Clients often ask whether I, as their lawyer, will be keeping what they tell me a secret from immigration authorities, the media, their family and/or their friends. I assure them that they have nothing to be concerned about, because lawyers, and the state, are bound by the rules of solicitor-client privilege. Overview of Solicitor-Client Privilege As the Supreme Court of Canada reiterated in Canada (National Revenue) v. Thompson, 2016 SCC 21, solicitor-client privilege is a a principle of fundamental justice in Canada. There are several aspects to solicitor-client privilege. First, the confidentiality of communications between solicitor and client may be raised in any circumstances where such communications are likely to be disclosed without the client’s consent. Second, unless the law provides otherwise, when and to the extent that the legitimate exercise of a right would interfere with another person’s right to have his communications with his lawyer kept confidential, the resulting conflict should be resolved in favour of protecting the confidentiality. Third, when the law gives someone the authority to do something which, in the circumstances of the case, might interfere with that confidentiality, the decision to do so and the choice of means of exercising that authority should be determined with a view to not interfering with … Read More
Meaning of Dependent Child
A “dependent child” is defined in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, SOR/2002-227 as: dependent child, in respect of a parent, means a child who (a) has one of the following relationships with the parent, namely, (i) is the biological child of the parent, if the child has not been adopted by a person other than the spouse or common-law partner of the parent, or (ii) is the adopted child of the parent; and (b) is in one of the following situations of dependency, namely, (i) is less than 22 years of age and is not a spouse or common-law partner, or (ii) is 22 years of age or older and has depended substantially on the financial support of the parent since before attaining the age of 22 years and is unable to be financially self-supporting due to a physical or mental condition. (enfant à charge) In setting 22 as the limit, the Government of Canada stated that its rationale was: The Government of Canada has established as a priority for the immigration program the goal of family reunification, which is about giving family members the opportunity to live with or near each other, instead of being separated by borders and long … Read More
Borderlines Podcast Episode 16 – The History of the Immigration Consultant Profession in Canada
In this episode we discuss the history of the immigration consultant profession in Vancouver and current issues that the profession faces from a regulatory and governance perspective. Ron McKay is a past Chair of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council’s Board of Directors. He is a former Immigration Officer who spent ten years at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo, Japan. He is also a past National President of the Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants. Topics 3:30 – We discuss the history of immigration consultants in Canada, including an in depth discussion of the Mangat case, in which the Supreme Court of Canada determined that the federal government could allow non-lawyers to practice immigration law. We also discussed the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (“CSIC”), the first regulatory body of immigration consultants in Canada. 24:00 – We get into governance issues at regulatory oversight issues at both CSIC and the ICCRC. 38:30 – We talk about ghost consultants and what the immigration consultancy profession can do about it. 50:00 – We discuss how the immigration consulting profession needs to be regulated yet at the same time be independent of the government. 53:00 – Steven asks how the ICCRC determines how many consultants there should be. … Read More
Weeding Out Crooked Immigration Consultants
The following is an article that I wrote for Policy Options. The first paper that I wrote in law school was about legal ethics. I submitted a seven-page essay arguing that restricting the practice of law to graduates of law school was unethical, given the crisis of access to justice that so many face, and that the free market should instead regulate who can and cannot charge fees to provide legal representation. I got my lowest mark in law school. The study and practice of law moderated many of my views, and my opinion on who should be able to practise law has been adjusted accordingly. It has become clear to me that those who receive fees in exchange for the provision of legal advice must be regulated, and that in an era of easy Internet marketing, paid-for reviews and fake news, the free market is incapable of performing this role. However, I still believe that access to the ability to practise law should be extended beyond those who have completed three years of law school. It may not be surprising then that, unlike many immigration lawyers, I do not consider the existence of immigration consultants to be inherently problematic. … Read More
The Global Skills Strategy – Faster Processing and More Compliance for Certain Work Permits
The following is an article that I wrote for The Canadian Immigrant Magazine.
Work Permits for Camp Counsellors
As of March 1, 2017, camp counsellors going to residential camps during the summer season are exempt from the Labour Market Impact Assessment (“LMIA“) requirement. They can apply for work permits once their employers submit their online offers of employment into the employer compliance portal. Religious Camp Counsellors Religious camp counsellors should note that they should not be indicating in their online offer of employment offers that the LMIA exemption code is religious or charitable work under LMIA exemption code C50. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) has determined that the normal work of a camp counsellor (whose primary duties consist of supervising children and leading sports, crafts, games and other recreational activities) is not considered religious in nature. Rather, LMIA exemption code C20 should be used. In the case of a counsellor who is unpaid and who works for a charitable or religious organization, an employer compliance fee fee exemption may apply. To be fee-exempt, the foreign national cannot receive remuneration other than a stipend for living expenses, which, if monetary, should be below the prevailing minimum wage. Otherwise, the foreign national should receive only non-monetary benefits (e.g., accommodation and health care). It is the responsibility of the organization to prove that … Read More
Foreign Worker Stats – 2004 – 2014
The following are some interesting stats on the number of foreign workers in Canada from 2004 – 2014. The first chart is for the number of foreign workers in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program from 2004 – 2014. The top four countries where the Philippines, India, the United States of America, and Mexico. In the International Mobility Program the top 5 countries are very different. There, it is the United States of America, India, China, and France. The data also shows that from 2004 – 2014 the number of temporary foreign workers in Canada more than doubled from 86,551 to 177,704. Almost all of this growth was in the Labour Market Impact Assessment Program, with most of it being lower-skilled foreign workers. There was also considerable growth in the International Mobility Program, with the number of work permit holders going from 110,525 to 390,273 during the period from 2004 – 2014. Much of the growth came from the introduction of the Post-Graduate Work Permit Program, International Experience Canada, and C-10 applications.
The Global Skills Strategy
On June 12, 2017 Canada launched the Global Skills Strategy. The Global Skills Strategy introduces new work permit programs and work permit exemptions at both Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) and the Department of Employment and Social Development Canada (“ESDC”). Specifically, the Global Skills Strategy includes: ESDC introducing the Global Talent Stream to its Labour Market Impact Assessment (“LMIA”) program; IRCC committing to processing certain work permit applications within 10 days; IRCC introducing a new work permit exemption for short-term work in certain occupations; and IRCC introducing a new work permit exemption for certain researchers. All employers of prospective foreign workers, and especially those in technology related industries, should familiarize themselves with the Global Skills Strategy. ESDC’s Global Talent Stream Employers of foreign workers for positions that are eligible for ESDC’s Global Talent Stream will need to decide whether they want to submit their LMIA application(s) under the normal LMIA streams or under the Global Talent Stream. There are two main benefits of participating in the Global Talent Stream. First, ESDC is committing to processing LMIA applications submitted under the Global Talent Stream within 10 business days. Second, LMIA applications submitted under the Global Talent Stream will not have … Read More
Don’t misrepresent: honesty is the best policy when filling out applications
The following is an article that I wrote for The Canadian Immigrant magazine. Prospective immigrants committing misrepresentation in their applications is becoming an increasingly big problem in Canada. In Vancouver, an individual was recently sentenced to eight years imprisonment for helping around 1,500 people lie in everything from permanent residency applications to permanent resident card renewals, including the use of fake passport stamps. As well, thousands of Canadians across the country are embroiled in citizenship revocation proceedings. Meanwhile, increased information sharing between government agencies, and improvements in the collection and analysis of data are resulting in a huge increase in immigration officials detecting everything from little white lies to complex fraud. What is misrepresentation? Canadian immigration officials interpret the definition of misrepresentation very broadly as the goal is to help maintain the integrity of Canada’s immigration process. The law is clear that the onus is placed on the prospective immigrant (or visitor, worker or student) to ensure the completeness and accuracy of their application. Not all misstatements or omissions will result in an individual committing misrepresentation. The lie has to be material. In other words, the misstatement or omissions need to be ones that could affect whether someone is eligible … Read More
Information Sharing Between Canadian Immigration Authorities and Other Countries
The Five Country Conference (the “FCC“), commonly referred to as the “Five Eyes” is a forum for cooperation and information sharing between the border and immigration agencies of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Under the FCC, Canada participates in manual case-by-case and automatic information exchanges with other FCC partners. In 2009, Canada began manually running a small number of fingerprint-based immigration checks with each FCC partner as part of the High Value Data Sharing Protocol, an immigration information-sharing arrangement that was introduced as a pilot for automated information sharing. In 2011, the members of the FCC agreed to expand and automate the manual, low volume, and case-by-case exchanges. Since 2013, under the Beyond the Before Initiative, Canada has been automatically sharing immigration information with the United States. Perhaps the most visible consequence of this information is the dramatically increased number of people who are determined to be inadmissible to Canada for not disclosing their United States visa applications, especially refusals. In May, 2017, the Trudeau government expanded upon the Harper government’s initiative, and introduced regulatory amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations to allow for the automatic sharing of immigration information with Australia, New Zealand, and the United … Read More