HomeAuthor Catherine Sas, K.C.

Immigration fraud has always plagued the immigration application process. But in more recent years, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) have combined forces with the RCMP and police to pursue flagrant instances of fraud and abuse.

In our immigration law office, we are regularly consulted by people who have been refused applications to Canada whether temporary or permanent, overseas or from within Canada. In most cases, we are able to succeed with a re-application.

One of the challenges that prospective immigrants to Canada face is to secure employment in Canada prior to applying for permanent residence. In the Express Entry (EE) program’s Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scoring criteria, after education and language proficiency, the factor that garners the most point is Canadian work experience. How does one qualify for a job in Canada from abroad? It is indeed challenging for prospective workers abroad to obtain a work permit in Canada without first being offered a position by a Canadian employer.

A popular pathway for immigration to Canada for business people is the Owner/Operator (“O/O”) Labour Market Impact Assessment (“LMIA”) category. Business persons seeking to purchase or establish a business under the O/O program could apply to Service Canada for an LMIA which would entitle them to apply for a work permit of up to two years. At the introduction of Canada’s Express Entry (“EE”) immigration selection program in January of 2015, the O/O LMIA became a popular immigration strategy for many business persons as it would qualify as Arranged Employment and garner 600 points in the EE scoring process and often lead to permanent residence for the O/O LMIA work permit holder.