This episode is a historical deep dive on Order in Council PC 1911-1324, an Order in Council from 1911 which stated that for a period of one year black people would not be permitted to immigrate in Canada because the Canadian government deemed them unsuitable to Canada’s climate. Borderlines · History Episode 1 – Order in Council PC 1911-1324 – The Law to Ban Black Migration to Canada
Work Permits for Colombians
The following are standard operating procedures for the Canadian visa office in Bagota for work permit pre-assessment.
Borderlines Podcast #90 – Compassion Fatigue and Burnout while Practicing Immigration and Refugee Law
Deanna Okun-Nachoff, Erica Olmstead, Erin Roth, Kamaljit Kaur Lehal and Laura Best discuss compassion fatigue in the practice of refugee law and how they avoid burnout.
2024-2026 Immigration Levels Plan
On November 1, 2026, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) published its Supplementary Information for the 2024-2026 Immigration Levels Plan (the “Immigration Levels Plan”). Under the Immigration Levels Plan, the target for new permanent residents to Canada for 2024 is 485,000. This number will increase to 500,000 in 2025. The permanent resident target will then stay the same in 2026. The Immigration Levels Plan contains a detailed breakdown of planned admissions in several categories. What is somewhat remarkable is that not only will the overall admissions from 2025-2026 remain the same, but the planned admissions in each category will as well. The Canadian government reportedly decided to freeze admission targets because of increasingly negative public sentiment towards immigration during the on-going cost of living crisis, which was starting to be reflected in political polls. While the political rationale for freezing immigration levels may be understandable, it unfortunately will likely mean difficulties for many temporary residents inside Canada who wish to become permanent residents, as well as application backlogs. Difficulties for Temporary Residents inside Canada to Obtain Permanent Residence In 2023 IRCC introduced category-based draws to Express Entry, in which individuals with certain language or occupational backgrounds would be invited to … Read More
Significant Benefit Work Permits C-10
Most work permit applicants to Canada will typically need their potential employer to first obtain a positive or neutral Labour Market Impact Assessment (“LMIA“) before they apply for their work permit. This is an arduous process which generally requires that the potential employer conduct recruitment, pay a $1,000.00 processing fee, a mandatory interview, and uncertainty for a period of several weeks to months. However, there are several exemptions to the LMIA requirement. One of these exemptions is where the entry of the prospective foreign worker would create or maintain significant social, cultural, or economic benefits or opportunities for Canadian citizens or permanent residents. These work permits are typically known as Significant Benefit Work Permits, or C-10 Work Permits. Legislation Regulation 205(a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) states: A work permit may be issued under section 200 to a foreign national who intends to perform work that (a) would create or maintain significant social, cultural or economic benefits or opportunities for Canadian citizens or permanent residents Guidance The general requirement of a C-10 work permit is that it “should not be used for the sake of convenience, nor in any other manner that would undermine or try to circumvent the importance of … Read More
Minors and Applying for Study Permits
There is growing jurisprudence involving study permit applications by minors. Purpose of Study There is somewhat mixed jurisprudence involving how specific a minor’s rationale to study in Canada must be. In Ahmadi v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2023 FC 1208, Justice Gleeson stated that a visa officer refusal did not engage with the following: In this instance, the PA’s application detailed a series of reasons for pursuing the PA’s grade 4 education in Canada. The reasons advanced in the application explained that: (1) studies outside of Iran were viewed as beneficial to the PA; (2) efforts to have the PA study in Turkey had not been successful; (3) the objective of studying abroad was to help the PA improve his English skills; (4) Canada was a more affordable option than the United Kingdom; (5) the family had the financial means to pay for the PA to study abroad; and (6) the presence of family friends and a Farsi speaking community in North Vancouver would assist the PA in integrating. The GCMS notes address the rational for seeking the study permit: “similar programs are available closer to the applicant’s place of residence. Motivation to pursue studies in Canada does not seem reasonable … Read More
Family Reference Letters
Many applicants for various types of applications will request that family letters provide reference letters. The Federal Court has repeatedly held that visa officers should not discount reference letters from family and friends. For example, in n Magonza v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2019 FC 14, Justice Grammond wrote: [44] Immigration decision‑makers have on a number of occasions discounted evidence provided by members of the family of an applicant, for the sole reason that these persons, having an interest in the well‑being of the applicant, would have a propensity to make false statements. This Court has repeatedly held that this is unreasonable. In doing so, the Court has shown its awareness of the challenges of obtaining evidence of persecution. In the vast majority of cases, the family and friends of the applicant are the main, if not the only first‑hand witnesses of past incidents of persecution. If their evidence is presumed to be unreliable from the outset, many real cases of persecution will be hard, if not impossible to prove. Thus, while decision‑makers are allowed to take self‑interest into account when assessing such statements, this Court has often held that it is a reviewable error to dismiss entirely such evidence … Read More
Inadmissibility for Terrorism or Membership in a Terrorist Group
The Federal Court of Appeal has answered a question regarding inadmissibility under s. 34 of IRPA.
Inadmissible Family Members
Section 42(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act provides: Inadmissible family member 42 (1) A foreign national, other than a protected person, is inadmissible on grounds of an inadmissible family member if (a) their accompanying family member or, in prescribed circumstances, their non-accompanying family member is inadmissible; or (b) they are an accompanying family member of an inadmissible person. Jurisprudence In Kolawole v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2023 FC 1384, an individual’s permanent residence application was refused because her husband was inadmissible to Canada for misrepresentation. Madam Justice Sadrehashemi was concerned that the misrepresentation finding was unreasonable. She accordingly set aside the refusal of the inadmissible family member, and ordered that IRCC provide the principal applicant with the opportunity to re-open the file.
H&C And Keeping Families Together
As per the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Kanthasamy v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2015 SCC 61, an applicant for relief under s. 25 of the Immigration and Refugee Act must establish humanitarian & compassionate circumstances (“H&C”) that “would excite in a reasonable [person] in a civilized community a desire to relieve the misfortunes of another.” In assessing whether such circumstances exist in any given case, it is important to keep in mind that s. 25 was enacted to address situations in which the consequences of deportation “might fall with much more force on some persons … than on others, because of their particular circumstances …” Consequently, it is not sufficient to simply establish the existence or likely existence of misfortunes, relative to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada. Rather, it is incumbent upon applicants for the exceptional relief contemplated by s. 25 to demonstrate the existence of misfortunes or other circumstances that, taken as a whole, resonate with materially greater force, “relative to those of other applicants who apply for permanent residence from within Canada or abroad. In assessing whether an applicant has established sufficient H&C considerations to warrant a favourable exercise of discretion under s. 25 of … Read More