nothing wrong with this, if the Board is satisfied that … Read More
Borderlines Podcast #95 – Defamation Law and SLAPP Proceedings, with Douglas Judson
Douglas Judson is a lawyer in Ontario who practices in litigation. He can be found on Twitter @dwjudson In this episode, we are taking a break from immigration and discussing defamation law, which is the law around communications about a person that tends to hurt their reputation. We are focusing on one of the defenses to defamation lawsuits, which is Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, or SLAPP. Many provinces, including British Columbia and Ontario (and if you have watched the Jon Oliver episodes, many jurisdictions in the United States) have anti-SLAPP laws designed to encourage public discourse about matters in the public interest. Mr. Judson recently represented the plaintiff in Rainbow Alliance Dryden et al v. Webster, 2023 ONSC 7050, where the Ontario Superior Court of Justice had to determine if using the term “groomer” to refer to members of the 2SLGBTQI and drag community attract the protection of Ontario’s anti-SLAPP laws.
Intra-Company Transferees and Start-Ups
Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (“IRCC“) International Mobility Program provides that a foreign worker may be issued a work permit without the employer needing a Labour Market Impact Assessment if the employee meets the requirements of the Intra-Company Transferees (“ICT“) program. Although some free trade agreements contain specific requirements, the general ICT rules applicable to citizens of all countries are that ICTs must: be currently employed by a multi-national company and be seeking entry to work in a parent, a subsidiary, a branch, or an affiliate of that enterprise; be transferring to an enterprise that has a qualifying relationship with the enterprise in which they are currently employed, and will be undertaking employment at a legitimate and continuing establishment of that company (where 18–24 months can be used as a reasonable minimum guideline); be being transferred to a position in an executive, senior managerial, or specialized knowledge capacity; have been employed continuously (via payroll or by contract directly with the company), by the company that plans to transfer them outside Canada in a similar full-time position (not accumulated part-time) for at least one year in the three-year period immediately preceding the date of initial application; and be coming to Canada for a temporary period only. … Read More
Citizenship Certificates
Any Canadian citizen may apply for a citizenship certificate. The application package can be found on the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC“) website here. The current standard processing time is 5 months. If someone lives outside Canada or the United States, and has applied through a Canadian embassy, high commission or consulate, it may take an additional 2 to 4 months beyond the estimated processing times to process your application. The CIC website does list ways to expedite processing. We have below reproduced CIC’s internal master checklist for citizenship certificate applications in the hopes that this will help you structure your application in a way that allows CIC to process it as fast as possible. Here are the IRCC New York instructions on processing citizenship matters.
A22.1 Declarations to Deny People Entry to Canada
On January 28, 2014, Chris Alexander, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, issued the following statement (emphasis added): Recent actions by members of Ukraine’s ruling elite in the face of popular and growing protests have been utterly deplorable, and compel us to take targeted and meaningful action. “Given the violent repression of legitimate protest and the intimidation of opposition voices, we will be restricting entry to Canada – effective immediately – for key government figures as a direct result of their actions in recent days. “Although Canada welcomes the recent developments in Ukraine, more needs to be done. The Ukrainian government must address the fundamental demands of the people, including accountability and a full embrace of democratic principles. “We believe it will take more than words to establish trust with the people, and Canada will continue to stand with the Ukrainian people, who courageously continue to speak out in support of democracy. “Canada will continue to monitor developments in Ukraine, and, with our international partners, consider further options if necessary.” This is the first time that the Government of Canada has used its new power resulting from Bill C-43 – The Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act to deny individuals the ability to … Read More
Environmental Overview – Nairobi
The following blog post contains information specific to the Canadian visa office in Nairobi. 2013 OVERVIEW The following is a summary of the Environmental Overview of the immigration functions at the Canadian High Commission in Naiorbi (the “Environmental Overview”). The Environmental Overview was prepared as part of the Citizenship and Immigration Canada 2013-2014 planning exercise, and is current as of January 2013. Areas in blockquote are direct passages from the Environmental Overview. Environment The Canadian High Commission in Nairobi (“CIC Nairobi”) provides visa services to residents of Kenya, Burundi, Congo, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, French Southern Territories, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mayotte, Reunion, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Many visa applicants, including senior government officials from many of the countries within Nairobi’s jurisdiction, are inadmissible for activities ranging from genocide to subversion, a factor which continues to be a bilateral irritant for Canada in the region. There are 13 Canada Based Staff, 2 Designated Immigration Officers, 3 Immigration Program Officers, 2 Locally Engaged 06, 22 Locally Engaged 05, 4 Locally engaged 04, and 9 locally Engaged 03 working at CIC Nairobi. With the advent of e-applications, Nairobi is now starting to benefit from the assistance of QRC in the promotion on Temporary … Read More
The Expansion of Inadmissibility for Espionage
The first few weeks of 2024 have been marked by developments that could significantly increase the number of people banned from Canada for espionage. The first was the Federal Court of Canada decision in Li v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2023 FC 1753 (“Li”), wherein the Chief Justice said that what constitutes “espionage” must evolve “as hostile state actors increasingly make use of non-traditional methods to obtain sensitive information in Canada or abroad, contrary to Canada’s interests.” The second was the Government of Canada’s announcement of a New Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (the “Policy”). The Policy included the publishing of a list of around 100 research organizations and institutions in China, Russia and Iran that pose “the highest risk to Canada’s national security due to their direct, or indirect connections with military, national defence, and state security entities.” The Canadian government clearly has concerns about individuals providing sensitive information to foreign entities. It is less clear if the security provisions of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act are the appropriate tool to address this. Li In Li, the Chief Justice held that it was reasonable for a visa officer to determine that a prospective Chinese … Read More