Canadian Immigration Lawyer Blog

Blog How do I immigrate to Canada?How to Get a Canadian Student Visa Working in CanadaSchool Days Bring Many Ways for Immigration of International Students

15 September 2013by Catherine Sas, K.C.

Fall’s “Back to School” season not only represents the start of another school year but also provides many opportunities for international students who are seeking to study and ultimately live and/or work in Canada. Opportunities for international students have changed dramatically over the years. Historically, it was often difficult for international students, who are seeking temporary entry into Canada, to demonstrate that they had a genuine intention to enter Canada on a temporary basis and yet at the same time have a desire to remain in Canada permanently at the end of their studies. Furthermore, students were historically limited in employment opportunities to only being able to work on campus. Recent changes have seen a dramatic shift in philosophy toward international students as Canada’s Immigration Department has come to realize that international students tend to make excellent workers and permanent immigrants who are able to establish themselves in Canada with considerable success.

Blog Family Reunification in CanadaMinister Kenney Welcomes Parents and Grandparents Once Again

7 July 2013by Catherine Sas, K.C.

At the time the program was frozen, there was a backlog of approximately 165,000 cases pending for consideration and processing levels at that time were 15,000 applications per year. In November of 2011 Minister Kenney increased the processing levels to 25,000 parent and grandparent applications per year and also introduced the new Super Visa to allow parents and grandparents to come to Canada on a more flexible basis for up to 10 years and allow individuals to stay in Canada for up to 2 years at a time. The Minister’s recent announcement introduces Phase 2 of the “Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification” and is targeting even faster processing times to avoid further backlogs in the future, and ensure that Canadian families have the sufficient financial resources to support their family members for a longer period of time. This second phase of the “Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification” features the following:

Blog Canadian Immigration Programs How do I immigrate to Canada?Working in CanadaThe Doors Are Open: Canada Invites Economic Immigrants!

28 May 2013by Catherine Sas, K.C.

Over the past five months, Canada's Minister of Immigration has either created, modified or re-opened 5 separate categories for immigration to Canada in the economic program. This signals a strong message to the world that the doors are open for immigrants to Canada and also demonstrates the Canadian government's recognition of the significance that immigrants play in Canada's overall economic growth.

Blog Canadian Immigration Programs How do I get a work visa for Canada?Working in CanadaCanada’s Skilled Worker Program Re-Opens It’s Doors!

13 May 2013by Catherine Sas, K.C.

Canada's skilled worker program for permanent residence was re-opened on May 4, 2013 after several months of being suspended. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney closed the program in June of 2012 to further address a backlog of applications as well as to overhaul the program. The skilled worker category has been the cornerstone of Canada's economic immigration program for decades but in recent years had built up a backlog of nearly one million applications that were often taking in excess of five years to process. The newly re-introduced skilled worker program is designed to allow processing to occur far more quickly. In addition the new program changes shift emphasis from education and foreign work experience to language proficiency and Canadian work experience with the goal of enhancing an immigrant's ability to integrate into the Canadian workplace more quickly.

Blog Canadian Immigration Programs How do I immigrate to Canada?Leveling the Playing Field: The Elimination of Discretion in the Immigration Process

16 April 2013by Catherine Sas, K.C.

Discretion has always played a significant part in Canada’s immigration system. Historically immigration officers have been able to use their discretion to assess people’s skills, qualifications, and language abilities in considering various criteria for immigration or citizenship applications. However in recent years there has been a consistent trend to eliminate an officer’s ability to subjectively assess applicants and instead reply on objective third party assessments.

Blog Canadian Immigration Programs How do I immigrate to Canada?Citizenship Applicants Face Harsh Reality With Need To Prove Language Proficiency

8 April 2013by Catherine Sas, K.C.

The media was abuzz last week with several examples of people who had their citizenship applications rejected for failing to provide adequate proof of english language proficiency. The particular injustice highlighted in these refusals was that in these cases the individuals were born in the U.K. and had spent almost their entire lives in Canada pursuing their educations and careers in English in Canada yet had their applications refused for failing to provide acceptable proof of their language ability.

Blog Canada Immigration Lawyers Canadian Immigration Programs How do I get a work visa for Canada?Working Illegally in Canada: Who’s to Blame – Employers or Employees?

25 March 2013by Catherine Sas, K.C.

The topic of illegal workers has been featured prominently in the news recently with Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) in Vancouver conducting raids on several construction sites with television cameras in tow. This has drawn considerable media attention and has resulted in the BC Civil Liberties Association filing a formal complaint with the Privacy Commissioner against CBSA for filming migrant workers for a reality television series.

Blog Canada Immigration Lawyers Canadian Immigration Programs How do I immigrate to Canada?Why Honesty Really Matters in the Immigration Process

11 March 2013by Catherine Sas, K.C.

People often ask me what the most serious immigration infraction is. They expect that I will say something like, “working illegally, living underground without status, or being deported” but actually it’s the consequences for misrepresentation. The Immigration Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) sets out the criteria for misrepresentation as well as the penalties which are significant and can include loss of status, permanent separation from family members, fines and even jail time. Furthermore the trend in the past few years for Canada Immigration is a zero tolerance policy towards misrepresentation with penalties likely to increase.

Blog How do I get a work visa for Canada?How do I immigrate to Canada?How to Get a Canadian Student VisaThe International Experience Class: Canada Welcomes the World’s Youth

22 February 2013by Catherine Sas, K.C.

The International Experience Class (IEC) is a new name for a familiar program known as the International Youth Program and International Exchange Programs. Both of these programs allowed for the exchange of young people to come and visit Canada and work to support themselves while they visited and became familiar with the country. The Canadian government approved the creation of an international travel and exchange program in 1967 to allow for the exchange of young people between partner nations to enhance relationship building between those countries. The IEC program is more commonly known as the Working Holiday or Student Work Abroad Program (SWAP). The recently re-named International Experience Canada program maintains/continues Canada’s objective of fostering close bilateral relations between participating nations through cultural exchanges that allow for youth to obtain a mutual understanding about different cultures through overseas international travel and work experience. Because these agreements are reciprocal, not only can young people come to Canada, but Canadian youth are also able to travel and obtain valuable cultural and work experience abroad.

Blog How do I get a work visa for Canada?How do I immigrate to Canada?Working in CanadaCanada’s Business Immigration Program To Be Back In Business With The New Start-Up Visa

15 February 2013by Catherine Sas, K.C.

On January 24, 2013, Minister Kenney awakened the sleeping business immigrant program with the introduction of the New Start-Up Visa, the first of its kind in the world! The Start-Up Visa program seeks to connect immigrant entrepreneurs with private sector organizations who will provide the business and financial support necessary to enhance the chances of success of the new start up business venture.

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