There is a slowly developing caselaw on the consequences of inconsistent applications. In Singh v. Canada, Justice Barnes determined that an officer could not refuse a permanent resident visa because the officer thought that a study permit had been improperly issued.
Borderlines Episode #14 – How to overcome systemic barriers in LGBTQ asylum claims, with Sharalyn Jordan
In this episode we discuss how to overcome systemic barriers in LGBTQ asylum claims. Much of this episode is dedicated to establishing how LGBTQ asylum claimants must prove their sexual identity during their refugee claim. How does someone from a country where being gay is illegal and who has been a closeted homosexual for their entire life prove that they are gay? What do Immigration and Refugee Board members expect? How can counsel assist? Finally, we discuss whether LGBTQ asylum claimants should even be required to prove their sexual orientation as part of their asylum claim. Sharalyn can be reached on Twitter @SharalynJordan Sharalyn Jordan is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. She works with with community agencies that support LGBTQ and refugee mental health as they develop and assess their counselling practices and programs. Topics 1:13 – Sharalyn provides an overview of the history of how Canada’s immigration and refugee system has restricted the ability of LGBT people to relocate to Canada. 5:12 – Canada’s immigration and refugee system often requires that people prove their sexual orientation. How can LGBT people prove their orientation? 20:00 – Are there circumstances in which an … Read More
John McCallum – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
(As published in Policy Options) On January 10, 2017, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Ahmed Hussen as the minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship. Hussen replaced John McCallum, who had been the minister since November 4, 2015. This is the third time that I am weighing the good, the bad and the ugly about a Canadian immigration minister. It is in some ways the most difficult time, given that McCallum’s tenure was so short. My first assessment of an immigration minister was about Jason Kenney, who remains Canada’s longest-serving immigration minister, having held the role for 1,719 days. His successor, Chris Alexander, whom I also wrote about, led Canada’s immigration department for 826 days. John McCallum was Canada’s immigration minister for only 433 days. To some extent, the busy nature of McCallum’s tenure made up for its short duration. He was the first immigration minister in Trudeau’s Liberal majority government, which assumed power after an election campaign in which refugee and citizenship issues were prominent. Because McCallum had also been the Liberal immigration critic during Canada’s previous Conservative government, and had also served as a cabinet minister in previous Liberal governments, he was able to hit the ground running in … Read More
How many Judicial Reviews?
One of the confusing aspects of a judicial review practice is determining how many applications are needed. In Chambers v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), for example, the applicant filed one judicial review to seek review of i) an immigration Officer’s decision to prepare a report pursuant to subsection 44(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (the “IRPA“) to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness’ delegate, (ii) the decision of the Minister’s delegate pursuant subsection 44(2) of the IRPA to refer the applicant, to an admissibility hearing before the Immigration Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board, and (iii) the decision of the Immigration and Refugee Board to order the applicant’s removal from Canada. The Department of Justice argued that this was improper. However, Justice Bell disagreed, writing that: The Applicant counters that this same issue was raised in Clare v Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, 2016 FC 545, [2016] FCJ no 513 [Clare]. In Clare, O’Reilly, J. disagreed with the Minister’s contention. He concluded that, “[w]hile it was open to Mr. Clare to seek judicial review of those other decisions, it was not necessary to do so in order to challenge the [Immigration Division’s] decision on admissibility”. While O’Reilly, J. acknowledged … Read More
Borderlines Episode #13 – Problems with the Safe Third Country Agreement and Interdiction, With Efrat Arbel
Efrat Arbel is Assistant Professor at the Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia. She is an executive member of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers. A list of Dr. Arbel’s recent publications can be found here. During this podcast we talk about three areas that Dr. Arbel has recently focused her research on. These include the distinction between physical borders and legal borders in the refugee context, how interdiction works, and the Safe Third Country Agreement. The Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the United States requires that persons seeking refugee protection must make a claim in the first country they arrive in unless they qualify for an exception to the Agreement. In other words, an asylum seeker who wishes to seek refugee status in Canada will typically be denied the ability to do so if they attempt to enter Canada by land from the United States. This episode was recorded before President Trump’s recent Executive Order imposed a moratorium on asylum claims in the United States. President Trump’s decision has only intensified and magnified many of the issues that Dr. Arbel discusses in this podcast. 1:43 – Dr. Arbel explains different concepts of what … Read More
The Alberta Immigration Nominee Program (Last updated January 16, 2017)
The Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (“AINP“) currently has three streams. Employer Driven Stream Strategic Recruitment Stream Self-Employed Farmer Stream Employer Driven Stream The AINP Employer-Driven Stream is for: Alberta Employers who want to retain a foreign worker on a permanent, full-time basis where there is a challenge finding Albertans/Canadians to fill the position; and Foreign workers with a permanent, full-time job offer from an Alberta Employer who intend to live and work in Alberta permanently. It includes the following substreams: Skilled Worker Category International Graduates Category Semi-Skilled Worker Category Please note that individuals in the following circumstances are not eligible under the Strategic Recruitment Stream: Refugee claimants, or individuals involved in a federal appeal or removal process; Live-in caregivers currently living in Canada; Temporary foreign workers working and residing in a province other than Alberta; and International students studying in Canada and doing co-op work placements or internships as part of their study program Skilled Worker Category In order to be eligible under the Skilled Worker Category, the employer must: Be incorporated or registered as a business in Alberta by or under an act of the legislature of a province or the Parliament of Canada and operating as a business … Read More
Borderlines Episode #12 – Tips on making written and oral arguments in court, with Justice Alan Diner
The Honourable Alan S. Diner is a judge with the Federal Court of Canada. Prior to his appointment, Justice Diner headed Baker & McKenzie LLP’s immigration practice. He was also involved with managing the establishment and implementation of Ontario’s Provincial Nominee Program for the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration. We are grateful to Justice Diner for the time that he took in preparing for this podcast about tips and best practices in appearing before the Federal Court of Canada, including in providing a customised powerpoint, which can be found on our website at http://www.borderlines.ca. As Justice Diner notes, many of the tips and strategies contained in this episode are applicable beyond judicial review, and will be beneficial to anyone preparing written submissions or making oral presentations. A review of what we discussed is as follows: 1:18 – Justice Diner describes his history going from being an immigrant in Canada to leading a corporate immigration law practice to becoming a judge with the Federal Court of Canada. 14:30 – We discuss how the practice of immigration law is changing as larger firms and global accounting firms enter the practice area. 18:30 – Justice Diner provides his first three tips to lawyers appearing … Read More
Self Employment and the Canadian Experience Class
Big decision. The Federal Court has ruled that owning the majority of shares in a company and being president can count as self-employment. http://decisions.fct-cf.gc.ca/fc-cf/decisions/en/item/214532/index.do
When Visa Officers Contradict the Immigration Website
Towards the end of 2016 the Canadian government made many changes to Canada’s immigration programs. The parents and grandparents sponsorship program went from being first-come, first-serve to a lottery system, arranged employment through a Labour Market Impact Assessment went from guaranteeing someone an invitation to apply for Canadian permanent residency to only being a factor slightly more significant than the newly introduced factor of Canadian post-secondary education, and Canada lifted the visa requirement against Mexican nationals. The rate of change will continue to be fast in 2017. Already, the government has announced that it will lift the visa requirement against Brazil, Bulgaria, and Romania, that it would introduce a work permit program for highly skilled foreign workers, that having relatives in Canada will increase one’s chances of being issued an invitation to apply for permanent residency, and that Canada will ratify the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement between Canada and the European Union, which will make it easier for Europeans to work in Canada. At the same time that the rate of the pace of changes is increasing, the Canadian government has also expanded the number of ways in which it publicizes these announcements. Many have been introduced through legislative amendments. … Read More
Borderlines Episode #11 – Tensions between political oversight and politicizing officer decisions, with Lorne Sossin
We discuss three topics. The first is the oversight of police, CBSA, and immigration officers in Canada. How do we ensure that there is political oversight and accountability without politicizing the day to day operations of individual officers? The second topic is a discussion of Charter rights and Charter values in the immigration context. Finally, we talk about whether it is OK that in Canada individual immigration officers can create an apply their own standards of the law. Lorne Sossin is the Dean of Osgoode Hall Law School. Prior to his appointment, he was a Professor with the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto. Dean Sossin also serves on the Boards of the National Judicial Institute and the Law Commission of Ontario. He has also acted as Research Director for the Law Society of Upper Canada’s Task Force on the Independence of the Bar. A review of what we discussed is as follows: 00:00 – Introduction 00:51 – Steven Meurrens says what one of his favorite things about law school is. 01:14 – Overview of topics 02:55 – The role of federalism in police oversight. 06:30 – Is criminal law local or is it national? 09:09 – What … Read More