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Borderlines
#192 - Preventing Study Permit Refusals
Steven and Deanna break down the rapidly shifting landscape of Canadian study permits amid IRCC’s newly released 2026 international student caps. With approval rates falling sharply in 2024–2025 and IRCC committing to fixed national intake numbers, study permits are now effectively being graded on a curve, making strong applications more critical than ever.
We discuss the most common refusal grounds they see in practice, including:
▸ Weak or incoherent study plans
Why study plans are now a top refusal ground, what officers look for, how jurisprudence has evolved, and what applicants must show to demonstrate a logical academic and career trajectory—even for minors.
▸ Dual intent, PGWP confusion, and long-term plans
How to candidly discuss the possibility of a PGWP without triggering a refusal, and how applicants can articulate return-home benefits while acknowledging genuine motivations.
▸ Financial sufficiency and unexplained deposits
Why bank statements are scrutinized more heavily than ever, how to document source-of-funds properly, and why even technical checklist omissions can sink an otherwise strong application.
▸ Family ties and home-country incentives
How IRCC evaluates “significant family ties” in and outside Canada, and why applicants should proactively explain their home-country obligations to address concerns about leaving Canada at the end of their stay.
▸ Underdocumented travel history and other overlooked factors
Simple omissions that lead to refusals—such as failing to include exit/entry stamps, prior visas, or proof of assets.
Whether you are an international student, an immigration professional, or someone following Canadian immigration reform, this episode offers practical guidance on how to build a more compelling study permit application in a challenging and tightening system.
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#204 - Stop Bill C-12! With Sharry Aiken
41:17|This epsiode offers insight into Professor Aiken's ongoing efforts to raise concern with Bill C-12 (the Stronger Borders legislation currently before Senate) -- both with the Canadian government, and with the UN Human Rights Committee.#203 - New Express Entry Manager Category (2026): Who Actually Qualifies — and Who Doesn’t
07:08|This was originally intended to be a YouTube only episode but several podcast listeners asked that we add it to the audio-only feed as well. A break down the new Express Entry categories announced on February 18, 2026, with a particular focus on the senior managers with Canadian work experience category.Key topics include:Why this category generally does not help entrepreneurs or owner-operators.How IRCC assesses self-employment.What it really means to be a senior manager (NOC 00).Federal Court cases discussed on what constitutes "senior management" include Recursive Craft Inc. v. Canada (Employment and Social Development), 2022 FC 1206, and Merijohn v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2025 FC 1003.#201 - IRCC’s Security Screening Delays: Causes, Timelines, and Legal Impacts
15:41|As of November 2025, internal IRCC projections reveal a stark reality about Canada’s security screening system. Based on recent processing times by partner agencies and current inventory levels, permanent residence applications referred for comprehensive security screening are projected to take approximately 64.8 months to complete. For temporary residence applications, the projected timeline is 30.3 months.Lev Abramovich joins to break down what these projections actually mean and current issues with security screening.#202 - The Emergencies Act and the Freedom Convoy
45:29|Josh Dehaas, Interim Litigation Director at the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF), joins to walk through the Federal Court of Appeal’s Emergencies Act decision, often referred to as the “Freedom Convoy” case.Topics discussed include what actually happened in Ottawa in early 2022, why existing laws were already available to address blockades, what it practically meant when the Emergencies Act was invoked nationwide, protest bands, the freezing of bank accounts and why public support for extraordinary measures can be durable.Guest: Josh Dehaas, Interim Litigation Director, Canadian Constitution FoundationCCF podcast: Not Reserving JudgmentChapters / timestamps4:38 – Setting the stage: COVID restrictions, mandates, and public frustration11:45 – Border blockades22:50 – What invoking the Emergencies Act meant nationwide29:28 – Was there a coherent convoy “message”?31:24 – Did it accelerate the end of restrictions? (Ontario vs. federal)35:32 – What this says about Canada, public opinion, and civil liberties40:09 – What the Federal Court / FCA held (speech, search/seizure, emergency threshold)#200 - Building a Corporate Immigration Law Practice
57:12|Jonathan Leebosh is a recently retired partner and longtime leader of EY Law’s immigration practice in Vancouver.In this episode Jonathan reflects on a career that took him from refugee camps in Hong Kong with the UNHCR to building a corporate immigration practices inside a Big Four firm. Topics discussed include how EY Law scaled, serving multinational corporate clients, managing people, policy innovation, the growing role of national security in immigration decisions, processing delays, and advice for young lawyers and consultants hoping to move from individual files to corporate work.07:20 – Building EY Law’s corporate immigration practice16:30 – Managing people vs. practicing law24:00 – Policy innovation and lobbying41:30 – The state of Canadian immigration#199 - Is Canada’s Population Decline Good for the Economy?
53:40|Canada is deliberately slowing, and possibly reversing, its population growth. But what does that actually mean for the economy?We are joined by economist Mikuel Scutterat for a wide-ranging and candid conversation about Canada’s immigration reset, GDP per capita, shrinking rental markets, Express Entry category draws, francophone targets, regional programs, and the political risks of a rapidly changing system, winners and losers when immigration rises or falls, why focusing on “essential workers” may be bad long-term policy and social cohesion. 03:06 – Does population size actually matter for prosperity?10:45 – Falling rents and distributional effects15:01 – Human capital vs labour shortages20:39 – Are French targets distorting outcomes?Listener Questions32:55 – Economics of mass regularization39:02 – Regional immigration targets 43:39 – Country caps48:57 – Underemployment#198 - How Decisions Get Written, with Justice Peter Edelmann
01:08:12|In this audio-only reunion episode, former Borderlines Podcast host Peter Edelman joins to discuss life on the British Columbia Court of Appeal. Topics discussed include how decisions get made and written, the role of counsel in shaping outcomes, pressures facing Canada’s judicial review system, judicial collegiality and dissenting reasons, immigration backlogs, adversarial justice, and the emotional weight of judging. 2:16 – Learning curve: trial court vs appellate court 6:31 – Does good lawyering really matter in judicial review? 19:28 – Precision in judgments & unintended interpretations 23:40 – Dissents, concurrences & shaping the law 27:17 – Should judges clarify controversial rulings later? 33:06 – Rethinking adversarial justice 49:06 – Is it easier to judge or be judged? 55:07 – Does being a judge change personal decision-making?https://youtu.be/nJ8kM4zJLdU?si=5L4nmGJz5eaKbXAm#197 - New World Order
29:53|We discuss possible immigration implications of Mark Carney’s recent speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Topics discussed include trade agreements, mobility rights, national security screening, CUSMA, and the growing tension between rule-based systems and political reality.#196 - Canada’s Healthcare Crisis & Immigration, with Dr. Brian Day
52:13|Canada is increasingly turning to immigration to address a growing healthcare shortage, but is the system actually built to absorb more doctors? Steven Meurrens and Deanna Okun-Nachoff are joined by Dr. Brian Day (orthopedic surgeon and past president of the Canadian Medical Association) to unpack how policy decisions created today’s physician and nursing shortages, why hospitals ration care under fixed budgets, and what that means for internationally trained doctors trying to build careers in Canada.Topics discussed include the decline of family medicine, ER overcrowding, delayed diagnosis and higher long-term costs, Canadians seeking faster care abroad, credential recognition, new pathways for physicians, medical inadmissibility and more.Follow Dr. Brian Day on X/Twitter: @drbriandayTimestamps02:53 — 1990s cuts 10:29 — “Rationing” healthcare 22:21 — Canadians going abroad for treatment28:10 — Immigration meets healthcare