Borderlines

Chantal Desloges is an immigration lawyer in Toronto. We discuss what the various Liberal leadership candidates have pledged regarding Canadian immigration policy, with a focus on Mark Carney and a speech that he gave to the Century Initiative. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kubeir Kamal is a regulated immigration consultant in Toronto. In October, 2024, Quebec announced that it was limiting the number of foreign nationals invited from any one country in its Regular Skilled Worker Program to 25%. In February, 2025, Marc Miller said that Canadian post-secondary institutions need to be more diverse in their recruitment, noting that there would always be applicants from India. India is by far the number one source country of immigrants to Canada. How likely is it that Canada will cap applications from India? Should they? @3:00    Marc Miller recently commented that “there will always be applicants from India.” Is this true? @7:00    The data on top source countries for new immigrants to Canada and why India does so well.  @11:00 Why are so many people seeking to leave Canada? Has Canada lived up to their expectations? Is there a difference in the likelihood of success of immigrating to Canada vs. the United States?  @20:00&

In this episode, we break down IRCC's practice of rejecting applications for incompleteness, often for minor technical issues. Effectively a form of stats manipulation, this practice creates a misleading picture of departmental efficiency while leaving applicants stranded, often forcing them to restart the process for trivial errors. Cases discussed include Gennai v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2017 FCA 29 and Goel v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2025 FC 275. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Misty Ty is a documentary film maker. Her father, Robert Ty, was the owner of a shipping company whose cargo ship, The Tung An, encountered a fishing vessel with over 200 people. Misty Ty was one of the children on that boat.The Vietnamese Boat People were refugees who fled Vietnam by sea after the fall of Saigon in 1975, escaping communist rule and persecution. Over one million people would flee. Several hundred thousand would perish due to storms, starvation, pirate attacks, and overcrowded boats. In response to the humanitarian crisis, Canada would introduce its private refugee sponsorship program, and resettle tens of thousands of Indochinese.Misty's website for the project is thetungan.com. She would love to hear from anyone who was on, or whose relatives were on, the Tung An. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Martin Levine was a Visa Officer and Analyst at Citizenship and Immigration Canada from 1978 – 2009. He then worked as a contract employee as an ATIP Analyst for numerous federal departments. He previously appeared on Episodes #108 and #110.Towards the end of episode #110 Martin commented that he thought the immigration consultant profession shouldn't exist. Steven said that this was a huge topic and probably deserved its own episode. In this episode Martin explains why he believes that Canada should abolish the immigration consultant profession. Steven and Deanna disagree. Numerous arguments and counter arguments are discussed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Erin Brandt is a co-founder of PortaLaw, a Vancouver law firm which specializes in employment law. Audience submitted questions that we discuss include: Is it illegal for employers to not provide reference letters necessary for immigration purposes or to charge their employees for them?Is it illegal for employers with foreign worker employees to not apply for LMIAs to try to extend their employees' employment? Can employers distinguish between Canadian citizens, permanent residents and foreign workers when hiring? Can an employer not hire a foreign national or asylum claimant if they are likely to be deported? Is it ok for an employer to ask if someone is an asylum claimant? If an employer learns that an employee is without status - and the employee lied to them - can they legitimately refuse to pay the employee out for work completed during this time? If in order to meet prevailing wage an employer increases the wages of all of their LMIA-based TFWs, is it discrimination to not also incre

This episode answers a listener topic request about an increase in IRCC refusals of provincial nominees. As well, Steven offers his unimpressed thoughts on Marc Miller's recent statement in response to complaints about huge decreases in provincial nominee quotas that “Provinces and Territories that are willing to work in a responsible manner with Canada, including playing a role in taking on asylum seekers, will have an opportunity to regain coveted Provincial Nominee spots.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On January 21, 2025, IRCC restricted the availability of open spousal work permits to principal applicants working in certain "skilled" professions. Family open work permits are now limited to spouses of foreign workers who are employed in TEER 0 or 1 occupations, or select TEER 2 or 3 occupations in sectors with labour shortages or linked to government priorities such as natural and applied sciences, construction, health care, natural resources, education, sports and military sectors. The move more than reversed a December 2, 2022, announcement that IRCC would be allowing most spouses of workers in Canada to obtain open work permits because, according to the government, it would "improve the emotional well-being, physical health and financial stability of workers by keeping families together" and that the "worker will better integrate into their overall work environment and community." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christopher Worswick is a Professor of Economics at Carleton University. We discuss the economics of Canada's plan to reduce its population, and specifically that 1,000,000 - 2,000,000 foreign students and workers will leave Canada from 2025-2027. Topics include impacts on GDP per capita, unemployment, housing and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lisa Brunner is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Centre for Migration Studies.We discuss the current situation international students are facing, the gaslighting over whether they were told that being a student would likely lead them to permanent residency, how post-graduate work permit holders in British Columbia are taking leaves of absence to study French, international students claiming asylum, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, Steve and Deanna discuss the effect of cross-border travel on the validity of a visitor record. The question is: do they become invalidated by travel outside Canada? The topic was raised by Tamara Mosher Kuczer in episode 140, in which she reported an uptick in visitor record extension refusals due to prior invalidation of the original visitor record. After that episode several listeners asked us to expand on the topic.The scenario, and what is occuring, is this. A family enters Canada, with the parents receiving three-year work permits and the children granted three-year visitor records.After one year, the family travels abroad for a month. Upon their return, the Canada Border Services Agency stamps the children's passports but does not issue new visitor records or indicate an extended stay.Before the parents' work permits and the children's visitor records expire, the family applies to extend their status.IRCC approves the parents' work permit extensions but informs the family that the chil

Tamara Mosher Kuczer is the Founder & Principal Lawyer of Lighthouse Immigration Law Professional Corporation. She can be found on Twitter @ttrrmk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Deanna and Steve discuss some practice tips and resolutions for 2025, including going back to a world of online applications with the end of flagpoling, focusing on practice areas that one likes, using artifical intelligence, client interactions and getting out of one's shell and embracing the broader community. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ryan Rosenberg is a Partner at Larlee Rosenberg, and the creator of the website Trumpugees. We discuss options and factors to consider for Americans wanting to move to Canada. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shezan Muhammedi is an Acting Assistant Director at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and an Adjunct Research Professor at the University of Carleton. He is the author of Gifts from Amin - Ugandan Asian Refugees in Canada. In 1972, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin ordered the expulsion of nearly 80,000 Asians, predominantly of Indian descent, giving them just 90 days to leave the country. Many of these individuals, whose families had lived in Uganda for generations, were stripped of their assets and forced to flee. Canada, under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, was one of the countries that responded by welcoming approximately 7,000 Ugandan Asians. Meera Thakrar is a Partner at Larlee Rosenberg, Barristers & Solicitors. Her father was one of the Asian Ugandans expelled by Idi Amin.Shezan is continuing to collect the oral histories of Ugandan Asian expellees as part of a study. If you would like to share your story with him please contact ShezanMuhammedi@cunet.carleton.ca  Hosted on Acast. See

Richard Mosley is a retired judge from the Federal Court of Canada, with a background and specialization there in national security cases.We discuss the path to becoming a judge specializing in national security, the unique physical environment of working on such cases, and the security provisions within Canadian immigration law. Other topics include delays in processing, abuse of authority, CSIS, mandamus applications, the art of decision writing, and the importance of diversity on the bench.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode originally aired on December 13, 2016. We are reposting it as it provides an overview of the history of Canadian national security law, and next week we will be airing an episode with a recently retired judge who was designated to handle national security matters. This episode contains an overview of the history of national security law in Canada, starting with the MacDonald Commission and the October Crisis of 1970, the formation of the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service, the Air India bombing, the Arar Inquiry, 9/11, and Bill C-51.We also discuss the roles of CSIS, the Communication Security Establishment, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Canada Border Services Agency, in administering Canadian national security legislation.Finally, Professor Roach provides an in depth analysis of several controversial elements of the previous Conservative Government of Canada's Bill C-51, and the current Liberal Government of Canada's response under Prime Minister Trudeau.Kent Roach is a Prof

Deanna and Steven discuss the most baffling rules and programs in Canada's immigration system. We also answer multiple requests to comment on the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association recent statement that immigration consultants should be restricted to working for lawyers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A discussion of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration's study titled Report 21 - Conditions for Growth: Reconsidering Closed Work Permits in the Temporary Foreign Workers Program. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andrew Mattu is the Principal Lawyer at Godwit Law Office, an immigration law firm, in Brampton ON.Ajaypal Singh Ahluwalia is an Associate at Godwit Law Office.We discuss restoration of status and Temporary Resident Permits (TRPs). Topics include how people fall out of status, eligibility for restoration of status, restoring to post-graduate work permits, removal during the restoration period, restoration of status and permanent resident applications, TRPs, when to recommend a TRP vs. leaving the country, processing delays and the 2025-2027 immigration levels plan.We then shift gears and discuss the experience of recent immigrants, including Ajaypal, in finding employment in Canada, and whether Canada is meeting the expectations of recent arrivals.Cases discussed are: *Udobong v. Canada (MCI), 2018 FC 234 (CanLII)-and -* Toure v. Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness), 2014 FC 1086 (CanLII) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.