What this episode is about?

We all know that love knows no boundaries. However, in reality there are a lot of obstacles international couples may need to go around if they want to stay together and not being separated by the border.

In this episode I invite Alicia Backman-Beharry, an amazing Canadian Immigration Lawyer who joined Holthe Immigration Law in August of 2020, to discuss spousal sponsorship applications. We talk about the differences between Inside and Outside Canada Sponsorships, benefits and drawbacks of each type of the application, as well as reasons why your Spouse or Common-Law Partner Class or Family Class application can be refused.

COVID-19 and the travel restriction also had a significant impact on the processing of the Spousal Sponsorship applications. Alicia and I discussed how this global pandemic impacted applicants and how IRCC takes a ruthless approach of refusing applications for frivolous mistakes, in attempt to keep the processing time down.

I definitely recommend that you listen to this episode carefully, because even slightest mistake can crush your plans of sponsoring your loved ones. Also, take a note of tips we provide that can help you make sure your application is not refused:

1. Examine and follow your Documents Checklist with forensic level of details

2. Provide sufficient proof of genuineness of your relationships

3. Provide an explanation along with your application if any of the documents or questions do not apply to your situation.

4. Make sure you have added your signatures and validated your forms

5. Ensure your photos meet the requirements.

If you want to learn more about the difference between Spouse or Common-Law Partner Class and Family Class applications Alicia Backman-Beharry prepared a wonderful blogpost that covers everything you need to know about these two applications. Check the blog post here: https://www.holthelaw.com/spousal-sponsorship-canada/

About today’s guest of the Canadian Immigration Podcast

Alicia Backman-Beharry has practiced as an immigration lawyer for 17 years. She was called to the Alberta bar in 2003 and was an associate with a medium sized firm and a boutique immigration law firm. Alicia went out on her own as a sole practitioner 8 years ago. She works with corporations, individuals and other lawyers to solve difficult immigration legal issues. Prior to joining the Holthe Immigration Law team, she also contributed as a part-time program lawyer at a non-profit poverty law clinic.

She finds it rewarding to help individuals and companies through the complex world of Canadian Immigration law. Having taught courses on temporary and permanent residence, Alicia is able to see how various pieces of the immigration puzzle fit together, and can provide advice so that people understand which application to pursue and why.

During her career as Immigration Lawyer Alicia Backman-Beharry has assisted with a wide range of business immigration matters, including applications for Labour Market Impact Assessments, work permits, Intra-company transfers, and Employer Compliance Reviews. She also has extensive experience with Permanent Residence applications including Express Entry, Provincial Nominee Program, Humanitarian and Compassionate, and family class sponsorships. While working with the poverty law clinic, she routinely helped people with inadmissibility issues, refugee matters, restoration applications, and temporary residence permits. She has appeared before various Courts and Tribunals, including Federal Court, Provincial Court, the Court of Queen’s Bench, the Immigration and Refugee Board, the Immigration Division, and the Immigration Appeal Division.

Volunteering has always been a big part of how Alicia spends her time. She enjoyed 9 years on the Board of a large immigrant serving settlement organization, including serving as Secretary, Vice-Chair, Chair and Past-Chair of the Board and is a past Chair of the Immigration and Citizenship Law Alberta South Section of the Canadian Bar Association.

You can book a consultation with Alicia Backman-Beharry on our Holthe Immigration Law website: www.holthelaw.com/consultation

About the host of the Canadian Immigration Podcast

Mark Holthe is a Canadian Immigration Lawyer based in Lethbridge, Alberta. He has started his legal career with a large national law firm in Calgary where he initiated the business immigration practice at the firm. Since those early days, he has had the opportunity to work in a wide variety of law firm configurations before finally realizing that the best place for him was within the confines of an immigration boutique firm of his own making.

As a Canadian immigration lawyer, Mark has particular experience in assisting clients with all aspects of Canadian immigration law. He assists large national and multinational companies in navigating the complex world of Canadian immigration and provides strategic immigration advice to international and domestic companies seeking to recruit and retain foreign skilled and semi-skilled personnel.

Mark also assists temporary foreign workers with their transition to permanent resident status in Canada and over the past few years, he has taken great satisfaction in helping individuals and families with their various immigration related needs. Mark finds no greater satisfaction than helping to facilitate the reunification of families.

While attending law school, Mark worked as an Immigration officer for Citizenship and Immigration Canada on the Alberta/Montana border. While completing his final year of law school, he worked as a pro bono student to the Canada Border Services Agency Hearings Officers representing the minister before the Immigration Appeal Division in Calgary, Alberta. As a result of his prior experience as an immigration officer, Mark has been able to enhance the services he offers to his cross-border and overseas clients. Since that time, he has continued to work hard fostering positive relationships with the various immigration related government departments and has focused a significant portion of his practice on cross-border matters.

About the Sponsor of the Canadian Immigration Podcast

This episode sponsored by Canadian Immigration Institute, a platform designed to help people navigate Canadian immigration on their own. On this platform, I offer Do-It-Yourself (DIY) video courses guiding you through the process of submitting your immigration application without a need to hire a lawyer. These video courses not only allow people to better understand Canadian immigration but also earn me sufficient revenue to continue pushing out great free content on Canadian immigration.

Visit Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com

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If you want to connect with me or retain Holthe Immigration Law to assist you with immigration to Canada feel free to book a consultation on our official website: www.holthelaw.com

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Holthe Immigration Law Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/holthe.immigration.law/

Holthe Immigration Law Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/HoltheLaw

For US companies relying upon foreign workers, Monday, June 23, 2020, was a day of significant disappointment. President Trump announced that many categories of foreign workers would no longer be granted entry to the US until the end of 2020. Fortunately, Canada’s immigration policy is far more welcoming. If you are a US company that is going to be hurt by these latest rounds of restrictions, Canada may just be the answer. Tune in to this episode where US Immigration Attorney, Nicole Ezer, explains what these restrictions mean for your company and Canadian Immigration Lawyer, Mark Holthe, shares some great “made-in-Canada” solutions to turn your disappointment into relief.

Many US companies were left reeling on Monday, June 23rd when President Trump announced that H-1B, L, J and H-2B visas would be blocked until the end of 2020. These four non-immigrant visa categories are relied upon heavily by US companies seeking to fill critical skill shortages in the US.

Now what is a US company going to do?

They were already hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, but this most recent announcement feels like insult to injury.

In this episode US immigration attorney, Nicole Ezer shares some great insight into what these restrictions really mean for US companies and why things may not be as bad as they seem.  I then take some time to pull the curtain back on some very practical solutions that Canada’s facilitative immigration policy offer to struggling US companies and their foreign workers.

Nicole Ezer is the founder of Ezer Law Group, a business immigration boutique law firm based in Houston, Texas. She is my go-to attorney for any US bound business immigration need. We have collaborated for years on mutual cross-border clients and I have fortunate to call her my friend.

Nicole has practiced in the areas of family-based immigration, naturalization and asylum and participated in activities that provide education to industries and communities regarding immigration issues.

She is a frequent speaker before industry, HR groups and for attorney CLE activities, and is a 2002 Graduate of the Center for Houston’s Future Leadership Forum. Nicole has also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center, teaching “Business Immigration Basics”.

Nicole has focused her practice on immigration policies and planning and consulting for companies of all sizes. She is Board Certified in Immigration and Nationality Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Nicole develops, implements and updates immigration policies for multinational corporations.

Sponsor:

None of this would be possible if it were not for my Canadian Immigration Institute. My DIY courses earn me sufficient revenue to continue pushing out great free content on Canadian Immigration.

• Canadian Immigration Institute – Founded by Immigration Lawyer Mark Holthe 

Affiliate Program:

• Click on this link to become an affiliate of the Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com/become-an-affiliate
  • OR,  go to the Canadian Immigration Institute main page and scroll down to the very bottom and click on “Affiliate”.
  • Earn 30% when someone purchases via your affiliate link

[Tweet “Canada is a great option for suffering US companies?”]

• Additional Resources:

  • Nicole Ezer’s law firm: https://ezerlawgroup.com/
  • The best way to reach Nicole:
    • Phone: (281) 404-7781
    • Website: https://ezerlawgroup.com/contacts/

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We also encourage you to subscribe to our Canadian Immigration Podcast on Spotify.

Have you ever wondered why the Canadian Immigration process can be so darn hard and unforgiving? In this episode I share a few of my own thoughts on Canadian Immigration from the many years I have spent working in the trenches.

This episode came about quite spontaneously. As I was walking through the Cottonwood trees in our community wilderness park along the banks of the Old Man River near Lethbridge, I started think about my immigration practice and how much it had changed since I first decided to focus exclusively on immigration law back in 2003.

To say that things have changed is an understatement. When I started practicing, I had just finished working on the border as an officer and completed a year of pro bono work with the hearings officers in Calgary, Alberta. I had tons of great relationships established within the various immigration departments and was well positioned to start my practice as an immigration lawyer.

However, over time the landscape shifted and with that so too went officer discretion. In this Episode, I shared some insight on why these changes have occurred and the impact it has had on my practice and how I serve my clients.

I also shared a little bit about my new law firm Holthe Immigration Law, why I created it and how it is the perfect solution for how I want to practice for the rest of my career. I’ve got big plans for my little law firm. If you or someone you know is looking for an opportunity to work with a great group of lawyers looking to change the world please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Sponsor:

None of this would be possible if it were not for my Canadian Immigration Institute. My DIY courses earn me sufficient revenue to continue pushing out great free content on Canadian Immigration.

• Canadian Immigration Institute – Founded by Immigration Lawyer Mark Holthe 

Affiliate Program:

• Click on this link to become an affiliate of the Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com/become-an-affiliate
  • OR,  go to the Canadian Immigration Institute main page and scroll down to the very bottom and click on “Affiliate”.
  • Earn 30% when someone purchases via your affiliate link

[Tweet “Windmill Microlending…an amazing company.”]

• Additional Resources:

  • Mark’s new firm: https://www.holthelaw.com
  • Click here to book a consult: https://www.holthelaw.com/consultation/
  • Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com/

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

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Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Another federal election has come and gone and after the dust has settled, Canada will have a minority Liberal government. The question is…..how will this impact Canadian immigration law, policy and practice?

In this episode I invited my good friend and fellow immigration lawyer, Ravi Jain to join me to weigh in on where we think immigration policy is headed following this fall Federal election. Now that we now we will have a minority Liberal government for the next 4 years (or less), what impact will this really have on the future of Canadian immigration for us immigration lawyers, consultants and our clients?

Although Ravi and I are both serving as table officers with the National Immigration Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association, all of the view expressed in this episode are ours alone and do not reflect those of the Canadian Bar Association and the National Immigration law section. This episode is just two friends sharing our thoughts on what we feel may be in store for Canadian immigration in the coming years.

Here is what we covered:

1. Parents and Grandparents
2. Refugees
3. MPs in and out
4. Economic Immigration Programs
5. Temporary Foreign Worker Program
6. Immigration Consultants

Sponsor:

• Canadian Immigration Institute – Founded by Immigration Lawyer Mark Holthe 

Affiliate Program:

• Click on this link to become an affiliate of the Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com/become-an-affiliate
  • OR,  go to the Canadian Immigration Institute main page and scroll down to the very bottom and click on “Affiliate”.
  • Earn 30% when someone purchases your affiliate link

[Tweet “Canadian Immigration – Post Election 2019“]

Additional Resources:

• Ravi Jain Bio: https://www.gands.com/team/bio/ravi-jain
• Ravi’s Firm Website: https://www.gands.com/home
• Canadian Immigration Institute: https://canadianimmigrationinstitute.com/

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Topics for our Next Podcast

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

After viewing the shocking photos of the little Syrian boy washed up on a Turkish beach in the fall of 2015, the global plight of refugees was brought to the forefront of public consciousness.  Since that time, many people have expressed a sincere interest in knowing exactly how to Privately Sponsor a Refugee to come to Canada. In this episode, I had the opportunity to catch up with Ronalee Carey, an Immigration Lawyer practicing in Ottawa, who was able to share some unique insight into this process. She definitely inspired me to become more involved.

Ronalee’s practice focuses on finding immigration solutions for individuals and families through family sponsorships,  the Express Entry program and provincial nomination programs.  She assists with visa applications to visit, study or work in Canada, and helps those with criminal inadmissibility issues.

In addition to her private practice, Ronalee is also a Refugee lawyer. She is part of a group in Ottawa that provides pro bono services regarding the Private Sponsorship  of Refugees. When I learned of her involvement with Refugee work, I thought it would be a great topic for our Canadian Immigration Podcast.

If you are someone who is interested in knowing how the process works, this episode will point you in the right direction.

After listening to Ronalee explain the refugee sponsorship process in great detail, I came to the realization that this is something that any of us could consider doing in our own communities. Her passion for this area and sincere desire to help those less fortunate than us in Canada, really struck a cord with me. It was an absolute pleasure having her on the Podcast.

During my interview with Ronalee, we discussed the following areas:

• How Ronalee got into the immigration field.
• Her involvement in Private Refugee Sponsorship Work.
• What is the University of Ottawa’s Refugee Sponsorship Support Program?
• How did she get matched to the G30+ Ottawa constituent group?
• How does the group go about finding refugees to sponsor and their experiences in settling the refugees who have arrived in Canada.
• Discussion on the Government of Canada partnering with Canadians to jointly assist refugees through the Blended Visa-Office Referred (BVOR) program.
• How has the government has handled the sponsorship of refugees so far and what the future holds for the private sponsorship of refugees in Canada.
• How to go about sponsoring a refugee from Syria or elsewhere.

[Tweet “Private Sponsorship of Refugees – How the process works“]

Time Stamped Quick Reference Guide

In order to help you jump to the areas of most interest to you, I have included below some time stamps for some of the significant topics covered in this episode.

02:15 – Who is Ronalee Carey?

04:00 – How she got into the immigration field?

06:55 – How did she get involved in private refugee sponsorship work?

07:34 – How the process works when Privately Sponsoring Refugees to Canada.

08:03 – Who screens the Refugee before they come to Canada?

09:25 – What is the uOttawa Refugee Sponsorship Support Program (RSSP)?

18:29 – How did Ronalee get matched to the G30+ Ottawa constituent group?

18:59 – How did the group link up with the Anglican Diocese?

21:45 – How did the group go about finding refugees to sponsor?

23:40 – Who has the group sponsored so far?

28:45 – What are the qualifications to become a Sponsor and the obligations towards the Blended Visa-Office Referred (BVOR) candidates that are selected?

32:00 – How has the private sponsorship process worked out for her group?

34:00 – How is the government handling the sponsorship of refugees, now that the initial election promise to bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees has been fulfilled?

35:48 – Is there still a strong interest from the Canadian public to sponsor refugees? How has the government responded to the significant interest generated in the private refugee sponsorship programs?

41:07 – If someone was interested in sponsoring a refugee, from Syria or elsewhere, how would they go about it?

45:38 – How to contact Ronalee Carey.

Additional Resources:

• Ronalee Carey Law: http://www.ronaleecareylaw.ca/
• Ronalee’s e-mail: rcarey@ronaleecareylaw.ca
• Ronalee’s Linkedin page: https://ph.linkedin.com/in/ronalee-carey-0119593a
• uOttawa Refugee Sponsorship Support Program (RSSP): http://refugeessp.ca/home/
• Ottawa 613: http://www.refugee613.ca/
• Government of Canada website – how to sponsor a refugee: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/refugees/sponsor/index.asp

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

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Read the Transcript

You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

S1 E29 – Ronalee Carey – Private Sponsorship of Refugees | Show Notes

Bio – Ronalee Carey is an immigration and refugee lawyer who practices in the beautiful capital of Canada – Ottawa, Ontario. Her practice focuses on finding immigration solutions for individuals and families through family sponsorships, the Express Entry program and provincial nomination programs. She assists with visa applications to visit, study or work in Canada, and helps those with criminal inadmissibility issues.

Part of Ronalee’s practice includes refugee work. She assists individuals who have arrived in Canada who wish to claim refugee status. She also provides pro bono assistance to a group in Ottawa who are privately sponsoring refugees from abroad.

Question: How did you find yourself in the immigration field? Since I was a young child, I knew I wanted to be a lawyer, but immigration law was never something I’d thought about. I grew up in a small town in northern Ontario were we had a total of 7 racialized individuals in the entire town, one of whom was my fifth grade teacher. When I went to law school, I focused on criminal and family law. I articled at a general practice firm, and after my call to the bar, practiced mostly family law.

My life then took a huge turn. My husband and I had been foster parents for the Ottawa Children’s Aid Society for several years, and we had the opportunity to adopt a beautiful baby girl through the society. She was mixed race, with an East Indian birth mother and a birth father of African descent. We later adopted two additional children, both of Haitian descent. I took an extended leave from my career during this time.

When I was ready to return to the practice of law, I wanted to start back part-time. I ran into a former classmate at a Law Society event, who had an opening for a legal researcher/law clerk with part-time hours. Her field happened to be immigration law. When I started working in immigration law, I was immediately hooked. I was able to meet people from all over the world, and every matter provided a new and interesting challenge to solve. I loved how political immigration law was; I could read an article in my morning newspaper that would affect how I would handle a client file that day.

In 2012 the lawyer I had been working for moved from Ottawa in order to be closer to her aging parents. She left me a few files, and I ‘hung up a shingle’. Recently, I had to hire a junior lawyer to assist me with files.

Question: How did you get involved in private refugee sponsorship work? Like many people in Canada, I was devastated at seeing the photo of Alan Kurdi’s body washed up on the shores of a beach in Turkey. In September, 2015, I received an email from the University of Ottawa’s Refugee Hub, which called for lawyers willing to volunteer with a new initiative designed to assist individuals and groups who wanted to sponsor Syrian refugees to come to Canada. I immediately signed on.

Question: What is the uOttawa Refugee Sponsorship Support Program (RSSP)? http://refugeessp.ca/home/

From that initial email, grass roots organization continued, and volunteers in Ottawa put together the Refugee Sponsorship Support Program. The goal was to match volunteer lawyers with groups and individuals who wanted to sponsor Syrian refugees. Not all the lawyers were immigration and refugee lawyers – in fact the majority were not. As such, training had to be provided. Even for me, the procedures were new – though I’d assisted with inland claims for refugee protection, the overseas process was new to me as it was to many private immigration lawyers.

We met in a room at City Hall for the training. A generous lawyer from our local bar bought pizza for the hundred or so attendees.

Our next step was to reach out to the community, to let them know our services were available. The City of Ottawa was planning a community information night, to let interested sponsors know about the process and to allow local immigrant service agencies provide information on their services. Another grassroots organization called Refugee 613 had emerged, to connect people in Ottawa who wanted to donate money, volunteer or sponsors refugees with others. Refugee 613 was a big presence at the event.

The event was overwhelmingly successful. Hundreds and hundreds of people from Ottawa showed up to the event. The information session itself was supposed to be held in the municipal council chambers, but it filled to overcapacity and the speakers had to be broadcast into the atrium for those who couldn’t get into the room. Even the atrium was overflowing.

The uOttawa RRSP had set up a free legal clinic, so that potential sponsors who speak to a lawyer at the event about the procedures for sponsoring. We gave legal advice to over 400 people that night.

Question: How did you get matched to the G30+ Ottawa constituent group?

The goal of that first evening, at Ottawa City Hall, was to provide initial legal advice to as many people as possible who wanted to sponsor Syrian refugees. Later, the goal was to match those individuals or groups who wanted to proceed with a lawyer willing to help them through the process.

At the legal clinic, the first group of people I gave advice to was another lawyer who worked for the Federal government. She and two friends had both committed to finding 10 people each, all willing to donate $1,000. The money raised by these 30 people would allow them to sponsor a family from Syria.

I requested to be ‘matched’ to this group, so that I could be the pro bono lawyer for the group and help them with the sponsorship process. In addition, my husband and I requested to become members of the group of 30, and made a personal financial contribution. As such, I am not only the pro bono lawyer for the group, but also a group member.

Question: How did this group of 3 turn into the G30+ constituent group?

The three initial group members intended to do a Group of 5 (G5) sponsorship. This is a special program where 5 individuals agree to provide financial and settlement support to an individual or family. The plan was to find two other people who could join them in the Group of 5, as official sponsors, and the other individuals would provide a supporting role and assist in the financial aspect.

The core three members were overwhelmingly successful in their efforts to find others willing to join them in sponsoring a Syrian family. They quickly found more than 30 people willing to help, which is why the name had to become the G30+. Their fundraising efforts were also much more successful than they’d originally hoped for. Our initial meeting of the group saw funds pledged in excess of $70,000. This meant the group could sponsor more than one family.

Question: How did the group link up with the Anglican Diocese?

Because the group had become so large, and had raised so much money, a Group of 5 sponsorship wasn’t really appropriate anymore. We needed a larger focus. In Canada, the government has partnered with groups called Sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAH), who are pre-approved to sponsor refugees. Many of these SAHs are religious groups. In Ottawa, the Anglican Diocese has a great deal of experience with refugee sponsorships. They agreed to take on the G30+ Ottawa group as a constituent group under their organization. This meant that funds raised could be channelled through the Diocese’s charitable structure, which allowed members to receive tax receipts for their contributions. We also were able to tap into the Diocese’s wealth of experience in making applications to sponsor refugees.

Question: How did the group go about finding refugees to sponsor?

The group had a very unusual problem. We had lots of money, lots of volunteers including Arabic speakers, and no one to sponsor. No one from our group was Syrian, so there were no family members we could help. At the time, neither the Canadian government, Refugee 613, nor the uOttawa RSSP was able to match potential sponsors with either family members in Canada or directly with refugees overseas.

So, we had to look abroad ourselves. One of our group members had connections to a group of women who were Nobel laureates. This group directed her to a journalist working in a Syrian refugee camp in the Zaatari, Jordan. She further spoke to a translator she worked with, to ask him if he could identify anyone who the group could sponsor to come to Canada. The translators’ brother was interested. Prior to the war he’d studied business in university, and he was desperate to get to Canada. He would act as an ‘anchor relative’, to later assist his parents, and his siblings and their families to come to Canada. The translator also identified a family who needed our help. Both parents had worked in leadership roles in the camp, the father as a team leader and the mother as part of a health committee. They had six children ranging in age from six months to 17. We agreed to take on both the single individual and this family of 8.

Working through the translator, we have completed the sponsorship applications for these 9 individuals. We have provided the applications to the Anglican Diocese, who is preparing them to submit to the government. However, they have to wait until the government opens up spaces in the queue.

Question: Who has the group sponsored so far?

While efforts were underway to sponsor these 9 individuals, another opportunity presented itself.

The government of Canada, in addition to directly sponsoring individuals through the Government Assisted Refugee (GAR) program, partners with Canadians to jointly assist refugees through the Blended Visa-Office Referred (BVOR). In this program, refugees who have been identified by the UNHCR are referred by Canadian visa offices oversees. The government puts these individuals and families onto a list, and SAHs are able to offer to sponsor the individuals. The government provides for 50% of the financial cost of the sponsorship, and the SAH (or their constituent group) provides the remainder of the funds. From a pro bono lawyer’s perspective, this type of sponsorship is great because the refugees have already been pre-approved – there is no need for us to complete the forms needed for the refugees, and we do not have to have any of their documents translated. All we do is submit an undertaking to provide for the family and a settlement plan stating how we will provide for the family’s needs when they arrive in Canada.

For sponsorship groups, getting a BVOR family is like winning the lottery. The list of eligible families is sent out by the government. Only a bit of information is provided – names, ages, occupations, where they’d like to live in Canada. Sponsors have only a few minutes to choose a family and respond – there is so much interest that any hesitation means all the refugees will be claimed by sponsoring groups.

The G30+ Ottawa group was fortunate to be matched with a family of 4 from Syria, parents and two young children. This family arrived in Canada this past February.

In addition, we were contacted by the Anglican Diocese to sponsor a woman whose son was already in Ottawa as a refugee. Though the woman is Iranian, not Syrian, the group agreed to sponsor her. We are hoping she will arrive shortly.

Question: What have their experiences been to date, in settling the individuals who have arrived in Canada?

We are blessed with many capable volunteers. An affordable apartment was found for them; it was furnished mostly by donations. After they arrived, they were set up in school and language classes, and things like health cards were applied for. For the summer, day camps were found for the children. We’ve had a potluck dinner to welcome them. It has been a wind whirl of activity.

Because the family did not speak English when they arrived, a lot of the work fell onto the Arabic speaking members.

Question: How is the government handling the sponsorship of refugees, now that the initial election promise to bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees has been fulfilled?

The government reached its target of 25,000 Syrian refugees in February, 2016. This 25,000 was made up of both government and privately sponsored refugees, including our family of 4. However, they also promised to bring in a total 25,000 government assisted refugees by the end of 2016. They appear on track to fulfil this commitment.

You may remember at our national immigration law conference in April, our immigration minister appeared for a luncheon address. He said that he was probably the only immigration minister in the world being criticized for his failure not to provide enough refugees for those interested in sponsoring. However, he stated that the government’s target of a maximum 300,000 immigrants for 2016 was firm, and that he would not be increasing that number in order to accommodate more refugees.

Question: Is there still a strong interest from the Canadian public to sponsor refugees? How is the government responded to the interest in the private refugee sponsorship program?

I spoke to Don Smith, from the Archdiocese of Ottawa about the problem of there being more interest from the Canadian public to sponsor than our government is willing to provide capacity for. He told me he was torn over the issue. He said on the one hand, we don’t want to allow our government to back away from the UNHRC and the international community by failing to take in its share of refugees. On the other hand, there are so many people who have family they want to sponsor, and other individuals who want to help settle refugees in Canada, that restructuring the way refugees spaces are allocated might be the only short-term solution. That means less government assisted refugees, and more BVOR spaces along with priority processing to G5 and other privately sponsored refugee programs.

And the evidence seems to be mounting that privately sponsored refugees do better than government assisted refugees. Our own refugee family is a case in point. They arrived in Canada to a 30+ new friends, willing and able to help them with anything they could possibly need. Shortly after our family arrived, the parents of the father of our family (the children’s grandparents) arrived as government sponsored refugees. Though our group has provided some settlement assistance to them as well, they don’t understand why they don’t have their own group to help them.

Question: If someone was interested in sponsoring a refugee, from Syria or elsewhere, how would they go about it?

A minimum group of 5 individuals is necessary in order to be able to sponsor. Partnering with a SAH is not necessary, but provides numerous benefits. There are also community sponsorship programs, and a program for people willing to sponsor refugees with high needs, such as those with medical conditions or who have experienced severe trauma.

But individuals and groups need to temper their expectations. I attended a session where Louisa Taylor of Refugee 613 spoke. She made the very poignant comment that ‘refugees are not pets’. These are individuals with their own personalities and temperaments, who may or may not want to accept the friendship and help you are offering when they arrive in Canada. We think that when refugees arrive in Canada, they will jump at every opportunity to learn English, find a job, and integrate into the community. But what if they are so exhausted by their ordeal they have been through that they only want to watch Arabic television? And what if the group wants to sponsor, has the funds, but there are no spaces left in the government programs? Some people will need to find another way to channel their goodwill.

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Have you ever had a problem with a Canadian immigration application and needed to speak with an officer to try to resolve the issue? I’ll bet you spent hours trying to get through to a live call centre agent…only to be told there was no way to speak with the officer actually processing your file. If you are like me, one of the most frustrating aspects of practicing immigration law is trying to have any meaningful communication with Canadian immigration authorities. The government has put up every possible roadblock they can think of to keep people from contacting them regarding their immigration applications.

In this Episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast, I had the pleasure of interviewing Liz Wozniak who practices immigration out of her firm, North Star Immigration Law, located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Liz and the other lawyers in her firm handle all kinds of complex immigration issues for their clients. However, after my interview with Liz, the one thing that stood out most to me was the fact they cared enough about the practice of immigration law to offer Pro Bono assistance to people in a Province where no legal aide exists for immigration related matters.

Now don’t get me wrong, Liz and her colleagues do charge for the legal services they provide; however, they recognize the importance of helping those most vulnerable by paying forward the gift they have received in practicing Canadian immigration law.

In this spirit of giving, Liz took some time to visit with me about some of the best strategies she has developed over the years to communicate with the various Canadian immigration departments.

In most cases, immigration lawyers tend to hold these strategies pretty close to the vest…..however, Liz was generous enough to pull back the curtain a little bit so  as to help you and I understand what works and what doesn’t in this crazy world of communicating with Canadian Immigration authorities.

In my interview with Liz, we cover some great strategies in communicating with the government in the following circumstances:

• inland applications (IRCC);
• visa office’s abroad (IRCC);
• reporting abuse (ESDC/IRCC);
• labour market impact assessment applications (ESDC/Service Canada); and
• Canadian ports of entry (CBSA).

[Tweet “Trouble contacting #cdnimm- we’ll show you how!“]

Additional Resources:

• The best way to reach Elizabeth Wozniak : http://nsimmigration.ca/
• Liz’s Blog – http://nsimmigration.ca/lizs-blog/ 
• Case Specific Enquiry E-mail: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/contacts/web-form.asp
• Government Departments Discussed in the Podcast:
  • Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp
  • Temporary Foreign Worker Program (Service Canada/ ESDC): http://www.esdc.gc.ca/en/foreign_workers/index.page
  • Canada Border Services Agency: http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/menu-eng.html

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Topics for our Next Podcast

Read the Transcript

You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

CIP Show Notes – Elizabeth Wozniak, Immigration Lawyer

Liz Wozniak is the owner of North Star Immigration Law Inc., the largest Canadian immigration law firm in the Maritimes. Liz leads a team of four lawyers and one articled clerk in providing legal services and creative solutions in all aspects of Canadian immigration law.

Liz and her team work in a collaborative environment where only lawyers work on client files and they only charge flat rates.

Liz is originally from Edmonton, Alberta and lived overseas for 5 years (in China and Korea), where she taught English after getting a degree in education from the University of Alberta. She graduated from law school in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2001 where she remains as a lawyer and lives with her spouse and two children.

Liz is frequently consulted by journalists, government and non-governmental organizations on matters pertaining to immigration law and policy. She regularly presents at conferences, workshops and panel discussions on immigration, legal ethics and legal innovation.

Question Intro: Tell me a little more about your experience teaching English in China and Korea.  I don’t suppose that had anything to do with you getting into immigration period?

Well… over the past few years it has become increasingly difficult for us as immigration lawyers to be able to speak with anyone within Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) – or other immigration related government departments when we have run into processing delays or other issues with the files we have submitted.

Contacting the government to inquire on an immigration matter has become a real issue.

I’ve brought Liz on to share some insight on this process including some potential tips and strategies in attempting to navigate the painful experience of trying to communicate with all of these lovely government departments.

Question #1:  so if we are an individual who has submitted an application to IRCC and wants to obtain an update on the status of that application, how does one go about doing this? And is there a difference between inquiring on a permanent resident application, versus a temporary resident application? Inside versus Outside Canada?

Question #2: So let’s say that we have an urgent issue that requires us to reach out to an immigration officer on a file that is in process.  Are there other options available to try to deal with the issue as quickly as possible?

Question #3: Bogus IRCC mechanisms for reporting abuse and conditional PR violations.

Question #4:  let’s talk about the CBSA.  Sometimes we have clients that are adjudicating their applications directly at a port of entry.  Is there any way to reach out to these officers at the POEs in advance of someone’s arrival to discuss issues related to an application? Or to speak with an officer who has recently been refused admission to a client?

Question #5:  Okay, let’s now talk about the wonderful world of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and communicating with Service Canada when filing LMIA applications. Do you have any suggestions for navigating this ruthless world?  Are there pitfalls people must be aware of when filing applications?

Question #6:  let’s say you run into issues when the application is being processed.  Is there a way to speak to an officer prior to a refusal?  What options are available to speak with an officer after a refusal has been rendered?

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

If you are an employer who is using the Temporary Foreign Worker Program in Canada, especially for low skilled workers, you will not want to miss this episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast. The Liberal government under the direction of MaryAnn Mihychuk, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, has undertaken a review of the TFWP.  Join us this week as Russ Weninger, Canadian Immigration Lawyer, who has a particular expertise working with low skill TFWs in Canada, was recently quoted in an article published by the Calgary Herald, “Easing of temporary foreign workers Welcomed by Alberta Businesses.” Although focused on low skill and low-wage TFWs, this episode can benefit anyone who is hiring or looking to hire from the TFWP.

In this episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast Canadian Immigration Lawyer, Russ Weninger, joined me for a conversation on the low-wage temporary foreign worker program and the problems that it faces as the Liberals mull over its future. Russ shared with me some great insight  on the program and hinted at various changes that need to be made and how navigate the complexities of the system right now.   

It was easy to see how much Russ cares about the low skill foreign worker in Canada. He was extremely generous in sharing his knowledge and experience which will definitely benefit anyone accessing the low-wage stream within the TFWP. Russ also shared some of the struggles employers face with the 10% cap and why he feels the whole system is arbitrary and does not reflect actual labour needs.

It was a pleasure to chat with Russ. He has a real unique perspective on low skill TFWs and it definitely showed throughout the interview.

In my interview with Russ, we cover the following areas:

• The LMIA process is like an impossible quest
• 10% cap imposed on employers employing low-wage foreign workers
• Challenges and abuses occuring within the TFWP
• Pathways to permanent residence for foreign workers
• The role of Immigration in Canada’s future

[Tweet “What does the future hold for the Canadian #TFWP?“]

Time Stamped Quick Reference Guide

In order to help you jump to the areas of most interest to you, I have included below some time stamps for some of the significant topics covered in this episode.

7:47 – Who is Russ Weninger

19:49 – How he got into immigration

21:15 – Overview of TFWP for low wage/skill workers

26:20 – Caps on low wage/skill workers

34:03 – Regardless of unemployment, some jobs stay open

38:09 – Path ways to permanent residence

31:00- Why you need to maintain proper records

41:30 – The practical side of immigration? 

47:10 – Greatest influence on Canadian Immigration Policy

50:41 – How to locate Russ Weninger – http://www.calgaryimmigrationlawyer.com/

Additional Resources:

• The best way to reach Russ Weninger : http://www.calgaryimmigrationlawyer.com/
• Call the office: 403-265-4496
• Life in Waterton
• Wealth Transfer in next 10 years
• Will your tablet replace your family doctor?
• 10 % Cap for TFWP
• Minister’s Statement on the TFWP
• Easing of temporary foreign worker caps welcomed by Alberta businesses

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Topics for our Next Podcast

Read the Transcript

You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

CIP S1 E23: Podcast Show Notes – Russ Weninger- Temporary Foreign Worker Program Review – What does the future hold?

Russ Weninger is a Canadian Immigration Lawyer with an extensive knowledge for the low skill, low-wage TFWs and how to navigate the Immigration System. Russ’ enjoys volunteering for several organizations such as, The Calgary Legal Guidance, The Center for New Commerce, The Genesis Center, Law Day and the Kirby Center.  

In this episode of the Canadian immigration podcast we discussed the changes and issues within the low skill, low-wage workers and the temporary foreign worker program. Some of the specific areas covered include:

• LMIA seems to be an impossible quest.
• Cap on percentage of low-wage workers
• Challenges and abuse incidences of those in the TFWP
• Pathways to permanent residence
• The purpose of Immigration

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

The Express Entry portal for both representatives and individuals has been full of glitches and likely should have remained in beta testing longer than it did. However, the government likes to release quickly and have the representatives and individuals test at their own peril. In this Episode, Immigration Lawyer, Marina Sedai explains how you can overcome common technical glitches in the online portal.

In this episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast the Founder of Vancouver based Sedai Law Office, Marina Sedai, joins us to offer some unique strategies and tips for navigating the complexities of the Express Entry Online Portal. Marina has practiced exclusively in the area of immigration and citizenship law for the last 11 years helping a wide variety of clients including small to large businesses hiring foreign workers, individuals, couples and families.

I was completely blown away by the knowledge Marina has in using the Express Entry portal. In this Episode she shared with us some tremendously useful tips on avoiding some of the common technical glitches that can surface when completing applications through the Express Entry portal. The insight Marina shares  is truly “advanced”. You can’t find this in any immigration law textbook or government website. In this episode she reveals some brilliant tips that can benefit any immigration lawyer or consultant struggling with the Express Entry portal.

In my interview with Marina, we cover the following areas:

• Whether or not the CRS points are going to drop.
• The linking and de-linking of individuals and representatives.
• How to update your profile and application.
• Why the portal is now asking for a date specific time frame when completing the travel history section.
• Why items or full applications disappear from the portal?

[Tweet “Tips and Tricks to beat the Express Entry portal glitches.“]

Time Stamped Quick Reference Guide

In order to help you jump to the areas of most interest to you, I have included below some timestamps for some of the significant topic covered in this episode.

4:24  – Who is Marina Sedai?

14:50 – Will the CRS points drop?

18:20 – Linking and de-linking of individuals and representatives

30:21 – How to update your profile and application after you have submitted it.

37:00 – Processing time for FBI results

39:00 – Disappearing entries and information from the portal.

41:30 – Change of Circumstance

• Divorce
• Change of address
• Change of number

42:45 – Reasons why attachments are rejected from the system

47:00 – How to locate Marina Sedai –msedai@immigrationcitizenshiplaw.com

Additional Resources:

• The best way to reach Marina Sedai: msedai@immigrationcitizenshiplaw.com
• Sedai Law Offices: https://immigrationcitizenshiplaw.com 
• A great resource provided by Marina: Express Entry Tips

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Topics for our Next Podcast

Read the Transcript

You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

CIP S1 E20: Podcast Show Notes – Marina Sedai- Express Entry

Marina Sedai  has practiced immigration and citizenship law for the last 11 years. She holds a bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Political Science/International Relations and Psychology from Simon Fraser University.

Marina is the founder of Sedai Law Offices, and has been a frequent public speaker and taught immigration law, policy, and procedure at the UBC immigration practitioner’s program  from 2010-2014.

In this episode of the Canadian immigration podcast we discussed the Express Entry Portal and the technical glitches. If you are an individual or representative the tips and tricks that Marina talks about, will help in using the portal without complication and frustration.

Some of the specific areas covered include:

• Whether or not the CRS points are going to drop.
• The linking and de-linking of individuals and representatives.
• How to update your profile and application.
• Why the portal is now asking for a date specific time frame when leaving other countries.
• Why do items or full applications disappear from the portal?

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

….So with high rates of non-compliance within the low skill ranks of the TFWP, coupled with the equally acknowledged need for foreign labour in various industries, I am going to share with you exactly why I feel Express Entry is the solution to all that ails the TFWP.

The government will no longer need to perpetuate the fiction that the TFWP is actually being enforced?

The last time I checked, there has not been a new employer added to the government’s naughty list since November of 2014. Without trying to be too critical, the government’s enforcement mechanism has been like a barking dog with no bite.

After a while, it doesn’t matter how loud the dog barks, the burglar knows the dog isn’t going to bite, so they just keep on stuffing your jewelry into their pillow case

Since 2011, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) (collectively referred to as the “government”) keep ratcheting up the consequences of non-compliance with employers …. but in the end, they rarely punish malfeasance.

Bad employers (and I am going to keep referring to them as this because that is exactly what they are) understand that they can do pretty much whatever they want with their vulnerable foreign workers. Although some initial fear may be struck with each incrementally loud enforcement bark, any apprehension quickly disappears with the realization that no bite is ever coming.

The Administrative Monetary Penalty (AMP) regime, that became law on December 1, 2015, could be helpful in deterrence. However, we have heard virtually nothing regarding enforcement since this latest round of barking commenced. In fact, there has been very little of anything describing how the AMPs will even be administered.

It amazes me that the government can enact arguably punitive legislation against employers without providing the basis upon which the penalties will be applied…but this is also a topic for another blog or maybe even another Podcast.

If there has been any enforcement, [note the inflection in the word “has”] it has come at the hands of the fearsome Integrity Service Branch Officer who goes to all possible lengths to identify the terrible corporate villain who dares to give their beloved foreign worker CEO a 3% annual raise after he had the audacity of earning the company and all its Canadian employees $50 million in the previous year….non-compliance in all its horror!

What a colossal waste of time and governmental resources.

Officers need to conduct site visits

If each of these officers donned their coat, hopped in their bat mobile and actually popped in on the premises of the extensive list of “bad employers,” most assuredly building through ESDC’s online fraud reporting tool, a disincentive would actually be created.

If anyone actually knows how many tips have been generated to date, I would love to know. Clearly they are not being investigated as robustly as previous Minister Jason Kenney assured us all when the TFWP was overhauled/gutted in 2014.

I can’t help but quote from the government’s very own “Bark Sheet” released simultaneously with the announcement that “once and for all” the TFWP was being overhauled and “bad employers” ….well….their days were numbered:

Stronger Enforcement and Tougher Penalties

Increasing the Number and Scope of Inspections

Given concerns over abuse of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), the Government is making a significant investment in its TFWP inspection regime.

Despite the fact that the Low Skill TFW Pilot Project was created in 2002, no inspections were done at that time. In recent years, the Government began conducting inspections, and there is now a dedicated team of inspectors for the TFWP at Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) Nevertheless, an additional investment into the TFWP inspection regime is required to ensure stronger enforcement.

Effective immediately, the Government is massively increasing the number of inspections so that one in four employers using temporary foreign workers will be inspected each year These inspections will be as a result of tips, employers being deemed high-risk and random audits.

And we must not forget how seriously those critical “tips” were to be taken by that newly hired team of dedicated inspectors. Pulling once again from the “Bark Sheet”:

Increased Detection of Abuse

The Government launched a Confidential Tip Line in April 2014 for Canadians to report abuse of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). More than 1,000 tips had been received to date.

In addition to the tip line, a new Complaints Web page has been launched to allow the public to submit tips easily and securely online.

The Government will continue to follow up on each and every complaint to make sure that employers who are breaking the rules are caught and face the consequences.
We encourage all Canadians who have concerns or information to call our anonymous and confidential tip line. Any allegation of abuse will be investigated.

To report abuse of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, contact:

Service Canada Confidential Tip Line
1-866-602-9448 or
visit www.esdc.gc.ca/tfwp

I think you get the picture. Lot’s more barking and very little bite.

What the program needed more than anything was actual investigation, not overhauling.

Yes. Please do strengthen the enforcement regulations if they were somehow deficient.  However, after doing so, you have to actually follow through. Especially when you have so clearly set it out in writing.

If the regulations call for site visits, then actually visit the job sites and conduct real investigations. If the regulations call for AMPs, then fine employers that abuse the program!

Since the summer of 2014, the TFWP has been pulling in hundreds of thousands of dollars (likely well into the millions [I couldn’t find the actual figures]. With an application fee of $1,000 per foreign worker named in an LMIA application, and high rates of refusal, it is easy to see how the TFWP should have plenty of resources available to actually honour the commitments made in the “Bark Sheet.”

Yes…. I know that the Integrity Services Branch has been conducting lot’s of “investigations” since the program was overhauled. However, these paper based virtual inspections are targeting the wrong kind of non-compliance. What is being turned up is loads of non-compliance for such horrific violations as “fractional” wage increases, slight occupational shifts, and failing to notify Service Canada when a foreign worker stops working and leaves the country.

Seriously… is this the best use of program resources?

If you are inspecting a bad employer, their records are going to show exactly what they want you to see. Remember, they have already required the foreign worker to repay them the cash difference between the LMIA wage and the under-the-table wage they forced the foreign worker to accept.

I’m not so naïve to believe that a site visit will uncover all elements of non-compliance and that a paper based review is ineffective in turning up non-compliance and abuse. However, by actually going to the job site and interviewing both the Canadian and foreign worker employees from time to time, you are sending a message to bad employers that you are serious.

Now of course I know that virtual inspections must have turned up some serious violations; however, if this is the case why have there been no new additions to the governments naughty list in the past two years? 

In fact, the list has actually shrunk versus grown.

Everyone remembers the CBC Go Public piece entitled, “McDonald’s accused of favouring foreign workers” by reporter Kathy Tomlinson, that kick started the whole overhaul to the program back in the Spring of 2014. Glen Bishop, the owner of the McDonald’s franchise highlighted in the article saw his franchise placed on the “black list” and then experienced the pleasure of McDonalds allegedly stripping away all of his franchises as a result of the ensuing investigation.

This is what Ms. Tomlinson reported:

As a result of Go Public’s inquiries, the government has suspended all pending foreign worker permits for the three McDonald’s locations owned by franchisee Glen Bishop and has blacklisted his franchise from using the program, pending the outcome of the probe.

Guess what the outcome of the probe was?

Why don’t you take a second look at the current list of “black listed” employers.

Why?

Because the suspension levied against Glen Bishop’s x-franchise has been lifted and they are no longer on the list any more. In fact, Glen Bishop is now suing McDonalds for damages he allegedly incurred when McDonalds forced him to turn over the franchises when they were in full scale damage control mode following the CBC Go Public article.

I will repeat once again that if any semblance of serious enforcement had occurred at the early stages of the low skill program, there would have been no need for an overhaul.

The public shaming exacted by CBC Go Public on the government would never have occurred. And most importantly, if the overhaul did not take place, the undeserved punishment that was exacted on the good employers (low skill and high skill alike) would have also never occurred.

Stay tuned for Part 3 which will be released tomorrow. The story keeps unfolding….

Please provide your comments below. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the TFWP.

By now, most people are fully aware of the fact that the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is once again facing a whole new review by Minister Mihychuk and the Liberal government. Some say that Minister Mihychuk is ready to scrap the whole thing. Others say the Minister may actually use what is learned from these consultations to reshape the TFWP in a positive way.

Regardless of which rumour is true, one thing is certain…..Overhaul deja vu is on its way.

Not surprisingly, I am yet to receive an invitation to appear before the HUMA Standing Committee charged with the responsibility of conducting the TFWP review.

I am not an industry leader. I am not the head of a large corporation. I am not someone of influence the government would really even pay attention to.

However, like other Canadian immigration lawyers who have earned a living providing advice to companies and foreign workers whose businesses and lives depended upon the program, I figure I might just have something to offer.

So what better way to get my message heard than to write a blog.

The blog itself kind of got away from me a little. Because of this, I have chosen to break it down into a series of blogs that I hope will add a different perspective  to the whole discussion.

I’m not exactly sure how this series of blogs will unfold. However, I want everyone to understand that the time I took in drafting this was designed purely for the purposes of stimulating discussion and hopefully gaining the ear of the HUMA Standing Committee as well as Minister Mihychuk and Minister McCallum who are both inextricably intertwined with the TFWP and the solution going forward.

So the best thing in the world people can do when they read this blog is to leave a comment below and tell everyone what they think.

Express Entry is the Solution

Regardless of what Minister Mihychuk ultimately chooses to do with the TFWP, I think the future of Canada’s labour shortage challenges rests not in the TFWP, but actually in the Express Entry regime.

Despite the downturn in the economy in Canada, Canadian employers continue to experience skilled and unskilled labour shortages in many industries and regions. Employers have relied heavily on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) to source foreign workers when local Canadians and permanent residents are unwilling, or unavailable to fill these positions.

Currently, employers experiencing labour shortages first turn to the TFWP, then the Provincial Nominee Programs and lastly the Express Entry regime. IRCC Minister John McCallum has indicated that he would like to see the reverse of this with Express Entry as the first choice for employers and the TFWP being the option of last resort.

As an immigration lawyer who has spent his entire career working with Canadian employers to access the TFWP to source foreign workers (at all wage levels), I have to admit that I actually agree with our Liberal Minister. Taking into consideration the collective needs of all stakeholders, Express Entry is by far a better solution than the TFWP.

Now let me clarify a few things before I cause any concern amongst my fellow Board Members on the Conservative EDA in Lethbridge, Alberta…..I am definitely not trading in my blue shirt for a red one. I want to reassure you and our esteemed MP Rachael Harder that I am still batting for the Right team (pun intended).

So without wasting any more time with my windup, here is the pitch…

History of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program

But before I dive right into my rational, let me start with a little history lesson on the TFWP to provide some context for those of you coming late to the game.

Over the past ten years, statistics have shown that the use of the TFWP has mirrored the Province of Alberta’s boom and bust cycle. In the early to mid 2000s, the TFWP was heralded as the saviour to Alberta and the rest of the country’s critical labour shortage needs. With unemployment rates remaining below 4% from 2005 to 2008 (3% in October 2006), my then 11 year old daughter could have applied for a Labour Market Opinion (now rebranded as a Labour Market Impact Assessment) and obtained an approval.

The role of Service Canada was that of a facilitator during the boom and definitely not the gatekeeper we know them to be today. Employers struggling to complete the LMO application forms in Alberta could contact Service Canada and the officers  would go so far as to almost fill out the forms for the employers.  They would explain exactly what the employer needed to do to obtain an approval and if the employer still got it wrong, would give them chance after chance until they finally got it right. After all, it was common knowledge that labour shortages existed across all industries.

It didn’t take long for industries like food service and hospitality to jump on board. In fact, they did more than jump on board – they built an entire fleet of ships to take full advantage of the TFWP. Franchises started reworking their human resource model to take advantage of the TFWP.

It wasn’t long before the greater portion of our fast food restaurants and hotel chains were staffed almost entirely with foreign workers…..and who could blame them? As a business owner, what scenario would you rather have….10 casual Canadian employees that may or may not show up for their shifts each day, or 3 full time foreign workers that you could count on to work  their tails off each day and considered it a privilege to even have a job.

Unfortunately, in an effort to ensure that the foreign workers were not taking away jobs from Canadians, extreme restrictions were placed on the terms of employment creating a terrible power imbalance for the employer.  Now I understand why ESDC did what it did. However, the power imbalance that traditionally exists between any employer and its employees is magnified 100 fold within the low-skill (low wage) program of the TFWP.

NOTE: For the purposes of this blog, I intend to use the term “low-skill” instead of “low wage” because it more properly correlates with IRCCs consistent reference to “skilled workers” within the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and its regs.

Exploitation and abuse of low skill foreign workers

Foreign workers working in low skill (low wage) positions are particularly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.  Let me explain why.

Foreign workers working in Canada on an LMO/LMIA based work permit are typically authorized to work for only one employer, at a specific location, in a specific position, for a set wage. Any variation to these conditions would be considered unauthorized work for the foreign worker and trigger potential remove from Canada. Employers could be found non-compliant and subject to sanction.

In the height of the boom, the government was more focused on meeting the significant labour demands of Canadian employers versus checking up to see if employers were actually following the rules and treating their foreign workers fairly.

Because foreign workers were generally not aware of the seriousness of the employment conditions imposed by the government, some nasty employers took full advantage of them.

Some classic examples of exploitation included requiring the workers to work 18 hour days, 7 days a week, with no overtime. In some cases truly nasty employers  required their low skill foreign workers to pay back, in cash, the difference between what the LMIA required the employer to pay and what the employer really wanted to pay the foreign worker. By requiring “cash back”, the employer was able to maintain payroll records that complied with the terms of the LMIA in case they were ever audited during an Employer Compliance Review (ECR).

….yes this did happen….and far too frequently.

Now don’t get me wrong. I am definitely not saying that all employers treat their foreign workers like indentured servants. They absolutely do not….I and many of my colleagues act for and work as in-house counsel for many wonderful employers that treat their foreign workers like family and do all they can to help them in their journey to become permanent residents of Canada.

Significant non-compliance does occurs within the low skill program

From my experience, the percentage of non-compliant employers within the ranks of the low skill program was, and still is, significant.

Some may say….you can’ t know that for sure. This may be true. However, I believe that the sample size of interactions I have had with employers and foreign workers within the TFWP gives me just as much of a platform to make these statements as those who disagree with me.

As an immigration lawyer, anyone who speaks with me benefits from solicitor client privilege. Because of that, foreign workers are much more willing to tell me when the rules are being broken because they know I can not share this information with anyone else.

I have had a steady stream of low skill foreign workers coming to my office for assistance, but in almost every single case, they refused to go to the authorities about the abuse they were suffering. Some days I wish I wasn’t a lawyer subject to “solicitor client privilege” because then I could have taken action independently by leave anonymous little messages on the Online Immigration Fraud Reporting Tool.

So with high rates of non-compliance within the low skill ranks of the TFWP, coupled with the equally acknowledged need for foreign labour in various industries, I am going to share with you in Part 2 of my blog exactly why I feel Express Entry is the solution.

Part 2 will be released tomorrow…..

If you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada planning on sponsoring your “true love” from abroad listen to this Podcast BEFORE getting hitched! You won’t find this kind of insight anywhere! In this Podcast I had the pleasure of interviewing an amazing immigration lawyer and overall excellent guy, Ravi Jain of Green and Spiegel LLP in Toronto, Ontario. Ravi took some time with me to share some amazing insights into the pitfalls that exist within the Canadian spousal sponsorship application process.

IRCC makes the spousal sponsorship process seem so simple that you do not need to hire an immigration representative. Well Ravi and I pull back the curtain on spousals and give you an inside look into the most common things that people do to unwittingly set themselves up for rejection within the spousal sponsorship process.

If you don’t mind being separated from your spouse for 3 years or more, please go ahead and file your application without listening to what Ravi has to say. If you are one of those people that would like to be reunited with your spouse the first time you apply…then tune in and be amazed.

Well done Ravi….

The most important topics covered in my interview with Ravi Jain:

1. Strategies for inland v. outland filing
2. Bad faith marriages (the two tests)
3. Spousal open work permits
4. Appeal process
5. Processing times
6. Levels planning

[Tweet “Canadian Spousal Sponsorship – listen in and get it right the first time“]

Additional Resources:

• The best way to reach Ravi Jain: ravij@gands.com
• Green and Spiegel LLP: http://www.gands.com
• Spousal Sponsorship (outside Canada): http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp 
• Spousal Sponsorship (inside Canada): http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/spouse.asp
• Ravi Jain’s Double: http://www.theatrewhynot.org/about/ravi-jain/

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CIP S1 E17: Interview with Ravi Jain – Show Notes

Pleasure of having Ravi Jain – join me on the Podcast today.

Welcome Ravi

Introduction:

• Ravi is an immigration lawyer practicing in Toronto, Canada with the law firm of Green and Spiegel LLP (Partner)

• He is among the small percentage of immigration lawyers who are certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as Specialists in Citizenship and Immigration Law.

• He has addressed the Canadian Senate as an expert witness on immigration law and appeared before the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights.

• On November 27, 2012 Ravi was presented the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by Command of Her Majesty The Queen in commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of Her Majesty’s Accession to the Throne and in recognition of Ravi’s significant contributions to Canada

• Ravi practices all aspects of Canadian Immigration law:

• PR – spousals sponsorships , H&Cs PNPs, Express Entry
• TR – WP, SP, TRVs, PRRAs, TRPs
• Extensive litigation practice:
  • Immigration appeal work covers all three divisions of the IRB and Federal Court work
  • Successfully argued many cases, including:
    • Spousal Sponsorship – which is the topic we are going to delve into today.
  • In addition to the traditional law work he does, he:
    • Has been a guest lecturer at Seneca College and
    • Has lectured on US consular processing for the new York Chapter of AILA.
    • Speaks regularly at our national Conference including the past conference in 2016 in Vancouver where he was on the Advanced Family Class Panel which covered Spousal Sponsorships

Tell us how you got into immigration?

Let’s jump to our topic today, which is Spousal Sponsorship.

Someone sponsoring their true love from abroad.

IRCC wants it to appear so simple that anyone could do it. However, when things go wrong within the application process they go really wrong.

And when things go really wrong, the best place to have addressed those wrongs is at the very beginning of the application process before you even file.

But people don’t realize all of the pit falls and it is for that reason that I wanted to Bring Ravi on to share some insight with our listeners to hopefully enlighten them a little more so that they can better prepare themselves to filing one of the most important immigration applications someone could file to IRCC

1. Strategies for inland v. outland filing
2. Bad faith marriages (the two tests)
3. Spousal open work permits
4. Appeal process
5. Processing times
6. Levels planning

[/spoiler]

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Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

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In this episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast, I share with you where the CIP is headed into the future. I honestly believe this Episode is going to be the one that I look back on and recognize as the Episode that changed it all. Look out – Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the CIP is going to pull back the curtain!

After attending the CBA’s National Immigration Conference in Vancouver last month, I had an epiphany. No longer am I going to hoard this Podcast all to myself.

Listen in to this Podcast if you want to know what I have in store for the Canadian Immigration landscape! I am unbelievably excited and I know that the future of Canadian Immigration will never be the same again.

Oh, and by the way…..here is a sneak peak into the amazing guests that are joining me in the coming weeks and months:

1. Ravi Jain, Green and Spiegel LLP: http://www.gands.com/canadian-immigration-lawyers/ravi-jain/
2. Rekha McNutt, Caron and Partners: http://www.caronpartners.com/rekha-p-mcnutt/
3. Marina Sedai, Sedai Law Office: https://immigrationcitizenshiplaw.com/our-team/marina-sedai/
4. Jeffrey Lowe, Lowe and Company: http://www.canadavisalaw.com/about-us/
5. Les Morley, Morley Law Office: http://www.lesmorley.com/leslie-h-morley-bio.html

[Tweet “Canadian Immigration World – Look out!“]

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Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

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Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

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If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

If you are a permanent resident of Canada considering on applying for Canadian citizenship, you are likely asking yourself….”why is it so dang hard to qualify?” Well… this Podcast is going to make your day just a little brighter! Chris Veeman, a well respected immigration lawyer based out of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, shares some great insight on Bill C-6 and the Liberal Government’s proposed changes to Canada’s Citizenship Act and how these changes are going to make a lot of international students, foreign workers, and permanent residents a whole lot happier about their chances of becoming Canadian citizens.

It was a pleasure to have Chris Veeman on the Podcast as a guest. Having had the opportunity to appear as a witness before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration including recent changes to our Citizenship laws, Chris was the ideal choice to demystify what the Liberals have in store for us with Bill C-6: An Act to amend the Citizenship Act and to make consequential amendments to another Act.

If you are even considering applying for Canadian citizenship, you may just want to hold off until you have had a chance to hear what Chris has to say about the future of Canadian citizenship……this is a good news story.

UPDATE: It looks like the Liberals are hoping to get Bill  C-6 passed for a Canada Day celebration of Citizenship on July 1, 2016. However, it has to get through the Conservative dominated Senate first. See the following Hill Times article for more information: http://goo.gl/CW9wKu.

Highlights of what the Liberals are proposing to change with Bill C-6:

1. Repealing provisions in the Citizenship Act that allow for citizenship to be revoked on grounds that only apply to dual nationals.
2. Eliminating the requirement that citizenship applicants must intend to continue to reside in Canada.
3. Facilitating the pathway to citizenship for temporary residents by again allowing the time spent in Canada prior to becoming a permanent resident to count towards the physical presence requirement for citizenship.

[Tweet “Canadian Citizenship – Hear the good news on the horizon!“]

Additional Resources:

• The best way to reach Chris Veeman:
  • E-mail: chris@veemanlaw.com
  • Website: veemanlaw.com/wp
• Bill C-6: https://openparliament.ca/bills/42-1/C-6/ 
• Standing Committee Reports:  http://goo.gl/ZSsoGv

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Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

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Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

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If you are a foreign national with a criminal conviction – listen to this Podcast BEFORE travelling to Canada! In this Podcast I had the pleasure of interviewing one of the most respected Business Immigration Lawyers in Canada, Barbara Jo Caruso of Corporate Immigration Law Firm based in Toronto, Ontario. BJ shared with me some tremendous insight on the inner workings of the Canadian POEs and some recent changes at the Primary Inspection Line that every foreign national needs to be aware of.

As a prior Customs Officer working at the Canadian POE, BJ walks us through the inspection process and shares some fantastic insight on what people can expect when they are going through the Primary Inspection Line.

Our conversation focuses primarily on what is now happening to foreign nationals with prior criminal convictions or even a criminal charge that was resolved, who are seeking entry to Canada.

If you fit into this category, this Podcast will give you tips and strategies on how to minimize your risk if travelling to Canada.

Most important take-aways from my interview with BJ Caruso:

1. Overview of Canadian Ports of Entry and how the inspection process really works!
2. Insight into the make-up of the modern CBSA Officer.
3. Primary Inspection Line Officers now have access to CPIC.
4. How criminal inadmissibility to Canada is determined.
5. How to overcome criminal inadmissibility
6. Tips for safely navigating the Canadian Ports of Entry
7. Pros and Cons of applying for access to the Trusted Traveller Programs (NEXUS etc.)

[Chief Mountain Port of Entry, Alberta/Montana Border]

[Tweet “Changes at the Canadian POEs that are catching travellers off guard“]

Additional Resources:

• The best way to reach BJ Caruso: caruso@cimmigrationlaw.com
• CBC Investigates | Border security: hundreds detained in 1st month of new screening measures – http://bit.ly/1TuT9Hp
• Annotated Immigration and Refugee Protection Act of Canada: http://bit.ly/1O0jdO0

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Canadian Immigration Podcast – Show notes

Season 1: Episode 14

Interview with Barbara Jo Caruso.

Barbara Jo Caruso is a founding partner of Corporate Immigration Law Firm, located in the heart of the Financial District in Toronto, Ontario.

BJ is a co-author of the Annotated Immigration & Refugee Protection Act, published by Carswell (“The Annotated IRPA”).  The Annotated IRPA is a leading immigration textbook in Canada, and is used by Federal Court Judges, Canadian immigration officials at all levels including Canada Border Services Agency Officers, Immigration Officers, Appeal Board Members, Refugee Board members, lawyers and law students alike.

I can attest to the fact the Annotated IRPA was definitely used by government officers. My first copy was given to me by the hearings officers in Calgary when I was working as a Pro Bono Student (Slave) while attending law school.

BJ is Certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a Specialist in Immigration Law. She is one of the most respected business immigration lawyers in the country and a tireless advocate for her clients and our profession. She is currently serving as Treasurer on the Executive Committee of the Canadian Bar Association’s National Immigration Section and a mentor to many young aspiring immigration lawyers across the country…..me included.

We could easily spend the whole podcast episode discussing BJs numerous professional accomplishments; however, knowing BJ, she probably just wants me to stop with the introductions and get to the real reason she has come on the Canadian Immigration Podcast –

and that is to discuss some recent changes that have occurred at our Canadian ports of entry that are catching many foreign nationals off guard.

Lead in Question:

1. BJ, can you take a minute to explain these recent changes at Canadian ports of entry and how they are impacting people seeking entry to Canada?

Issues to discuss:

• Overview of Canadian POEs and insight into the make-up of Border Service Officers
• 1800 cases flagged in the first month of operations where travellers were identified as having outstanding warrants against them.

• Can impact any FN who has ever been arrested, charged or convicted of a crime inside and outside Canada.

• CPIC information is not updated – onus on FN to satisfy officer they are not inadmissible

• Failure to disclose prior criminality could lead to finding of misrep and 5 year bar

• How to overcome inadmissibility – TRPs, Rehab & “deemed rehab”

Additional Questions:

2. So what happens if I am an individual with a DUI who is travelling to Canada for business and I really don’t have time to prepare a TRP or Rehab application?
   1. What can I expect to happen if I decide to travel anyways and test my luck?
3. Let’s say I’m a Global Mobility Manager who needs to send a highly specialized employee to Canada on short notice, but fortunately the employee tells me prior to travel that she had a prior criminal conviction. What should they do?

4. Given what we now know about the increased powers of inspection granted to CBSA officers at the front lines, If there was one piece of advice you could give an individual who needs to travel to Canada, but may be criminally inadmissible, what would it be?
5. If there are individuals or companies out there with employees facing issues with criminal inadmissibility and they want to get in contact with you for further information and assistance, what is the best way to reach you?

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

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Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

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If you are an international student, temporary foreign worker, immigration lawyer, consultant, HR manager, global mobility specialist, Canadian employer or just plain old Canadian citizen or permanent resident with a curiosity in Immigration … you’ll be regretting the day you didn’t listen to this Podcast.

As promised in Episode 12 of the Canadian Immigration Podcast, I am going to share with you in this Episode everything I learned from Immigration Minister John McCallum on April 8, 2016 in his speech to the CBA’s National Immigration Section in Vancouver during our National Immigration Law Conference.

Because I can not resist my Top 10 lists……here is another one for you!

Immigration Minister John McCallum responded to questions from reporters at the Canadian Bar Association’s Immigration Law Conference April 8, 2016. (CBC)

(Thank you CBA News – I wasn’t close enough to get a better picture myself)

My Top 10 Canadian Immigration trends for 2016 – straight from the mouth of our Immigration Minister, The Honourable John McCallum:

1.   The Liberals actually care what us Canadian immigration lawyers think – who knew?

2.   Canadians like refugees after all and it will continue that way for the foreseeable future.

3.   Sayonara to two tiered Canadian Citizenship – “A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian.” 

4.   The Family Feud is over….Family Class processing on its way down!

5.   The Minister hates the term “Economic Immigrant” – all immigrants contribute regardless of program.

6.  Express Entry is having “unintended consequences” that must be addressed.

7.   Complete overhaul to the Live-in Caregiver program on its way!

8.  IRCC versus CBSA – definitely a “good cop” – “bad cop” situation!

9.   What does the future hold for PNPs? Status quo according to Minister McCallum

10.  International Students – the calvary is on its way!

[Tweet “What’s in store for Canadian Immigration Policy in 2016“]

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Sunny Days ahead for people seeking to immigrate to Canada in 2016

Immigration Forecast for 2016 with Minister John McCallum, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada.

There has been considerable coverage of the Liberal government’s sweeping changes to immigration culture in Canada.

As quickly as the Conservative government changed many of the countries old immigration laws and programs, the Liberals have been just as fast to announce their intention to reverse them.

So the big question is……

….where exactly are the Liberals headed?

In Episode 12 of the Canadian Immigration Podcast, I shared some brief highlights from a speech given by the Minister of IRCC, John McCallum to the Canadian Bar Association’s National Immigration Section members who attended our Annual Conference in Vancouver April 7-9, 2016. I also promised that more would be coming…. so here it is!

My Top 10 List of Highlights from Minister McCallum’s Speech to the CBA Immigration Section

As you can tell, I really like the whole Top 10 Concept. Hopefully this list will actually have 10 highlights as opposed to Episode 12 of the Canadian Immigration Podcast where I somehow skipped a number and ended up with only 9 on my Top 10 list.

At any rate, if you have anything to do with Canadian immigration, whether as a lawyer, consultant, HR manager, Global Mobility Specialist, foreign national, or even Canadian employer, you are not going to want to miss this Top 10 List.

I want to start off this Podcast with one caveat. I am a 100% true and blue card carrying Conservative Party member. I hold these values dear and intend to continue my active involvement with the party long into the future. However, with this being said, and despite my best efforts to find fault, there was very little I could complain about with the vision Mr. McCallum has for immigration in Canada.

So here we go….

1. The Liberals are actually willing to listen to Immigration Lawyers and their clients in shaping the immigration landscape of Canada into the future. 

MM Knows that CBA has worked on this day and night – he has read our reports on TFWP and EE – Minister impressed with CBAs contribution – didn’t disagree with anything.

Stark contrast to the previous regime. Basically considered their relations with the CBA to be adversarial.

2. Update on the Refugee situation in Canada and future intentions

Succeeded in bringing 25,000 refugees to Canada by end of February 2016

They went from a situation were the main concerns of Canadians was security especially at the time of the Paris attacks and these concerns evolved to a huge welcome provided by Canada across the country to these refugees.

Quote:

Minister McCallum felt he was the “only immigration minister in the whole world whose main challenge was to provide enough Syrian refugees to satisfy the overwhelming generosity of people who want sponsor them.

Have committed to bringing in another 10, 000 which they will expedite as quickly as possible

The liberal levels planning calls for a 300,000 target – which is an absolute maximum – one more refugee means one less of something else

The Liberals have already quadrupled the number of refugees and have reached the limit.

Restored Refugee Healthcare

3. Canadian Citizenship Act – revoked in part

Bill C6 – introduced by the Liberals to ensure – one class of Canadians in Canada and they believe a “Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian” – “the place for terrorists is in jail not at the airport”

4. Various Changes to Family Class Applications

• – Restoration of age of dependence from 19 back to 22

MM signed documents restoring the age of dependants to 22. However, it will take a 1 ½ years to go through the regulatory process.

Goodness knows why going from 19 to 22 should take a year and a half. Too bad I couldn’t use ministerial instruction on that.

Minister is generally opposed to Ministerial Instructions, but some times they do come in handy. 

• – Ending of 2 year conditional status on Spousal Applications.

• – Committed in the election to bring down substantially the processing times of Family Class members. 

Quote: 

“Just as he is very proud as a CDN for refugees coming in, ashamed that the heavy hand of the CDN state keeps spouses apart for 2 years. This is unacceptable. This is not something that can be fixed like flicking a switch with Bill C6. On this one it takes longer.”

Solution will be to increase the capacity for immigration in this country

– the max is currently at 300,000 – want to increase this to accommodate the possibility of more immigrants and more spouses to get these processing times.

We will do this by: 1) more money and 2) more importantly need to do things more efficiently. Need to learn from experience in Lebanon and Jordon with the Refugees – where they processed applications fast, but equally well, super fast, but concurrently, ABC together, not A then B then C.

Must transfer over the experience with refugees to family class applications – do it just as well, but much more efficiently. – we did it for refugees, so of course we can do it for other – he told his department to “get to work”. This is what the department is doing – we will have positive news on spouses in coming weeks. – which could means months as usual.

5. Changes to Economic Class Applications

On “Economic Immigrants” – MM hates this term because all immigrants are economic. When you say “economic immigrants” it implies that the economic immigrants contribute and the others do not.

In 2016 many family members work – parents and grandparents enable the father and mother to work even when they do not work.

Refugees also work and contribute in the medium run – “let’s not use the word economic immigrants because all immigrants contribute to the country in one degree or another”

6. Possible changes to the Express Entry regime

In election campaign the liberals were neither critical nor praising of EE because it was so brand new. Now in process of seeking ways to reform express entry and MM values CBA input….

Had a meeting with Ontario Business People at an Ontario Chamber of Commerce and they ranked the different streams for PR status in Canada as:

TFWP

PNP,

EE

MM would like to see this reversed.

Express Entry should be the favored process for businesses wanting immigrants, then PNP, then TFW.

Challenge for MM is to make EE more flexible, more fluid, more desirable for businesses wanting to bring immigrants to Canada. Make it the first choice and not the third choice of businesses.

The First proposed change and most for sure is He thinks International Students are the best source of immigrant to Canada– because they know French and English, because they know Canada, because they are educated, because they are young, all good reasons to be great Canadians

“we should encourage them to come here and not slap them in the face by taking away their 50% credit for time in Canada, so I want to make it easier and give more points to facilitate their entry to Canada as PRs, that is pretty well for sure, other things are less for sure…

… looking at possibly less points for people getting LMIA approved Job Offer because right now  it is totally dominant and has certain unintended consequences. Possibly limit ore eliminate the use of the LMIA under Express Entry…. NOT committed to doing this, but certainly committed to looking at doing it very seriously. It is something they will look into very seriously.

7. Proposed Overhaul of the Live-in Caregiver Program 

MM thinks it is a great program both for young people and aging people – processing times will be coming down automatically in the next months. One major thing is that they will honor their campaign promise make significant changes to how the program works. They intend to a have a system of regulated companies who hire caregivers on behalf of families needing them and deploy them to households that need them.

Changes will help Families because they will be spared the hassle of the LMIA AND– will benefit the caregiver because if household is a problem, the company can transfer caregiver from household A to B. thus protecting the interestswill help both sides, the family and caregivers by doing this.

8. How is IRCC dealing with the challenges of two departments (including CBSA) administering immigration?

Sunny Days have arrived with IRCC, but have not yet arrived with CBSA.

– Separation of immigration into CIC and CBSA in the past

Question = has any consideration been given to bringing CBSA and IRCC back together?

He can’t speak for CBSA, but knows there has been a culture of enforcement throughout CBSA that public servants are awarded for catching as many bad people as possible. Understand there is a quota for how many refugees they expose – there is definitely scope for improvement within CBSA – Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety is working on these issues.

9. What does the future hold for Provincial Nominee Programs?

When asked whether Liberals are considering increasing allocation of nominations to the provinces? MM is of two minds on this issue. He is willing to do whatever is best for the country, but being a federal person, it is not to have the federal roll disappear altogether. 50% of economic immigrants come through the PNPs. If that is best for Canada…fine.

But big theme of his speech was to improve EE so it becomes the first choice for employers. So priority right now is to improve EE. Want companies to see the Federal program EE as their first choice of what is most flexible, best, accommodating choice, there would be less demand on PNPs each year – he wants to add more immigration, but first desire is to improve the federal program so that is more attractive for employers.

10. What is in store for International Students?

some people say MM has a habit of moving too fast, but some times it is important to do it fast – there is some urgency in this matter (international students)– thinking of doing the following in stages:

Stage 1 – give more points to students under Express Entry

Stage 2- do other things to improve EE

but hoping for him to do the student thing as quickly as he can – you would agree that Ministerial Instructions for these purposes are for a good cause.

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

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If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Don’t listen to this Podcast before you read the blog I released yesterday, April 13, 2016 entitled: Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program – How did we get here? What every Temporary Foreign Worker must know before applying? This blog will give you essential background information to prepare you for the insights I’m going to share regarding the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program.

This past month, I had the opportunity to attend a lunch presentation Brad Trefan gave to our Canadian Bar Association’s local immigration section in Calgary.  I’ll share my Top 10 (rather 9) AINP Highlights from his presentation and share my thoughts on what this means for anyone seeking to apply for PR status in Canada through the AINP.

Top 9 AINP Highlights for 2016 thanks to Brad Trefan, Managing Director:

1.    Current Inventories

2.   Top 10 occupations applying to the AINP

4.   [yes….I missed #3] Why are the AINP refusal rates so high?

5.   What if you lose your job after receiving the nomination?

6.   Certificate wastage – why is it so dang high?

7.   IRCC challenging the AINP nomination.

8.  Standardization of the AINP program.

9.   AINP Participation in Express Entry

10.  Expect the AINP to close again in 2016

[Tweet “What’s up with the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program in 2016“]

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This Episode continue forward on the foundation I laid with a blog I wrote yesterday and posted on the Canadian Immigration Podcast website regarding the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program.

It’s entitled: “Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program – How did we get here?

What every Temporary Foreign Worker must know before applying!

This blog will give you a little bit of a foundation for what I am going to share in the Podcast today.

In the blog I covered a brief history of how the AINP has been somewhat of a love hate relationship for TFWs and their legal counsel. I cover the ups and downs of the program over the past 10 years and really lead up to what I am going to be talking about today.

In this Episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast, I am going to be sharing some insight on where the AINP is headed for this year and what every TFW needs to know before risking their future in Canada on a very volatile program.

But before I get to this Episode I’d like to share a few experiences I had attending the CBA’s National Immigration Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia this past weekend.

1. Asked to speak on Express Entry. Had the privilege of doing so with some very good friends:

• Marina Sedai – Immigration Lawyer in B.C.
  • immigrationcitizenshiplaw.com
  • Secretary of our National Immigration Executive
  • works with Joshua Sohn past Chair of our National Section
• Kevin Zemp – Immigration Lawyer practicing in Calgary
  • zemplaw.com
  • Past Chair of our National Immigration Law Section
• John Acheson – Assistant Director, Permanent Resident Program Delivery, IRCC
  • Operations side of things – the nuts and bolts (portal issues)
• Philip Somogyvari – Director – Express Entry Policy – IRCC
  • 10,000 foot level policy
    • discussions of changes to EE (crossing my fingers):
      • CRS points for candidates with family in Canada
      • CRS points of international students (CDN studies)

2. IRCC Minsiter John McCallum spoke to us and shared a lot of insight into where the program is going. As a staunch conservative, I must admit that I have felt quite conflicted with because I actually like Minister McCallum. In an upcoming blog or podcast, I am going to share some of the highlights from that speech.

However, if you want to go back in time and catch a snapshot of what the Minister shared and other insights from the various panels I attended, connect with me on Twitter because I tweeted continuously sharing significant insights as I listened to the Minister in real time and as I attended other sessions presented by my fellow CBA Immigration section colleagues. My Twitter handle is simply @MarkHolthe.

Eventually I am going to get that blog or podcast out. If you have a preference, just send me comment on the CIP website, or connect with me on any of the various social media platforms I frequent (facebook, LinkedIn etc.). You can also track me down on my firm website: ht-llp.com.

Insights on the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program for 2016 – Brad Trefan, Managing Director

This past month, I had the opportunity to attend a lunch presentation Brad Trefan gave to our Canadian Bar Association’s local immigration section in Calgary.  I’ll share a few highlights from his presentation and then at the end of this blog share my thoughts on what this means for anyone seeking to apply for PR status in Canada through the AINP.

1. Inventories – The AINP had ballooned to 9000 applications in August 2015 when the program was suspended. This number was reduced to 4700 by the time the program was reopened on January 27, 2016. As of March 23, 2016, the current application quota is sitting at 6000 applications. The AINP receives approximately 40 new applications daily.

[INSIGHT: Get your application filed as quickly as possible because the program will most certainly be suspended as applications continue to flood into the program. If 9000 was the trigger for suspending the program last year, you can be almost certain this number will be the tipping point this year. You can track the processing of applications on the AINP website: http://www.albertacanada.com/opportunity/immigrating/ainp-processing-inventory.aspx#2016maximums

Application Processing and Inventory– the AINP does not follow a first in first out processing policy across all streams. Instead of lumping all candidates into the same pool and processing on this basis, instead 20 processing officers spread out among the industry streams, which results in drastically different processing times depending upon the number of applicants in the queue.. If one has no applications, then an officer will shift to another streams.

Here is a breakdown of the volume of applications and corresponding processing times by industry stream:

Employer Driven Streams

Food and Beverage Processing Industry        Over 90           Feb 9 – 10, 2016

Foodservices Industry (Pilot Project)              Over 110         February 1 – 10, 2016

Hotel & Lodging Industry                                Over 80           February 9 – 10, 2016

International Graduate Category                   Over 2,550      June 2, 2014, and February 10, 2016

Manufacturing Industry                                  Over 40           February 4 – 10, 2016

Skilled Worker Category                                 Over 2,000      June 24, 2014, and Feb 10, 2016

Trucking Industry                                            Over 80           February 9 – 10, 2016

Strategic Recruitment Stream (SRS)

Compulsory & Optional Trades Category       Over 110         February 2 – 10, 2016

Engineering Occupations Category                Over 90           February 2 – 10, 2016

Post-Graduate Worker Category                    Over 750         January 28, 2016, and Feb 10, 2016

2. Top 10 Occupations:

• 6311 – Food Service Supervisors
• 6211 – Retail Sales Supervisors
• 6315 – Cleaning Supervisors
• 7511 – Transport Truck Drivers
• 6421 – Retail Salespersons
• 0621 – Retail and Wholesale Trade Managers
• 7284 – Plasterers, Drywall Installers and Finishers and Lathers
• 0631 – Restaurant and Food Services Managers
• 1311 – Accounting Technicians and Bookkeepers
• 1241 – Administrative Assistants

What we have learned from these statistics is that the worst possible candidate for the AINP is an international student working as a food service supervisor

4. High AINP Application Decline Rate – over 50% of AINP applications are rejected. The main reasons are that:

• Candidate no longer has a work permit (can’t rely on nomination to get WP)
• Down turn in economy, so employee has lost their job (may still hold a valid work permit)

5. Losing a Job after the AINP nomination has been issued

– could be a problem

– must be able to demonstrate the ability to economically establish in Alberta

So what does an AINP officer do when you lose your job while APR is in process – if lose job officers have 2 weeks to work with applicant to defend the nomination with IRCC.

AINP Looking to see if the applicant is making an effort to maintain employment AND officers will also look at occupational outlooks from an economic perspective.

If an occupation has week prospects, then likely chances are not great that the AINP will allow the APR to go forward. However, if job is in an area of high demand, than much more likely AINP will continue to support the nomination.

However, if applicant is changing employers and going from a skilled , to a semi-skilled position, this could be a problem. However, if the demotion is within the same industry, there may be some leniency.

• IRCC is turning applications down for people that don’t have worry

-slight increase in fraud, but just reflects people really want to stay – despite economic downturn

6. High Degree of certificate wastage

Why?

Applicants are also applying under EE

– EE get’s approved and then AINP nomination is wasted.

-Federal Gov’t doesn’t let the AINP re-use the certificates

-having discussions to get around this with Gov’t

7. IRCC challenging the nominations

– must demonstrate ability to economically  establish in the Province of Alberta

So if person is unemployed, how can AINP defend this situation if nomination issued 7 months and the person does not have a job

8. Standardization of the AINP program in process

Modernization of data base

Proposals before minister on how they can better streamline the application process

Looking at online application forms – shooting for this to happen by the end of the year (2016) or 2017

9. AINP Participation in Express Entry

–still looking at this and maybe 2017 enter EE pool.

-however, no enhanced allocation to the 5500, so this will impact in participation in EE

-if participate in EE without an increase to the 5500 allocation total, semi-skilled categories would lose access to PR. AINP is only pathway to PR for low skill workers. If a new EE category was created, then the semi-skill categories would have to give up some of their quota to create the new, skilled worker only, EE AINP stream.

Brad stated that Ideally – the AINP would like to get enhanced allocation from Feds before participating in EE.

10. Expect the AINP to close again in 2016

Yes, gaining 40 applications per day, so is very likely we will have a pause.

So why a General pause versus only closing select industry streams?

Brad Trefan stated it’s the most fair solution because everyone is affected equally.

[/spoiler]

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In this post, I’m going to share with you exactly what is going on with the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) today. For those of you who are counting on the AINP to be your ticket to remaining in Canada, I highly recommend that you read this article before you consider wagering your future on receiving a provincial nomination from the AINP.

For foreign workers living in Alberta, their experience with the  AINP has  been somewhat of a love hate relationship. For a number of years it was one of the most sought after permanent resident options available to TFWs in Alberta. I routinely directed my clients to its welcoming arms.

The program was well run, predictable, and fast. It was clearly the best and most secure way of obtaining PR status for TFWs living in Alberta. With low processing times and the ability to use the nomination to extend work permits, it was a no brainer.

Alberta immigration lawyers and consultants loved the AINP and what it could do for our clients.

Arguably, the AINP was the envy of all the PNPs across the country.

However, those glory years simply couldn’t last forever. As is the case with the best Canadian Immigration streams, the AINPs very success contributed directly to the rise and fall of the programs over the past few years.

AINP – How did we get to where we are today?

Now I don’t want to spend this entire post providing a history lesson on the AINP. However,  for anyone even thinking about submitting an application a little background on the program’s somewhat volatile history  will go a long way in helping you decide whether or not the AINP is for you.

It all started at the height of the Alberta boom (mid to late 2000s). Many of you will remember those days – less than 3% unemployment, construction projects stalled because companies couldn’t find enough workers to meet the demand.  Wages climbing, housing prices skyrocketing….essentially a time bomb waiting to explode. Alberta was desperate for foreign workers. The province simply could not get enough!

In order to keep the economic engine running in Alberta, the AINP opened up new programs to entice foreign nationals to immigrate to the  Province. The creation of the Family and H1B streams were a resounding success. In fact, they were, much too successful. The AINP was flooded with applications resulting in both of these programs being suspended shortly after their creation.

The ripple effect on all other AINP streams was immediate. With the Feds only allowing the AINP to issue approximately 5500 nominations each fiscal year, and the Family and H1B Streams eating up a large portion of the  allocation, processing times climbed to new heights. Nominations previously issued in only a few months were now taking almost a year. And remember, this was just for the nomination alone. The processing of the PR application through IRCC (then CIC), was still taking an additional year. The glory days of the AINP were officially over.

Speed of processing is probably the most important factor when a foreign national is choosing which PR program to use. PR programs that can support the extension of a work permit are probably the second most enticing factor. However, with the tremendous influx of applications,  the AINP no longer served either of these attractive purposes.

As is typically the case with an unattractive program, no one used it. When no one uses it, guess what happens to processing times?

You guessed it – they start to drop. And drop they did.

In 2013 a skilled worker under the Employer Driven stream could expect their AINP application to be processed in less than one month. With fewer people applying, the AINP was able to work their way through the thousands of Family and H1B stream applications. It took years, but in 2013, they succeeded. In fact, they succeeded too well.

They now faced a new problem.

With a new fiscal year ahead of them, they came to the realization that they were in danger of not being able to use up their 5500 allocation. If they didn’t issue these nominations, they were going to lose them. So what does any smart program do in this situation? You open the doors wide up and allow just about anyone the opportunity to qualify.

The Alberta Experience class was born. And just like the days of the Family and H1B streams, people responded. And boy did they respond. Thousands of applications came pouring in during the short 2 month window that the program was open. If it were not for the difficulty people had obtaining appointments to get their language assessed, the numbers could have been 2 to 3 times higher.

Once again, in a very short period of time, the AINP program had more applications than they could deal with.

In 2014 processing times continued to steadily climb – reaching new heights of up to 25 months. To complicate matters, with the launch of Express Entry in 2015, many TFWs in Alberta were caught off guard when they were suddenly faced with the reality they would not rank high enough to be granted an Invitation to Apply (ITA) under Express Entry.  Thousands of excellent candidates, who would have previously qualified for Canadian PR, were effectively shut out from the Federal permanent resident programs (FSW, CEC, FST).

Why? …..because they were working on LMIA exempt work permits.

For executives, professionals, international students, and many others, no LMIA meant no 600 points which meant no ITA which meant no ability to apply for PR through the Federal Streams.

I recommend you check out some of my comments related to this issue in a series of CBC News articles I was quoted in:

•  Express entry could sideswipe high-skilled foreign workers, posted December 16, 2014;
• Express entry gives first dibs to temporary foreign workers, posted September 29, 2015;
• Liberals shift immigration focus to family reunification, refugee resettlement, posted March 8, 2016
• Express entry review to ease path to permanent residency for foreign students, posted March 15, 2016

Without an LMIA supported job offer, many skilled TFWs were hooped……and that is exactly how it has played out to this day.So with the federal economic classes shunning many TFWs in Alberta, the only place to turn was the AINP.

However, for those working in Skill Level B positions, the consequences of being shunned by Express Entry was only the beginning. These TFWS were very quickly running out of time. With AINP processing times up to 25 months, there would be no chance of obtaining the nominations in time before the 4 year work permit rule became effective on April 1, 2015.

So without being too overdramatic, many Albertan TFWs very quickly saw their hopes of remaining in Canada dashed. As I stated previously, in late 2014 I saw all of this coming, so I wrote a blog on some of the options that were available to people facing the 4 year cap. The response to this article crashed my www.ht-llp.com  website – twice!

You can find this blog on the CanadianImmigrationPodcast.com website at the following link: http://www.canadianimmigrationpodcast.com/episode-2-top-5-ways-to-stay-in-canada/

I will note that there was a very brief reprieve granted to some TFWs with AINP applications in the queue in early 2015 who were allowed to extend their work permits beyond the April 1, 2015 deadline provided they were selected by the AINP. In an effort to try to accommodate some of the workers caught in this position, the AINP worked out an agreement with CIC to temporarily override the 4 year cap on work permits and the cap placed on the number of low wage workers that could be employed within a business. However, this grace period only affected a very narrow group of people and was by invitation only.

For all others, if they could not prove they had a valid work permit, their AINP application would be refused. Long gone were the days when the AINP issued nominations to assist with the extension of work permits. If the program was not so oversubscribed, I have to imagine that the AINP would be more facilitative in supporting work permit extensions today.

I would like to point out that there are still some options that may be available to extend a work permit after receiving an AINP nomination.

However, these options only exist if the AINP nomination has been extended. If not, you are out of luck!

So as 2015 unfolded, even more people turned to the AINP as their last ditch effort to remain in Canada because of the changes to the federal permanent resident process (see Express Entry). These additional applications pushed the AINP program to the brink. The only solution they had was to shut the entire program down. August 27, 2015 was a dark day for many TFWs working in Alberta.

With 5500 nominations available to them and 9,000 applications in the queue, continuing to let the processing times spiral was not realistic. The program remained suspended until it was reopened on January 27, 2016. Although some changes to the program were anticipated, the program re-opened with all previous streams intact. However, this could change without warning.

What you need to know about how the AINP Processes Applications.  

Because the AINP is not governed by the same legislative foundation as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (formerly Citizenship and Immigration Canada),  there is often very little warning when the AINP decides to make changes. The AINP’s Terms and Conditions spell this out very clearly.

For people submitting applications, there is no guarantee that your application will be accepted, nor processed in a timely fashion. In fact, the AINP does not even have to process applications on a first in – first out basis. They can pick and choose who they feel will create the best economic advantage for Alberta. Programs can be cancelled and applications returned with virtually no notice.

Because of the uncertainty within the AINP, my advice to clients is to always hedge your bets and consider applying for PR through every possible category you may be eligible for.  There are no restrictions on the number of PR programs you pursue at the same time. If eligible, go ahead and file your AINP application but  also submit your Express Entry profile into the pool. You just never know which may work.

Just don’t rely solely on the AINP as your PR solution!

However, when it comes to managing your expectations with the AINP, the best source of information is always the AINP’s Managing Director, Brad Trefan.

In Episode 12 of the Canadian Immigration Podcast I am going to share some insights given to our local CBA Immigration section from Brad himself. I had the pleasure of sitting at the feet of the man behind the curtain and intend to share what the future holds for the AINP – a program that has caused more than one grey hair to appear on my head!

Stay tuned, because you won’t want to miss the Episode 12.

Make sure to share your e-mail address with me so that you can be placed on my mailing list to be notified when new content is released. Click on this button at the top right side panel of this webpage:

Explore Additional Resources

• Report on Plans and Priorities 2016-2017: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/rpp/2016-2017/index.asp#a1.2.4

Question for our Next Podcast

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

I answer questions periodically on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. However, please remember that if your question is not general in nature, I will not be able to respond. You would need to book a paid consult through my law firm: www.ht-llp.com.

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One of the most common questions I get from foreign nationals seeking to immigrate to Canada is how to obtain a Job Offer from a Canadian company to support their Express Entry application. In this podcast I interview a good friend and colleague Emma Goerzen from Hire Standard who shares some essential tips and strategies on how foreign nationals can improve their chances of landing that elusive Job Offer.

With Invitations to Apply through Express Entry continuing to require above 450 CRS points, many foreign nationals are realizing that if they want any chance of getting drawn out of the Express Entry pool, they are going to need an LMIA based Job Offer from a Canadian company to support their Express Entry application.

The problem lies in exactly how a foreign national is going to be able to do this.

As a Canadian immigration lawyer one of the most common requests I get is for assistance in helping a foreign national find a Canadian company to offer them a job. There are some immigration law firms that do provide assistance with the recruitment process. However, my firm does not. We focus exclusively on the practice of immigration law and do not try to wear two hats at the same time.

There are many recruitment companies who have surfaced over the past decade in Alberta that made a lot of money connecting local companies with foreign sourced labour. However, with the downturn in the Canadian economy those days are gone until the economy picks back up again. So “for now,” foreign nationals are going to have to do much of the leg work themselves.

So how do you connect with a Canadian employer? And if you are able to connect, how do you convince them to hire you?

….I guess that’s the million dollar question.

Although Emma and I do not pretend to have all of the answers when it comes to landing a Job Offer (remember…this Job Offer must be supported by an LMIA) in Canada, we have put together our Top 5 List of Things Foreign Nationals Can Do to Increase their Chances of Landing a Job Offer.

As promised in the Podcast, Emma has also provided us with a sample resume template that will help to increase your chances of getting noticed by a Canadian employer. Click this link to download the document: Hire Standard Resume Form.

Thanks Emma!

[Tweet “Tips for securing a Job Offer for Express Entry“]

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Topics for our Next Podcast

Read the Transcript

You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

CIP S1 E11 – Interview with Emma Goerzen of Hire Standard

In this episode we will discuss one of the most common questions I get from people who are looking to immigrate to Canada.

How can I obtain a job offer from a Canadian company?

Why is this important?

When applying to immigrate to Canada as a skilled worker, the most common process is Express Entry.

[Explain how Express Entry works]

1. History of EE
2. Process for Candidates
3. Ranking System
4. Importance of an LMIA supported Job Offer
5. Job Matching (eHarmony for employers/employees) terribly ineffective

In my practice, I do not do any recruiting for companies, nor assist foreign nationals in finding jobs with companies.

My law practice is focused exclusively on Canadian Immigration

Because I spend a lot of time explaining to people that I can not help them with finding a job, I figured that the best thing I could do would be to bring in an expert in this field.

In todays Podcast  I have the pleasure of interviewing a good friend, Emma Goerzen. Emma is the co-owner of Hire Standard –

Southern Alberta’s Premier Executive Staffing & Background Screening Firm, specializing in criminal record checks, reference checks, employment, education & credit/ID verification, along with temporary staffing & special project placement

Emma and her Team at Hire Standard are extremely knowledgeable regarding all aspects of the hiring process. In fact, I recently used them to fill an important position within our firm and we were absolutely delighted with the result.

I have worked with Emma in the past on obtaining LMIAs for companies here in Alberta that have had to source TFWs to fill labour shortages.

Our firm has handled the LMIA process and Emma was retained by the company to source the foreign worker and manage the nightmarish recruitment campaign which includes the strict advertising requirements of Service Canada that are mandatory to obtain an LMIA.

In this episode of the Podcast, Emma is going to share some insight into the hiring process in Canada. She is going to offer some tips and strategies for foreign nationals who are looking to land that coveted LMIA based Job Offer with a Canadian company and a golden ticket to receiving an ITA within the Express Entry System.

So let’s jump into the interview with Emma Right now.

INTERVIEW

I’m here in my office today with a good friend and colleague Emma Goerzen. Emma is the Co-Owner of Hire Standard, Sothern Alberta’s premier executive staffing and background screening firm.

Welcome Emma. Thanks for joining me today.

Tell us a little bit about Hire Standard. What do you do ?

Hire Standard – Permanent Staffing & Background Screening: http://www.hire-standard.com

Whether you’re looking for an Executive Member of your team or a Temporary employee to make sure your business doesn’t stop, our commitment to fit and quality never waivers. Benefits of working with us include:

1. Process: We hold fast to our stringent prescreening process – it serves as a series of checkpoints from which applicants either pass through or fall off.

2. Insight: Our staff have the insight to weed out resumes that an untrained eye may be overwhelmed or deceived by.

3. Dedication: We will leave no stone unturned. We want to find the best employee for your company and we work diligently until we do

4. Tempo: We pride ourselves on our ‘dog on a bone’ work style. We recognize that most quality employees, a.) don’t stay unemployed for long and b.) don’t want to work for an employer that drags their heels.

5. Experience: We are familiar with the local market and types of applicants you are likely to receive. Based on our experience we can narrow down the candidates in a short time so you only see the best.

6. Back Up: We offer a 3 Month Replacement Guarantee to ensure that everyone is comfortable and confident.

Top 5 List of Things a Foreign National can do to improve their chances of getting a Job Offer.

1. Look for Jobs in the right places
   • Friends and Family – best source
   • Online Websites:
     • Job Bank
       • Job Match Registration (eHarmony)
     • Monster
     • Workopolis
     • Kijiji.ca
     • Indeed
     • Industry Associations – appropriate to credentials

2. Ability to Communicate in English
   • Excellent communication skills, written, spoken etc.
   • Same Standard applies to Canadians as well
     • Talk about HT recruitment and excluded candidates due to poor English – written etc.
   • Safety Issue
3. Good Resume – this is what grabs the attention of the company
   • Not too long – no more than 2 pages
   • Outlining Education and Experience that is relevant to the position
   • Stable work history
   • Grammatically Correct (demonstrate good English on your resume)
   • SHOW NOTES: include sample of a great Canadian resume
4. Honesty and Integrity
   • – much fraud in order to get the job, so lack of trust can be fatal
   • be up front about any potential issues – if have necessary skills and experience, Canadian companies will work with that, but if you are dishonest, you will be rejected.
   • Talk about guy from Costa Rica
     • Prior refused visa, but not disclosed to us
     • Resulted in his rejection as a candidate – after we obtained LIA

5. Must present well in an Interview Setting (Skype Interviews)
   • Must have good internet connectivity to support Skype interviews (reflection on person)
   • Communication Skills (speak English)
   • Know about the Canadian Company – do your research
   • Dress Appropriately
     • Don’t wear a t-shirt saying “I love cannabis”
     • For women – don’t show cleavage

Thanks so much Emma. If people want to reach out to you for more information how do the listeners find you?

www.hiringforyou.com

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

If any of you immigration lawyers or consultants out there listening to this Podcast are going to be attending the Canadian Bar Association’s Annual Immigration Law Conference in Vancouver next month, please attend the session I will be presenting with my good friends and colleagues Kevin Zemp and Marina Sedai. If you have not yet registered, you are unfortunately out of luck as the conference has been sold out. Info on the session is set out below:

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Have you ever wondered what drives the policy decisions made by the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)? Or maybe you just want a better idea as to the direction the Department is planning on heading in the coming year? Well look no further than the 2016/2017 Annual Report on Plans and Priorities for the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

In this post, I am going to share my thoughts on where I feel IRCC is headed in 2016 based on what has been shared within the Report. Because I am in a giving mood, I am going to provide a breakdown of the most important aspects of the Report so that you can save time doing more important things with your life ….

….like watching Heartland.

It’s definitely one of my family’s favourite television shows. One day I’m going to move out into the country, chase cows on my Quarter Horse and never pick up another government report in my life. Alas, that won’t likely be for another 20 years.

In this blog I’ve done the work for you. No need to read the Report. Spend 5 minutes reading my summary and you will be able to sound really intelligent as you wow your friends with incredible insights into the amazingly unpredictable and constantly changing world of Canadian Immigration.

Minister’s Message

In this Report, there has been a very clear attempt by Minister John McCallum and his department to distance themselves from the somewhat detached and economically fixed policies of the Conservatives to a more humanitarian and compassionate approach to immigration planning and priorities. At the forefront of these priorities is the reunification of families and the re-establishment of Canada as a welcoming place for refugees.

Aside from the fact the Report allocates an overwhelming 45% of the annual immigration budget to newcomer settlement and integration, I think the best indicator of the mindset of Minister McCallum can be found in the following statement within the Minister’s Message:

As Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, I am confident that the plans and priorities described in this report will support the Government of Canada’s commitment to building a strong immigration system that is grounded in compassion and economic opportunity for all, while continuing to protect the health and security of all Canadians.

New Commitments

This infusion of compassion can be clearly seen within the following new commitments that are to be, for the most part, implemented by March 2017:

• restoration of the Interim Federal Health Program Benefits;
• restoration of the age of dependants back to 22 from 19;
• re-examination of the 2 year conditional PR for sponsored spouses
• modification of the Express Entry process to give applicants with Canadian siblings a greater chance of qualifying (I suspect they will likely accomplish this by adjusting the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) to allocate additional points to candidates with Canadian siblings); and
• removal of the $1000 LMIA application fee for families seeking to hire caregivers for family members with physical or mental disabilities.

Ongoing Commitments

The Liberals also intend to continue forward with the following initiatives previously announced:

• repeal of Citizenship Act provisions that are unfair to certain Canadians and permanent residents;
• reduction of processing times of Citizenship applications, and family sponsorship; and
• review of visa requirements for some countries (e.g. Mexico)

What to look for within Economic Immigration

In short – not much change.

On the economic front, the Liberals do not seem to have nearly the appetite to work on these programs as they do within the family and refugee classes. There was very little within the report to suggest anything will change for international students or many temporary foreign works who were hit the hardest by the release of Express Entry in 2015.

There was token lip service to the value of each of these groups within Canadian immigration policy, but in the end, nothing was done to address the significant barriers they face in qualifying for permanent resident status in Canada.  Prior to the implementation of Express Entry, most Post Grad Work Permit Holders had clear pathways to PR status in Canada. This has now all changed. Only the elite within the ranks of PGWP holders will ever be able to qualify for PR in Canada…unless something is done.

The Report seems to acknowledge this fact where it quietly acknowledges that only:

“Some PGWP holders will also be eligible to apply for permanent residence through the Canadian Experience Class or other programs.”

In another section, temporary foreign workers and international students are once again given a lukewarm endorsement regarding their importance within the Liberal’s immigration plan:

“Some temporary workers and international students represent a key talent pool to be retained as immigrants.”

The above statement sends a very clear message that most TFWs and International Students are simply not needed, nor wanted as permanent residents of Canada.

Many international students were hoping to see some modifications to the Express Entry Comprehensive Ranking System so as to award International Graduates with extra CRS points for having graduated with a Canadian post secondary educational credential. Unfortunately, the Report is completely silent on this important issue.

When it comes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program in Canada, less emphasis has been placed on the transition of TFWs to PR status while much more emphasis has now been placed on employer compliance and the implementation of the new Administrative Monetary Penalty (AMP) regime.

After all is said and done, it is hard for me not to believe that the whole AMP regime is, once again, nothing more than a scare tactic for employers.

Although it is easy to see how an AMP regime could help to increase employer compliance, if the government had simply enforced the program in existence back in 2011, many of these measures would likely not have been necessary today.

International Experience Class

Some additional changes are expected to occur within the International Experience Class. Processing of IEC applications may no longer be first in, first out, but likely follow the path of Express Entry and require candidates to be drawn from a pool and given an Invitation to Apply for a work permit. So for those of you who are rushing to get your working holiday work permit applications processed for the summer, getting your application submitted first may not necessarily result in you getting a Canadian work permit.

Lifting of Visa Requirements for Mexico

The Liberals have also been promising for some time now that they intend to remove the visa restrictions for citizens of Mexico, and other countries. Well, this has once again been alluded to within this Report. I must admit that I am a little curious as to which other countries the government is contemplating opening our borders to. If only they could work out the issues stalling out the Free Trade negotiations with the European Union and Asia.

Softening of the Ruthless Approach to Application Processing

Finally, for all of you who have been languishing in the darkest abyss because of the downright ruthless approach IRCC has taken with respect to the processing of immigration applications – there may be some light in the horizon. One of the ongoing priorities outlined in the Report is “Enhancing Service Excellence.”

Now doesn’t that just sound wonderful?

With IRCC’s downright cruel “one touch” policy to the processing of applications, the following list of planned initiatives provides some clarity as to what they have in mind:

• easy, efficient, timely services to increase international competitiveness
• a continued push to online filing
• increased communication with clients
• a file process that is simplified and automated.

I’m all for automation, communication and simplification; however, with IRCC’s current approach, I have serious reservations as to whether or not “compassion” will ever find a place within the adjudication of economic class applications.

My hope is that this new Immigration Plan will be able to achieve its purpose by creating an immigration system that “balances compassion with economic opportunity” and provides equal chance at immigration for temporary foreign workers, international students, family members and refugees alike.

Make sure to share your e-mail address with me so that you can be placed on my mailing list to be notified when new content is released. Click on this button at the top right side panel of this webpage:

Explore Additional Resources

• Report on Plans and Priorities 2016-2017: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/rpp/2016-2017/index.asp#a1.2.4

Upcoming speaking engagements you might like to attend

I will be speaking at the follow upcoming events. If you would like to register, please click on the banner below for further information. Let me know if you will be attending as I would love to meet you in person.

• April 8, 2016 – Express Entry Part II – 4:00pm – 5:15pm

Question for our Next Podcast

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

I answer questions periodically on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. However, please remember that if your question is not general in nature, I will not be able to respond. You would need to book a paid consult through my law firm: www.ht-llp.com.

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Have you ever wondered what goes through a Canadian Immigration Officer’s mind when they are assessing a spousal sponsorship application? In this episode I am joined by my good friend and colleague Billie Young as we walk you through a somewhat outlandish case study in order to illustrate the essential do’s and don’ts of spousal sponsorship.

In this episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast, I play the role of Immigration Lawyer (Good Cop) and Billie Young plays the role of….. well, herself I guess (x-immigration officer / Bad Cop) as we go through a somewhat over-the-top case scenario of a Canadian man who is sponsoring his true love from the United Kingdom.

Billie and I had a lot of fun doing this Podcast as we debated the genuineness of this fictitious fact pattern. I attempted to use every ounce of my advocacy skills to convince Officer Young to approve the application. However, as the facts of their story slowly unveiled, it became increasingly difficult for me to win her over and convince her that this application was legit.

After a review of the immediate facts from their application, Officer Young decides she needs more information, so she sends a CBSA officer (in-land immigration enforcement) to the happy couple’s home to do a “bed check“. What the officer found was shocking! What you’ll learn about inland investigations will also be enlightening.

[NOTE: please remember this is all just a concoction of our imaginations. This is NOT the Border Security reality show on the National Geographic Channel.]

I did my best to draw out the positives of their relationship while minimizing the negatives; however, when Officer Young decided to call the couple in for an immigration interview, I really had my work cut out for me.

If you want to find out Officer Young’s final decision, you are just going to have to listen! 

In order to make it worth your while, we include at the end of the podcast, our Top 5 Tips for Strengthening Your Spousal Sponsorship Application.

[Tweet “Canadian Spousal Sponsorship from an x-immigration officer perspective“]

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Topics for our Next Podcast

Read the Transcript

You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

PODCAST SPOUSAL SPONSORSHIP CASE SCENARIO

Background Information

Sponsor Robert is a Canadian citizen male age 55

Applicant Debra is a citizen of the UK female age 30

Met online through dating website May 2015

First time they met in person November 2015 and were married same month in the UK.

Debra was unemployed in the UK and minimal savings.

Robert – President of XYZ Fabrication

Debra has been refused entry into Canada as a non genuine visitor on a previous occasion.

Are now interested in submitting an application from within Canada under the SCLPC

Supporting Factors. 

joint bank account opened at TD Canada Trust bank. Statement provided is from December 2015 to present and lists both Robert and Debra’s name.

Utility bills are in the name of both Robert and Debra

The residential home is owned by Robert.

Statement of coverage from Alberta Health Care is addressed to Robert and provides coverage to Debra as a dependent.

Robert’s adult  children from previous marriage are aware of his new relationship.

Both Robert and Debra share same religious beliefs (Christian)

Both are fluent in English.

Factors weighing negatively not supporting bona fide marriage: 

do not share a bed together. Debra stays upstairs in her own room while sponsor has his own room on the main floor.

during the interview, there were no displays of affection toward each other, and this was also noted by lack of photos.

they do not have any children together and no plans for future family given the age of sponsor.

Over 20 years age difference

only two photos’ provided at interview and they were not of Debra and Robert together.

No formal engagement ceremony, family and friends of neither the Debra nor Robert attending the wedding.

the relationship and recent marriage has been kept a secret from the majority of their family and friends. Is has not been publicly declared and has been kept from friends and family only children of sponsor know.

there are no wills or beneficiary statements for either Debra or Robert for each other.

Factors concerning couples credibility that would need to be explained at interview possibly: 

both Robert and Debra said that they decided to get married so it would be easier to get across the border since Debra was refused entry previously. They were married less than a month later.

-was not truthful in answering border officers questions when entering Canada.

also Debra stated in the interview that as far as the family knows she is Robert’s caregiver [except her children, they know the truth about their relationship].

Debra has been reported for working without authorization by CBSA, and was advised by CBSA prior to entering Canada the requirements needed to be allowed to work in Canada.

The application for permanent residence supported Debra’s credentials as a personal care attendant but limited documentation was provided supporting her relationship to the sponsor.

also the Debra’s APR submissions went into great detail providing additional information about her educational credentials and experience as a personal care attendant and again very little information describing her relationship to Robert, her spouse.

during the interview, Debra was more upset about not being able to work in Canada at the present time, and possibly not being able to go home and visit because she would not have the money. When asked what would happen if application was refused calmly replied would move back home with her parents. When Robert was asked what he would do if the application was refused, he too replied that he was not sure

Applicants’ Opportunity to respond to concerns about relationship (after interview)

Explain lack of photos’: was because more recent photos’ of the two of them together are all boxed up but can provide them. Note: be prepared to provide photos and considerably more information to support relationship not within the application.

Is the age difference a problem: No Robert encourages Debra to go out on her own and exercise, play sports with her friends, because he is not able to keep up. Both do not believe that age is a factor.

Explain why did not answer officers’ questions truthfully when entering Canada: they were both tired, and just wanted to get home.

Explain why their relationship is a secret: they have not wanted to make their relationship public because Debra’s parents would not understand. Robert does not have a lot of close friends and his children were the only individuals he felt important to let know about his new relationship.

Why do you stay in separate rooms: Debra has always slept alone but they are still intimate.

Top 5 Things to Strengthen your spousal sponsorship application:

1. Include lots of supporting documents
   • Joint bank account
   • Beneficiary of employment benefits
   • Beneficiary on life insurance policy
   • Joint lease
   • Joint ownership in a home
2. Include lots of photos
   • IRCC may say photos can be altered; however, hard to fake different hair styles and a series of photos over a large period of time
   • Trips taken together
   • Make sure photos are of both people
3. Get to know each other’s family and friends
   • Have them provide reference letters confirming they know both of you and that you are a genuine and loving couple
4. Explain away any problem areas and how they are not a problem in your relationship
   • Age
   • Religious/ Cultural Background
   • Different language
   • Immigration incentive to getting married
5. Don’t rush off and file your application until you have a track record within your relationship
   • If met online and got married shortly after first in person meeting, ensure multiple in-person meetings before rush off to file application
   • Don’t blindly collect all of your supporting documents all within the week prior to submitting your application (i.e., wills, beneficiary on life insurance etc.)

[/spoiler]

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Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

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If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Have you ever wondered what exactly happens with your immigration application after it is submitted? Are there certain things you can do to improve your chances of success? Are there things you can do to hurt your chances of success? In this episode, we are going to pull the curtain back on CIC and share insight on the application process from an X-Immigration officer’s perspective.  

In this podcast I had the rare opportunity to interview Billie Young who worked within Citizenship and Immigration Canada for over 11 years before joining our office as an Immigration Technical Adviser. Billie has now completed her Immigration Consultant Certification and is expanding her practice within our law firm, Holthe Tilleman LLP.

Billie shared some phenomenal insight on what it was like working within the department in a variety of capacities. She also pulled the curtain back on the mindset of an officer when adjudicating applications at a number of different locations including the border, at the airport and at the inland offices of Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

In this podcast, we covered a number of areas including:

1. A day in the life of an immigration officer.
2. How entries are treated differently at the border versus the airport.
3. An inside look at the inland immigration enforcement process.
4. An immigration officer’s mindset when adjudicating applications.
5. Tips on what an officer likes to see in an immigration application.
6. Advice on what an officer does not like to see in an application.

[Tweet “Learn do’s and don’ts when filing CIC applications from an x-immigration officer’s perspective!“]

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Explore Additional Resources

In this episode we mentioned the following resources:

• Canada Border Services Agency: http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/menu-eng.html 
• Immigration Enforcement: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/enforcement/index.asp
• Coutts Port of Entry (CBSA):  http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/do-rb/time-temp/646-eng.html
• Edmonton Airport (CBSA): http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/do-rb/offices-bureaux/637-eng.html

Canadian Immigration Institute

We just completed our very first Pilot Course on how to submit your Express Entry profile (Phase 1). It was a resounding success. We will be releasing within the next two weeks,  Phase 2 of our Express Entry Pilot Course which will cover how to file your permanent resident application after receiving an ITA.

If you would like to register for the course, please subscribe to my mailing list in the top right corner of this site and you will be the first to receive notification when the new pilot course is released.

Questions for our Next Podcast

Read the Transcript

You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

Mark’s Questions:

What got you into immigration in the first place?

Tell us a little bit about some of the different jobs you have had working within Canadian Immigration.

So what made you decide to leave your position with immigration to enter private practice within a Canadian law firm?

Tell me a little bit about the day in the life of an immigration officer processing applications?

I’d like to give some real value to our listeners today, so let’s dive into the actual adjudication process of assessing applications.

What were some of most common mistakes people made when submitting immigration applications?

Processing times tend to be quite lengthy when matters are referred to a local office, you must have had a lot of inquiries from people regarding their applications. People have a tendency to think the more you call and inquire, the more attention an officer will give to your application? How did you deal with people who made repeated inquiries into their applications?

Obviously, immigration applications are approved provided the foreign national meets the requirements of the visa category. However, can you give the audience some helpful tips on preparing their applications in a way immigration officers like?

Billie’s Show Notes:

I have worked for over 11 years within Citizenship and Immigration Canada in a variety of capacities. My career within CIC started as a summer student (1998) at the port of entry in Coutts, Alberta. I continued on as a senior immigration examining officer at the Edmonton International airport, then moved on to take up an enforcement officer role in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and continue providing services at the airport in Saskatoon as well. I recently completed my career with CIC as the admissions officer in the Lethbridge, Alberta office prior to its closing in 2012.

Now in the private sector I have acted as a strategic resource to the business immigration team in assisting clients in navigating the complexities that exist within the department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. I continue to utilize my past experience as an adjudicating officer to enhance the quality of immigration applications submitted by our clients and provide direct support to our staff in communicating with CIC when difficult and challenging situations arise. On October 22, 2015 I became a regulated Canadian immigration consultant.

Officer’s Thought process: 

Discretionary-An officer can look at the same case with the same evidence and come to different conclusions, with both decisions being right. As long as an officer can justify there decision, and there decision is based on fact not opinion they are good to go.

Threshold-With each officer they eventually determine their own threshold, usually applied to H&C’s and TRP so the very discretionary LOB. In most cases an officer knows what they will let go and approve in these cases, and what they will refuse. Again nothing you can do to change their mind in most cases and by arguing with them only makes them fight back harder as well since they often do not like to be wrong.

Policy based-Even though are decisions are based on IRPA, officers look at the policy manuals for direction and how IRPA should be applied in each LOB. I highly recommend when submitting applications and preparing your submission letter you reference the policy manuals to support your application because that is what an officer will do when making a decision on your clients file.

Dealing with lawyers and or Immigration Consultants-For the most part officers in the larger centers do not want to be bothered directly by the client or the lawyer in our case, unless again processing times have passed, or lines of communication have been opened by CIC, so they are requesting further submissions or interview. It is my understanding that within CIC Calgary for example (or at least it used to be) that all use of representative inquiries are mostly dealt with by the supervisors unless as stated previously the officer has reached out to the lawyer or super

For example in Lethbridge when I was admissions officer I dealt with all the lines of business (LOB) within CIC, from temporary residents VR,WP,SP,TRP, to PR applications, spousals, H&C, PR card investigations, criminality reviews,  and inland refugee claimants. However that was not the case in the Calgary office. Again it comes down to resources, they did not have enough. As well officers were assigned to specific LOB, which is good they become experts in certain areas, e.g. the former TFWU, but the problem is when you deal retirements, transfers, layoffs, and office closures, you now have officers that only are used to doing one LOB trying to learn multiple LOB with limited resources, and a backlog of files. I am telling you this so again you can see what an officer is dealing with, take a minute to see it from there perspective, and now use may be able to you this to your advantage when submitting your application.

Internal working

CIC/CBSA-The communication and partnership is not as close since CBSA came to be. CIC and CBSA are to separate departments even though they are intertwined.

O/S offices-It is difficult to be able to speak with an office within the visa offices even as an officer working for CIC in Canada it can be difficult to get a timely response from the visa office. The reality is they do not have the resources to keep up with the volume. Therefore it is not a priority to answer inquiries that are within the processing times. At the POE you will want to consider that with  new officers are not heavily trained in IRPA. As well at the POE they are not as familiar and often don’t  know the inland procedures regarding most LOB. They focus on clients that are coming into Canada for the fist time as visitors, or finalizing landings, or pre-approved applications from the visa office. I say this just to keep in mind if you are thinking about going to  the border  to have your application adjudicated unless it is very straight forward LMO based WP ect, you are taking a risk. You also want to make sure that you even are eligible to travel to the border and request your application be adjudicated upon re-entry.

Challenge-Challenge the cases you feel warrant it. This will govern the way CIC approaches cases in the future if cases are won in the federal court. Again make sure it is worth it because we all know it is time consuming and in the end if we lose will only hurt the client.

Likes and Dislikes when I was an officer:

• • Keep the submissions short and sweet. For me I did not need to see a condensed version of the information already provided in the application. Submission should be brief, and used to provide clarification that the application may not allow, or that is required to help build a more sold case for your client when needed. Spousal’s for example-two step approach:

• o First look at the sponsor, and sections of IRPA that apply. Does the sponsor qualify;
• o Then look at the relationship between sponsor an PA-legal marriage, as to whether or not it meets common law;
• o Now is it genuine this is all first stage review for an officer. Once the officer is satisfied the sponsor and PA meet the requirements they approve it at stage 1 and move on to the basic screening of inadmissibilities such as criminality, medical, security;

Again this is how I believe we should approach putting together an application for a client in these stages, they way an officer would review them. However, a safe way to put the application together is by following the document checklist.

• • Inquiries, keep them to a minimum, make sure when calling in a favor it is warranted, urgent, and not simply just to fast track the processing times because the client is impatient .
• • Do not approach an officer as if you are entitled, and you are a lawyer therefore you get special treatment. As it is splattered all over the provincial websites, and CIC’s a representative is not necessary.
• • Exhaust all possible options, like contacting the call centre, before inquiring to the CIC/CPC office directly.
• • Tell the truth.
• • Do not abuse the CIC system, try to comply with the officers instructions, CBSA/CIC as it will only help to facilitate in the future, even if the desired outcome takes a little longer to get it is more likely to happen if the client cooperates.
• • It is sometimes just best to comply with the officers request and accept the decision that was made if of course their was no error in law.

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

I answer questions each week on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love