However, what if you never intended to misrepresent your case or did not even know that you have misrepresented something? This is just one of the issues that I have discussed with Rekha McNutt in today’s episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast where we touched on the various aspects of appealing the removal of PRs for misrepresentation.

Rekha practices primarily in immigration law.  She has extensive experience with temporary resident visas, express entry, federal skilled workers, Canadian experience class, Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program, family class sponsorships, refugee claims, pre-removal risk assessments, and in-Canada humanitarian and compassionate permanent residence applications.

Rekha has focused much of her practice on Federal Court Judicial Review applications of various types of negative immigration-related decisions.

Rekha had appeared before the Alberta Provincial Court and the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta.  She has also appeared extensively before the Federal Court of Canada and Immigration Tribunals such as the Immigration Division, Refugee Protection Division, and the Immigration Appeal Division.

Rekha is the past-Chair (2015-2016 & 2016-2017) of the Southern Alberta Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, Immigration Section.

In this episode Rekha and I had an awesome and engaging conversation about misrepresentation and the consequences of such wrongdoings. It is surprising that there are so many ways how almost anyone can become a victim of their own carelessness, lack of understanding of the immigration processes or even reports filed by their close circle of friends or relatives. Rekha gave a full explanation of what misrepresentation really is and how serious and challenging the consequences may get if IRCC believes there was a misrep. Additionally, in this episode we discussed the following:

• what is the misrepresentation;
• examples of Innocent Misrepresentation;
• misrepresentation on inadmissibility vs. misrepresentation on eligibility;
• different ways IRCC finds out about cases of misrep;
• fairness letter and Section 44 reports;
• the process of removal of permanent residents for misrepresentation;
• different ways to fight your case if Immigration Division issues a removal order.

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 via your affiliate link

• Additional Resources:

  • Rekha’s firm: http://www.caronpartners.com/
  • How to contact Rekha: RMcNutt@caronpartners.com 
  • Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com/

Topics for our Next Podcast

If you have a suggestion for topics we could cover in the Podcast, please drop me a line at mholthe@holthelaw.com. If you know of anyone that would be interested in coming on the Podcast as a guest, please send them my way. share on facebook, share on twitter, share on LinkedIn

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 on iTunes and Spotify

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

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

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

Topics for our Next Podcast

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 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“]

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]

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.

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