Borderlines

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 topi...

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 employee...

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 asylu...

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 ap...

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 st...

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 li...

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...

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...

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 Commissio...

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.

On this episode, Steven and deanna discuss the recommendations section of the recent report from the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration regarding "closed work permits and temporary foreign workers" (full report here ). Our discussion also touches on the recently announced "Gender-based violence guiding principles and commitments" released by the Canada Border Services Agency. The co...

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,...

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, includ...

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 resu...

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)...

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 Affor...

Mike Moffatt is the Senior Director of Policy and Innovation at the Smart Prosperity Institute and an Assistant Professor in the Business, Economics and Public Policy group at Ivey Business School, Western University. He is the host of the Missing Middle podcast. 1:20       Mike's speech to the Liberal Cabinet in August 2024 re. the impact of the Temporary Foreig...

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...

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...

Amandeep Hayer and Lisa Middlemiss join to discuss maintaining permanent resident status and upcoming changes to citizenship by descent law, both of which were topics in their recently published book Maintaining Permanent Residence Status and Acquiring Citizenship . Amandeep's article in the Toronto Star about Bill C-71 can be found here . Bill C-71 can be found here . Cases discussed include Bi v...

Christopher Anders is a shareholder of Parker, Butte & Lane in Oregon. He focuses his practice on representing asylum seekers before the Asylum Offices of USCIS and in removal proceedings before the Immigration Courts of EOIR. We discuss how record refugee flows are impacting politics in both Canada and the United States. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.