Borderlines

Canada has announced major changes to Express Entry, introducing new Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points for Canadian work experience and job offers in designated high-wage occupations.In 2025, the federal government eliminated CRS points for qualifying job offers. Previously, these points generally required employers to demonstrate that they would pay the prevailing wage and that hiring a foreign worker would have a positive or neutral impact on the Canadian labour market. Now, IRCC is bringing back job offer points, but without requiring a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) or proof that the employer will pay the prevailing wage.The changes raise important questions about the government's immigration priorities, the potential for fraud and wage suppression, and whether aapplicants overseas could gain an advantage over temporary residents already working in Canada.In this episode of Borderlines, Steven Meurrens and Deanna Okun-Nachoff are joined by Kubeir Kamal to explain how the new points system works, who stands to benefit, and what the changes could mean for Canadian workers, international graduates, and prospective immigrants both inside and outside Canada.Timestamps01:07 – Minister Diab hints at increasing immigration levels06:20 – The new Express Entry Labour Market Integration points12:06 – Kubeir joins to clarify the new rules15:02 – Job offers without LMIAs: what will IRCC verify?17:00 – Does removing LMIA requirements increase fraud risks?18:26 – How to update Express Entry profiles using IRCC's LMIA instructions19:57 – Could the changes suppress Canadian wages?21:21 – Why applicants overseas could gain an advantage26:30 – Why choosing the correct NOC code matters more than ever29:11 – Predictions for Express Entry CRS cutoffs32:19 – Are Canadian workers and international graduates being disadvantaged?44:14 – Viewer questions: Will French-language bonus points disappear?45:40 – Will IRCC eliminate spousal CRS points?47:23 – Could Express Entry cutoffs reach 540, 560 or higher?48:46 – Why permanent residence may become easier than extending a work permit53:28 – Employer documentation and procedural fairness concerns1:02:59 – Who will be hurt most by the new CRS system?1:04:15 – Is learning French still the best strategy?1:05:34 – Predictions for Canada's next Immigration Levels Plan1:07:00 – Future Express Entry categories, including H-1B workers1:08:41 – Can IRCC handle verifying job offers without Service Canada?1:09:56 – Will these changes increase permanent residence processing times?

Canada designated Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization in 2024. But what happens to people who were forced to serve in the IRGC through mandatory military conscription, committed no crimes, and later immigrated to Canada?In this episode of Borderlines, immigration lawyers Steven Meurrens and Deanna Okun-Nachoff are joined by Conservative Member of Parliament Garnett Genuis to discuss the growing immigration crisis facing former IRGC conscripts and their families.In 2023, Genuis introduced Bill C-350, which proposed amending Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to distinguish between individuals who voluntarily joined terrorist organizations and those who were forcibly conscripted. The proposed amendment would protect individuals who completed only their mandatory service, did not remain voluntarily, and did not participate in terrorism, espionage, or subversion. Despite the subsequent designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization, this proposed legislative solution was never adopted.The discussion explores why the government has not acted, the consequences of Canada's current inadmissibility framework, the limitations of judicial review and humanitarian relief, and what affected individuals can do to advocate for legislative reform.Topics include:Why Canada designated the IRGC as a terrorist organizationWhat Bill C-350 proposed and why it never became law How IRPA section 34(1)(f) affects former conscriptsWhy mandatory military service can result in immigration inadmissibilityThe impact on spouses, families, and Iranian dissidentsWhether constitutional challenges or the Supreme Court's decision in Mason could change the lawThe role of Parliament, IRCC, and CBSAHow Canadians can advocate for a legislative solutionTimestamps00:00 – Introduction: MP Garnett Genuis and the IRGC conscription issue06:29 – Bill C-350: The proposed legislative solution for forced conscripts10:31 – Why hasn't the government adopted the proposed amendment?15:34 – The legal challenges and limitations of case-by-case discretion29:51 – Public advocacy and the prospects for legislative change38:43 – Humanitarian relief, judicial review, and litigation49:28 – What affected individuals can do to push for reform

Canadian immigration may be entering another period of major change. Kubeir Kamal joins Steven Meurrens and Deanna Okun-Nachoff to discuss what could be coming next for Express Entry, whether immigration levels may begin increasing again, the future of French-language draws, changes to provincial nominee programs, and why predicting Canadian immigration policy has become so difficult. We also discuss possible changes to the Express Entry points system, whether draws could be paused while a new system is implemented, where CRS scores may be headed, Ontario's revamped immigration program, whether Canada should bring back an investor immigration program, and whether closer integration with the European Union could create new immigration opportunities. Finally, we discuss increasingly unpredictable IRCC decisions, the role of automation and AI in immigration processing, and whether pressure to reduce immigration numbers may be affecting decision-making. TIMESTAMPS 03:28 – Will Canada start increasing immigration again? 06:05 – Can we trust Canada's immigration numbers? 10:10 – Major Express Entry changes are coming 15:45 – French-language points and PNP nominations 19:51 – Do the Conservatives or NDP have a coherent immigration plan? 23:25 – Doug Ford, skilled workers and Canada's immigration debate 25:53 – Will French-language draws continue in 2027? 31:10 – Will security screening delays finally improve? 34:22 – Where are CRS scores headed? 39:48 – Should Canada bring back an investor immigration program? 45:12 – Predictions for immigration changes before the end of 2026 48:11 – What's happening with increasingly strange IRCC refusals? 55:50 – What to expect from the final months of 2026

How should Canada respond to concerns about Chinese espionage and foreign interference without treating every connection to China as a national security threat? Joanna Chiu, journalist, author of China Unbound: A New World Disorder and founder of Nüora Global Advisors, joins the Borderlines Podcast to discuss how the Chinese Communist Party operates at home and abroad, and what that means for Canadian immigration law. We discuss the United Front Work Department, the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, Article 7 of China’s National Intelligence Law, foreign interference, overseas “police stations,” Chinese Communist Party membership, and the increasingly difficult security screening faced by Chinese visa and immigration applicants. Joanna also explains why understanding the Chinese-language sources, the structure of Chinese organizations and the realities of how Chinese laws operate in practice is essential when assessing allegations of espionage or foreign interference. We also discuss whether Canadian immigration authorities risk going too far when the possibility that someone could someday be compelled to cooperate with Chinese authorities becomes a basis for finding them inadmissible to Canada. Timestamps 06:02 – What is China’s United Front and what does it actually do? 19:40 – Article 7 of China’s National Intelligence Law: Does every Chinese citizen have to spy? 27:58 – Foreign interference, protests and the risks of profiling Chinese Canadians 32:54 – Is Canada going too far in immigration security screening? 43:10 – Elections, influence campaigns and China’s alleged overseas “police stations”

What happens when a foreign worker loses their authorization to work in Canada? Can an employer put them on unpaid leave? Lay them off? Terminate them? And what happens to severance when a worker’s immigration status makes it difficult, or impossible, to find another job?Employment lawyer Erin Brandt returns to Borderlines to discuss the increasingly important intersection between Canadian immigration and employment law.We discuss:• The difference between termination, temporary layoffs and unpaid leave• What employers should do when a work permit extension is refused• Employees vs. independent and dependent contractors• Employment Standards Act vs. common-law severance• Whether being on a closed work permit can increase severance• Fixed-term employment contracts and immigration-related job offers• Whether employers have to support work permit extensions• Employer questions about immigration processing and security screening• Rescinding job offers when a worker cannot obtain authorization to work in CanadaWe also discuss why immigration lawyers and employment lawyers increasingly need to understand each other’s areas of practice, and why losing immigration status does not necessarily mean that an employee loses their employment-law rights.Erin Brandt is an employment lawyer in British Columbia.Like and subscribe for more discussions about Canadian immigration law and policy

What has actually changed at the Canada–U.S. border under the second Trump administration, and what is just noise?U.S. immigration lawyer Andrew Hayes joins to discuss the state of U.S. immigration law and what it means for Canadians travelling, working and doing business in the United States.In brief, while Canadian tourism to the United States is down, an increased number of Canadian citizens and permanent residents are moving to America. Topics include whether Canadians should be worried about travelling to the United States, detention and expedited removal at the border, the impact of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, the future of CUSMA/USMCA and what its collapse could mean for TN status, E-1 and E-2 visas, U.S. green card quotas and the lengthy waits faced by Indian-born applicants, travel restrictions and the difficulties facing some Iranian-born Canadian citizens, IRGC service and U.S. inadmissibility, the constitutional battle over birthright citizenship and the growing opportunities for Canadian skilled tradespeople in the United States.We also discuss the broader tension at the heart of U.S. immigration policy: restricting immigration and strengthening enforcement while continuing to attract the workers, investors and entrepreneurs that the U.S. economy needs.Andrew Hayes is a U.S. immigration lawyer based in Vancouver whose practice focuses on cross-border immigration, trade and travel.

Canada wants more Francophone immigrants. But what happens when people who have already built their lives in Canada suddenly discover that learning French may be their best, or only, pathway to permanent residence?In this episode of Borderlines, we speak with Maclean’s editorand recent Canadian permanent resident Alyanna Chua about her experience learning French after changes to Canada’s immigration system put her future in the country in doubt.Alana came to Canada from the Philippines in 2019 to attend the University of Toronto, believing that studying and working in Canada would provide a relatively straightforward pathway to permanent residence. Years later, as immigration targets were reduced and Express Entry became increasingly competitive, she found herself facing an unexpected reality: if she wanted to stay in Canada, she needed to learn French.What followed was an intense year of studying—early mornings, evenings, weekends, tutors, language tests and significant financial and emotional stress. Alyanna describes putting much of her life on hold, failing one component of her first French test, and watching friends and other temporary residents confront the same dilemma.We discuss:• Why French has become so important in Express Entry• What it is like to learn a language when your immigration status depends on it• Why doctors, researchers and other highly skilled workers are being told to learn French to remain competitive for permanent residence• Whether language ability is becoming a proxy for persistence, privilege and access to time and money• The resentment and competition that immigration selection can create between newcomers• What people struggling to learn French should consider as their work permits approach expiry• Whether Canada’s Francophone immigration policy is accomplishing what it is supposed to accomplishWe also discuss live viewer comments and questions, including the experiences of people who have learned French specifically for immigration, the difficulty older applicants face under Express Entry, and whether Canada is losing people it otherwise says it wants to attract.Aylanna ultimately succeeded. She learned French, passed the required language test and became a Canadian permanent resident. But she describes the experience as “80% bitter and 20% sweet,” with lingering feelings of resentment, raising a larger question about what Canada’s rapidly changing immigration system is asking of the people who have already built their lives here.Borderlines is a podcast about Canadian immigration law, policy and politics

What actually counts as “work” under Canadian immigration law? The answer is much broader than simply receiving a paycheque.We discuss a recent Federal Court decision involving unauthorized work and the line between simply owning a Canadian business and actually working for it. We examine how unpaid activities, volunteering, helping a family business, self-employment and even a single instance of work can potentially lead to immigration consequences. We then turn to Canada's free trade agreements and an often-overlooked source of LMIA-exempt work permits. The discussion covers CUSMA, CETA, the CPTPP and Canada's other trade agreements, including the different options available to professionals, intra-company transferees, investors and business visitors. Finally, we look at Canada's expanding trade agenda, including negotiations with India and ASEAN and the Canada–Indonesia agreement, and discuss how new trade agreements could create significant new work-permit pathways. Topics include: unauthorized work; working without a work permit; owning vs. operating a Canadian business; unpaid and volunteer work; enforcement and removal orders; CUSMA/NAFTA; CETA; CPTPP; LMIA-exempt work permits; and Canada's emerging free trade agreements.

Canada’s Express Entry system was designed to rank skilled immigrants predictably and select those most likely to succeed economically. Has it instead become an unpredictable collection of category-based draws, shifting priorities and short-term policy fixes?Steven Paolasini joins us to discuss his recent Macdonald-Laurier Institute paper, co-authored with Nino Melikidze, on how Canada’s skilled immigration system went off the rails—and how it could be rebuilt.We discuss the transformation of Express Entry after the pandemic, historically high CRS cutoffs, the growing emphasis on French-language selection, and why highly educated and well-paid workers already established in Canada are increasingly unable to qualify. We also debate whether immigration selection should prioritize Canadian experience, earnings, education, language ability, occupational demand or broader social objectives.In the live listener questions, we address whether criticism of French-language draws unfairly characterizes Francophone immigrants, whether applicants already working and building lives in Canada should receive priority over candidates abroad, and what should happen to cooks, fast-food workers, construction labourers and other lower-wage workers who do not fit a narrowly defined high-skills model.Read Steven Paolasini and Nino Melikidze’s paper, “How Canada’s skilled immigration system went off the rails—and how to fix it”:https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/how-canadas-skilled-immigration-system-went-off-the-rails-and-how-to-fix-it-nino-melikidze-and-steven-paolasini/01:15 – How Canada’s skilled immigration system went off the rails04:00 – What Express Entry was originally designed to do08:08 – CRS scores before and after the pandemic10:06 – The extraordinary 2021 CEC draw12:32 – The rise of category-based selection13:06 – French-language draws and lower cutoffs17:25 – The skilled workers whom the system leaves behind20:04 – Scientists and graduates struggling to qualify27:03 – How Steven would redesign Express Entry27:28 – Longer-lasting profiles and refundable deposits29:22 – Why Canadian earnings should receive more weight30:30 – Should all educational credentials be treated equally?32:21 – Why predictability mattersLIVE LISTENER QUESTIONS39:37 – Is criticism of French-language draws anti-Francophone?42:42 – Should workers already in Canada receive priority?44:36 – Should cooks and lower-wage workers qualify through Express Entry?48:43 – Who should design pathways for essential workers?