Between 1977 and 2010 only 63 people had their citizenship revoked.  In July, 2011, Jason Kenney, then the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (“Minister Kenney“), announced that as many as 1,800  Canadians could be stripped of their citizenship because they obtained their citizenship fraudulently. The 1,800 individuals were identified following a three-year investigation by the RCMP, other police forces and Citizenship and Immigration Canada. On September 9, 2012, Minister Kenney announced that the number of people who would likely have their citizenship revoked had risen to 3,1 ..read more

The history of caregiver programming in Canada, aimed at providing pathways to permanent residency for caregivers, dates back decades, with key developments occurring after the introduction of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). There have been four main caregiver pathways since the 1950s: Live-in Caregiver Program (1992 to 2014): This program was established to bring qualified temporary workers to Canada to provide in-home care for children, the elderly, or the disabled. It allowed caregivers to apply for permanent residency after accumulating sufficient work experience in Cana ..read more

Regulation 65 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, SOR/2002-227, provides that: 65 A foreign national is a permit holder and a member of the permit holder class if (a) they have been issued a temporary resident permit under subsection 24(1) of the Act; (b) they have continuously resided in Canada as a permit holder for a period of (i) at least three years, if they (A) are inadmissible on health grounds under subsection 38(1) of the Act, (B) are inadmissible under paragraph 42(1)(a) of the Act on grounds of an accompanying family member who is inadmissible under subsectio ..read more

In Canadian litigation, an order for “costs” compels one party to pay a portion of the other party’s legal fees.  The main purpose of costs is to dissuade frivolous lawsuits. In the immigration context, the Federal Court Rules provide the authority of a court to order one party to pay another party’s legal fees.  Section 22 of the Federal Courts Immigration and Refugee Protection Rules, , however, limits when they can be awarded.  It states that: No costs shall be awarded to or payable by any party in respect of an application for leave, an application for judicial review or an ..read more

Michael Greene, K.C. is an immigration lawyer in Calgary. He served as the National Chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s Citizenship & Immigration Section in 2000-2001. He is representing Jaskirat Singh Sidhu in his immigration and deportation matters. We discuss the Federal Court decision in Sidhu v. Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness), 2023 FC 1681.   https://open.acast.com/networks/659f1a800d2a2c0016051d93/shows/659f464c3f69070017409684/episodes/659f46527d81c00017cf4ef7 ..read more

Section 16 of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act states: 16 (1) A person who makes an application must answer truthfully all questions put to them for the purpose of the examination and must produce a visa and all relevant evidence and documents that the officer reasonably requires. In other words, all applicants must provide truthful answers throughout the application process and produce all necessary documents and evidence as requested by the officer. Purpose of the Law The primary objective of s. 16(1) of the IRPA is to ensure the integrity and efficiency of the immigration pro ..read more

“When and why did Canada develop the legal powers to detain and deport immigrants?” This is the question asked by Simon Wallace, a PhD Student at Osgoode Hall Law School and refugee lawyer, in his paper published in Queen’s Law Journal titled “Police Authority is Necessary”: The Canadian Origins of the Legal Powers to Detain and Deport, 1893 – 1902. Mr. Wallace joins us today to discuss the origins of Canadian deportation law and its initial targeting of Romanian Jewish refugees ..read more

The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC“) webstates describes the C-26 work permit as follows: Professional and semi-professional coaches and athletes working for Canadian-based teams Full or part-time paid coaches and trainers, and professional or semi-professional athletes working for Canadian-based teams require work permits. Given the international mobility in this field, they may be eligible for exemption from an LMIA pursuant to paragraph R205(b), C20, if they can prove that reciprocity exists for the particular occupation in their home country. A full-time coach is a wor ..read more

The first question on the Application to Sponsor and Undertaking form asks: 1) If you are found ineligible to sponsor, indicate whether you want To withdraw your sponsorship. All processing fees less $75 will be repaid. OR To proceed with the application for permanent residence. In order to understand what this question is about, it is important to review the steps to bringing a family member to Canada. The first is to successfully apply to sponsor the family member.   This costs $75 in processing fees.  Reasons that a sponsorship application will be rejected include crimin ..read more

From the IRCC website. A work permit is a document that allows a foreign national to work legally in Canada. It has rules or ‘conditions’ that the worker must follow, and often contains other “additional information” and “remarks.” Conditions vs. Remarks The conditions of a work permit specifically tell a foreign national what they can and can’t do. For example, it might say that they can only work at one particular place and nowhere else. Sometimes, there are details on a work permit that are just ‘additional information’ or ‘remarks.’ These are not the same as conditions. They give more in ..read more