In our immigration law practice, my partner Victor Ing and I are routinely surprised by the clients who contact us at the eleventh hour seeking our advice as to how we can solve their immigration problems. Whether it is extending a work or study permit, obtaining an LMIA to support a work permit application or submitting an H and C application for permanent residency or even making a Stay of Removal application to the Federal Court, it is remarkable how many people leave their immigration matters to the last minute. As the quote above from John Sculley clearly states, “timing is life is everything”. That may be even more true in the Canadian immigration realm where it can result in coming to or remaining in Canada. Let me share a few real-life examples with you.
OBTAINING A LABOUR MARKET IMPACT ASSESSMENT (LMIA) FOR A WORK PERMIT
The base-line application for a work permit in Canada is the LMIA application process. Generally, neither employers nor applicants really understand the timing of this process. It can be lengthy and even six months may be insufficient to complete and submit an LMIA application and obtain a work permit. To start with there needs to be a minimum of 28 days of advertising for an employment position before an LMIA application can be submitted. Once the advertising is completed, then there is the LMIA application process itself which can take 2-4 months. Once approved and depending upon where the applicant is located, you may need to deal with local processing times for a work permit application which in many countries can take 6-12 months or more for processing. So, planning ahead is essential. The same applies for persons already in Canada who want to maintain and extend their work permits from within Canada. Six months is not too soon to start this process and will provide considerable relief from stress.
COMING TO CANADA AS A GRADUATE STUDENT
With caps on internationals students, restrictions on open spousal work permits and extremely high Express Entry scores required to qualify for permanent residence, many international students are considering graduate studies as a means of coming to and/or staying in Canada. This is a good approach. However, I am always surprised when I am consulted in April, May or June by a prospective graduate student who wants to be able to start their master’s or PhD program in September…. of the same year! I am not a student advisor, but my understanding is that graduate studies need to be applied for 8-10 months ahead of when the program starts, depending upon the university. You need to become familiar with the lay of the land for the process that you are seeking to apply for. Reach out to the university and find out what the application deadlines are. Then work backwards to determine how long a study permit application may take whether from outside or inside of Canada. You need to plan ahead to achieve your goal.
MAKING AN H AND C APPLICATION TO REMAIN IN CANADA
I was recently contacted by a Member of Parliament’s (MPs) office to see about preparing and submitting a Humanitarian and Compassionate (H and C) application for a family of five who were facing removal from Canada in ten days. Yes, 10 DAYS! (It was also remarkable that I was being contacted directly by the MP’s office for assistance as usually it is us turning to them for help!). It turned out that the refusal of their application was in January of 2025, but I was not consulted until late August of 2025 with only ten days until the scheduled removal date. While I could have prepared and filed the application within a few days, it would not have stopped their scheduled removal from Canada. The Federal Court can be a very unforgiving place to seek assistance and one of the first question that most judges ask is “how long has the H and C application been pending for?”. If an application has been languishing with IRCC for many months or years, the Court may intervene and delay a removal. But where an application has been filed at the eleventh hour (days or weeks before removal) they are very reluctant to intervene. The H and C application is currently the “flavour of the month” in terms of providing solutions to immigration problems. It is NOT that easy or dependable a process and asking questions many months in advance can assist you in achieving the result that you are hoping for. For our recent blog on the H and C application, see link: Baby it’s cold out there….and it’s going to get colder! Why the Humanitarian and Compassionate application is not always the answer.
Timing can be everything in the immigration process. Recently a group of prospective international graduate students have taken matters into their own hands and are suing IRCC for unreasonable delays in the processing of their study permit applications. (Canada immigration: Chinese students frustrated with delays| CTV News, Chinese students take Ottawa to court over study permit delays | CBC News) While this situation is a matter clearly outside of their control, it highlights the prevalence of delay in our Canadian immigration program and how it is essential to plan ahead.
As we have stated numerous times over the years in our blogs, your immigration status is your responsibility. Think ahead to achieve what you want and start the process as early as possible. In the very wise words of William Shakespeare:
“Better three hours too soon, than a minute too late.”
