Borderlines

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.

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)

Douglas Cannon is a Partner at Elgin Cannon & Associates. A significant part of Doug's practice involves helping refugees and protected persons navigate and defend against "cessation" applications. Cessation applications can strip refugees of their refugee status, as well as Canadian permanent resident status, if it’s found that they no longer need protection, based on specific grounds, including: (1) Choosing to return and seek protection in their home country, (2) Regaining their original nationality voluntarily, (3) Gaining a new nationality that offers them protection, (4) Reestablishing themselves in the country they once fled, or (5) No longer facing the threats that led them to seek asylum in Canada in the first place.Our guest sheds light on these complex processes, breaking down the legal challenges and sharing insights on how individuals facing these risks can protect their status in Canada.For a more detailed perspective from Doug, we highly recommend his article in the Canadian Association for Refugee Lawyer (CARL) Review, Vol. 1, No. 1 (https://www.canlii.org/en/commentary/doc/2023CanLIIDocs405), starting at page 43. To read the legislative amendments referenced by Doug in this episode, see here: https://www.parl.ca/documentviewer/en/41-2/bill/C-60/first-reading. On the closing conversation about claiming CPD points, we are currently looking into the new LSBC requirements and will post on LinkedIn once we have a definitive answer.

A discussion of Canada's 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan and the 2024 Report to Parliament on Immigration, in which the Trudeau government cut planned permanent residence levels by 20%, imposed caps on the number of international students and workers that would be allowed into the country and declared that they expect 1,000,000+ people currently in Canada to leave in the next few years as a result of their changes.

Alice Craft is a Research Associate in the Immigration knowledge area at the Conference Board of Canada. She recently published a paper titled Small Business, Big Impact Immigrant Hiring and Integration in Five Canadian Cities.We discuss the key findings of that study -- namely, that:In fast-growing small and mid-sized Canadian cities, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in multiple sectors identified skill shortages as their most common employment challenge.SMEs are using practical and inclusive strategies to evaluate newcomers’ education and experience, but they rarely intentionally reach out to newcomers or work with immigrant‑serving agencies during recruitment and onboarding.SMEs prioritize English/French language skills, particularly spoken communication, when hiring immigrants. Language skills are particularly important in client-facing roles or those involving safety regulations.Negative experiences and limited understanding of immigration processes discourage SMEs from engaging with the immigration system.Affordable housing and access to public transit and child care compound labour market challenges for both job-seeking immigrants and SMEs looking to hire and retain talent.We also discuss her recommendations.

This episode orginally aired on October 28, 2016. A discussion of the role of immigration on the Vancouver housing market. Tom Davidoff is an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business. He is frequently cited in the Vancouver media as being an expert on Vancouver's housing market, and was part of a team of nine academics who created the B.C. Housing Affordability Fund proposal. He can be found on Twitter @TomDavidoff David Eby is the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Vancouver-Point Grey, and was previously the Executive Director of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association. He is a passionate advocate for making Vancouver a more affordable place to live. He can be found on Twitter @Dave_Eby The questions that we discussed in the podcast are: What has been going on in the Vancouver housing market? How fast have prices been rising? Is there evidence that foreign investment / foreign funds has been the cause of the increase in Vancouver housing prices? What data is there regarding the amount of foreign home ownership in Vancouver? What is the property transfer tax, and what are the new rules on how it applies to foreign buyers? Is there evidence that high housing prices impacts the rental market? Does it matter if the landlord is a Canadian or a foreigner? Why should high housing prices matter? Why should people think that they should be able to live in a market that they cannot afford? Should we move beyond the paradigm of valuing single detached homes? What role do international students play in the increase in housing prices?Does the fear of being accused of racism prevent government from addressing the issue of high prices? Is real estate such an integral part of the British Columbia economy such that high prices are now "too big to fail?" Should we move beyond the paradigm of valuing home ownership?

Jason Kenney was Canada's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration from 2008-2013. 1:30 – The story behind Jason Kenney showing up unannounced at a CBA Immigration Law conference.4:30 – The difficulties of being an immigration minister and Minister Kenney’s relationship with the bureaucracy and Deanna’s thoughts on Jason Kenney’s tenure.  9:30 – Marc Miller’s attempts to introduce a program to regularize the status of undocumented workers, and his public statements that he was overruled by Cabinet.  16:20 – Prime Minister Harper’s teenager looking for work and the overnight imposition of the 2014 moratorium on new LMIAs in the Food Service Sector. 23:00 – Record immigration levels, wage suppression, the collapse of the general consensus on immigration, and whether Canada’s record population growth was deliberately planned or unintended.  32:15 – The introduction of Ministerial Instructions. 37:30 – Diploma mills. 41:00 – What the scariest thing Jason Kenney did as Minister. 44:15 – Ending the ability of people to simultaneously claim asylum and submit an H&C application, and soaring asylum claim numbers.49:50 – Is there anything Minister Kenney wishes he had used the notwithstanding clause on and revisiting the 1951 Refugee Convention.57:15 – Advice to people who are disillusioned with politics.   

This episode originally aired on November 30, 2020. The Honourable Chris Alexander served as Canada's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada from July 2013 to November 2015. He represented the riding of Ajax—Pickering in the House of Commons of Canada from 2011 to 2015. Prior to that spent 18 years in the Canadian Foreign Service, serving as Canada's first resident Ambassador to Afghnistan from 2003 - 2005. Subsequent to being an Member of Parliament he ran for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada.As Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Mr. Alexander presided over the launch of Express Entry, the termination of the Immigrant Investor Program and the introduction of the Barbaric Cultural Practices Act, which prohibited forced and underaged marriages.#5:09 – If there was one misconception about Canadian immigration law that Minister Alexander would like to change what would it be? #15:00 – Bill C-24 and the revocation of citizenship for dual nationals convicted of high crimes. #16:00 – Whether there was a strong anti-fraud and anti-exploitation mandate during Minister Alexander’s time as Minister.#22:00 – Combatting forced marriages. #23:00 – Preventing foreign worker abuse by sanctioning the employers who abuse them. #26:00 – The Barbaric Cultural Practices Act36:45 – Ending the Immigrant Investor Program#41:45 – Entrepreneurial immigration and self-employed program. #49:00 – Points inflation in Express Entry and the increased demand for Canadian immigration. #52:30 – The launch of Express Entry55:30 – Moving towards online applications#57:15 – What it was like following Jason Kenney as immigration minister, and the challenges posed, if any, by Jason Kenney retaining the multiculturism portfolio, as well the immigration minister sharing immigration responsibilities with HRDC and the Minister of Public Safety. #1:02 – The role the Prime Minister’s Office played with immigration. #1:05 – Mr. Alexander’s immigration platform when he ran for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada in which he called for an increase in immigration, and whether he pushed this view when he was Minister. #1:10 – The importance of Canadian immigration and populism. #1:15 – Open work permits on demand for people from visa exempt countries. #1:18 – The need for immigration to adapt to changing circumstances and system racism.#1:22 – When Minister Alexander would intervene on specific files. #1:25 – If Minister Alexander were giving advice to a future Minister of Immigration what would the advice be?