Archive for category: Manitoba

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Speaker: Victim Services AGM

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Alastair Clarke had the privilege to speak at the Victim Services AGM for front-line workers in Manitoba. These front-line workers help individuals in various precarious situations. They help victims of violence, victims of domestic violence and other difficult situations. They are doing incredible work to help folks across Manitoba. The justice system is complex and there are many crossovers with Canadian immigration law.

On 7 MAY 2025,Alastair gave a presentation to these workers on various immigration issues, including criminal inadmissibility, removal orders, workplace safety, home care workers and various programs from IRCC. As you may be aware, IRCC is constantly changing and updating its programs. Every case is different and there is not a “one size fits all” solution.

Here is the outline of the presentation:

  1. Types of status
  2. Victims of crime (imm)
  3. Victims of scams
  4. Spousal Abuse
  5. Temp Solutions
  6. Perm Solutions
  7. Victims in the Workplace
  8. Child Trafficking
  9. Refugee Claims

The audience at this event was extremely engaged and Alastair was able to field many questions.

Newcomers, temporary foreign workers (TFWs), int’l students and other groups may be victims of various crimes, scams and circumstances. To an extent, these are among the most vulnerable members of our society. Here are some examples:

  • Victims of scams by agents/ ghost representatives/ consultants;
  • Victims of spousal abuse;
  • TFWs who are abused in the workplace
  • Caregivers who face abuse
  • Victims of child trafficking
  • Refugee claims based on domestic violence

 

MB MPNP Work Permits – New Policy

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It is no secret that the MPNP program is the best PNP in Canada. It is also the original, first PNP program. My kids may say that the MPNP is the “OG” PNP in Canada. I would love to say that MPNP gets special attention by IRCC based on the history of the program and the high level of expertise by MPNP Officers. They spend significant time vetting the applications. We have helped 1000s of people through the program to get PR status.

Alastair Clarke was in Montreal in 2024 when Manitoba negotiated the previous Temporary Public Policy for Work Permits. That public policy was announced in MAY 2024 based on specific program requirements at that time. We were able to help our clients get Open Work Permits through that program and then help them with PR status.

The APR 2025 program is based on the same public policy section of IRPR that allows Officers to issue Work Permits. That said, the APR 2025 policy is different from the MAY 2024 policy. We know that many applicants had issues with the MAY 2024 public policy and we met with many clients who received refusals from IRCC as they did not properly submit the application. This program opens on 22 APR 2025.

For this 2025 policy, we strongly recommend that applicants hire a professional for the Open Work Permit application.

Basis eligibility requirements:

MPNP candidates who meet these basic requirements may be eligible for this Open Work Permit application:

  • Hold a valid work permit that will expire in 2025, or
  • Held a work permit valid on May 7, 2024 that has since expired and have submitted an application for a new work permit under section 200 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, or
  • Held a work permit valid on May 7, 2024 that has since expired and have submitted an application for an extension of the authorization to remain in Canada as a temporary resident under section 181 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, or
  • Held a work permit valid on May 7, 2024 that has since expired and have submitted an application for restoration of temporary resident status under section 182 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, or
  • Were authorized to work pursuant to paragraph 186 (u) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations on May 7, 2024, and the work permit extension application remains pending or was approved, and have submitted an application for a new work permit under section 200 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, or
  • Were authorized to work pursuant to paragraph 186 (u) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations on May 7, 2024, and the work permit extension application remains pending or was approved, and have submitted an application for an extension of the authorization to remain in Canada as a temporary resident under section 181 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.

Additional requirements:

  • They had a valid Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program Expression of Interest profile on January 15, 2025, and have a valid Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program Expression of Interest profile at the time of this application
  • They were residing in Manitoba prior to January 15, 2025 and have continuously remained residing in Manitoba
  • They are currently employed in Manitoba with a Manitoba employer that is willing to provide a letter of employment*.
  • They are intending to establish in Manitoba as a permanent resident.

Professional Help

If you would like our services, the first step is to call CIL and book a consultation. We will review your situation, including the requirements. If the client is eligible, we can provide a quote for the necessary services. For our base fees, we have published our fees online to provide guidance.

Success: MPNP PFL re IES

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The MPNP program may be the best way of getting PR status in Canada. We have clients from around the world who come to Manitoba. We love helping our clients and we love helping local businesses. Winnipeg needs highly skilled workers in various categories and the program is regularly updating and changing. Through our MPNP Representative Portal, we are able to guide our clients through all the steps. If an MPNP Officer has a concern regarding an application, they must give the applicant a chance to respond to their concerns. In cases of misrepresentation, the application may be banned for 2 years (this is different from the federal ban of 5 years per A40 of IRPA). We have never had a client banned by MPNP.

In this case, our client applied to MPNP by himself. He graduated from a study program in Manitoba and he got a 1 year PGWP. If you have read our previous posts, you will know that we do not recommend short study programs. It can be very difficult to go through all the necessary steps on a short work permit. In general, we recommend a minimum 2 year study program. 

Our client came to us last year with a serious situation. He submitted his MPNP EOI by himself and he was quickly selected within the IES category. In this situation, that is the best chance at being selected as he did not have to wait for 6 months of work experience. He was selected based on the connection between his studies and his work experience. After he was selected and he received his LAA, he thought he was on a path to PR status.

Unfortunately, the MPNP Officer who was in charge of his case disagreed. The Officer did not see the connection between his studies and his work experience and decided that he may not be eligible within the IES category. Our client received a PFL and he had 30 days to respond to the Officer’s concerns.

Our client made the very good decision to immediately contact CIL for help. We reviewed all the documents submitted to MPNP. We contacted his employer in Winnipeg. We reviewed his studies and all the courses which he completed as part of his study program. We worked with our client to draft a detailed explanation to the Officer to explain the connection between his studies and his work experience to show that, in fact, he was eligible within the IES category.

As you can see from the title, this is a success story. After many hours of work, we submitted the package and the Officer agreed. We addressed each of the Officer’s concerns and we clearly showed that our client qualified for this category.

Congratulations to our client!

After fixing this situation, our client was both relieved and excited to go to the next step. He was back on track to get PR status. He is, of course, very thankful for all the work done by our office. He provided a 5 STAR review on Google.

We look forward to working with our client in the future so he can achieve his immigration dreams!

G&M: Canada’s Border is Broken

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The Globe and Mail’s Doug Saunders recently published an extensive article that reviews various issues with the Canadian immigration system. Alastair Clarke was interviewed by Doug Saunders for this article and the article highlights past cases, commentary and provides a few solutions.  We agree there are many issues within our system, too many to cover in one article; however, we applaud Mr Saunders’ work to identify certain issues and provide potential solutions. We need sound solutions and, perhaps, the entire system warrants a complete overhaul with a focus on modernization.

Mr Saunders is the International Affairs Columnist for the G&M and his piece includes sound recommendations to reform and update the Canadian immigration system. The article refers to a few problematic cases that identified problems in the system. Here is the summary of solutions which are recommended by Mr Saunders:

The solutions: Simplify the system with provinces at the centre. Create a single front door. Remove incentives to come to the border. Fill immigration needs using existing Canadian residents

Please read the article for details. Mr Saunders’ piece is extensive and detailed.

Provincial Needs

During my interview with Mr Saunders, we discussed the potential solutions above. Regarding the first point, we agree 100% with a renewed focus on provincial needs. We have always supported an immigration system that recognizes the variances between the different regions in Canada. The severe housing crisis in Toronto is not a big deal in Winnipeg. You likely hear about the housing crisis across Canada. That is simply not the case. There may be a crisis in Toronto and Vancouver. The recent legislation to ban certain foreign buyers of property in Canada was directed at those large markets; however, it is a law with national scope and it affects other markets that do not have to deal with this issue.

This point is acute given our situation in Manitoba. MPNP was the first (and best!) provincial nominee program. It was designed based on our unique situation. Alastair Clarke is regularly in contact with MPNP Officers. He met with Malaya Marcelino, Minister of Labour and Immigration in Manitoba to review the needs for the program in 2025. She correctly made the request to IRCC for 12,000 Nomination Certificates. After that request, IRCC decided to allocate only 4,750 certificates to the provinces – far below the number requested by Minister Marcelino.

Clearly, there is a disconnect between the decisions made by IRCC in Ottawa and the actual needs of the various provinces and communities.

Collaborative Approach

This was not identified specifically by Mr Saunders; however, it has been a potential solution that has been offered by other experts. For years, Alastair Clarke has been calling for IRCC to implement a “collaborative” approach. Mr Sauders highlighted this approach in the Globe and Mail article:

Canada’s main points-based stream for high-skill families, ironically known as Express Entry, has become a complex and lengthy ordeal that all but mandates would-be immigrant families to pay large sums to a lawyer and be prepared to submit and resubmit voluminous documents, repeatedly switch between programs and pathways, and await results of monthly lotteries often stretching out for years. Currently, Express Entry has a backlog of almost half a million family applications.

“I think immigration should be a more collaborative process,” says Alastair Clarke, who was the Warkentin’s Winnipeg-based lawyer. “Far too often when an officer receives an application that has some small thing missing, instead of talking to the applicant, instead they’ll either return it or refuse the application. It would be much more efficient if they could just resolve issues in a much more informal process.”

As a consequence of this, people who ought to be permanent-resident immigration applicants are choosing instead to come to Canada through quicker pathways: As college or university students, as temporary workers, as refugees or through an astonishing range of specialized programs targeting specific work areas (such as domestic workers or home builders).

Indeed, Alastair Clarke’s comments above were reiterated during his testimony to Parliament (CIMM Committee) in 2020. Here is an excerpt from that testimony:

My last point relates to a collaborative approach.

Part of the reason I was attracted to this area of law is that it is generally non-confrontational. To deal with minor issues, I can easily call a CMO at the IRB, a Superintendent at a POE, an inland enforcement officer or a lawyer at the DOJ. Dealing with IRCC, by contrast, is a constant struggle. When an IRCC Officer makes a clear mistake, there is no easy mechanism to get it fixed. In my view, the Request for Reconsideration system is broken and MPs are far too often put in the difficult position to act intermediaries. Bad decisions by Visa Officers are often easy to appeal to Federal Court but judicial reviews expend a huge amount of time and resources for both the applicants and the government.

Alastair Clarke’s comments from 2020 were relevant then and they are even more relevant today. From our point of view, we are on the same side. We are all fighting to build Canada and to build our communities.

Create a Single Front Door

This is one of Mr Saunders’ suggestions. Over the years, IRCC has been moving in this direction. We used to have to deal with 19 different portals. They have been trying to steamline the online system to make it easier. This is a work in process and we believe that IRCC has been trying to implement a simpler system that includes a “single front door” to Canada’s immigration system.

Remove Incentives to Come to the Border

Mr Saunders identifies many issues at the border:

There has to be a sensible Canadian space between Trumpist mass deportations and closed borders on one hand, and on the other the current reality of a set of policies and institutions that make Canadian governments unable to control who enters the country.

He recognizes that this solution would require “systemwide reforms”. Alastair Clarke is in regular contact with CBSA Officers at various border points (POEs). These Officers have described the difficulties in their positions to regulate the flow of people who are fleeing the USA. In addition, there is an increase in the number of people who enter Canada and then head south to the USA.

In 2022, the tragic case of the Indian family who perished during their journey to the USA was covered by CityNews. The 2 agent smugglers were convicted and they are currently in prison.

 

 

CBC News: Americans seeking to come to Canada

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Alastair Clarke has strong connections to the USA. His parents met at the University of Chicago when they were each doing graduate degrees. His father completed a PhD in Chemistry and they moved to California for work. Mr Clarke’s grandmother lived for many years (until she passed at the age of 97) on the bank of the Mississippi river in Minnesota and he frequently visited his relatives. Currently, Mr Clarke has family in Connecticut, New York State, Virginia, Florida, California and other states. CIL loves to help folks in the USA come to Canada. We love to strengthen ties between our countries.

As noted in CBC News, there is currently a high level of anxiety in the USA. Many folks in the USA – American and non-American – are looking to Canada as a place they can find peace, stability and safety. We get many calls and we try to help as many people as possible. As reported:

An immigration lawyer, Clarke estimates he does between 60 and 70 consultations per month with people wanting to come to Canada. About five to 10 per cent of those calls before the election were from people in the U.S., but he believes those numbers have jumped to between 20 and 25 per cent.

“From my point of view, there’s a high level of anxiety throughout the United States,” Clarke said Thursday.

He says he gets inquiries from across the U.S., particularly from the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Florida, New York and California.

Indeed, there are many potential options for coming to Canada, although it also needs to be highlighted that many programs are difficult. 2025 is going to be a rough year for immigration in Canada. We have high demand and low supply.

These are difficult cases. Each case is different and there is significant misinformation online.

Please refer to our website. We do our best to publish past cases that includes processing times and tips. We do our best to help everyone, even if they can’t afford our fees.

CBC News: MB Requests Skilled Workers

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Alastair Clarke recently met with Minister Malaya Marcelino regarding changes and requests for 2025. Everyone is aware of the current difficult situation at IRCC. Trudeau has resigned and it is not clear how much longer the Liberals will be in power. They have been making many changes to the Canadian immigration system to win over potential voters for the upcoming election. We have been guiding our clients through all the changes to ensure they have the best chance at success.

As reported by CBC News, MPNP received 9,500 Nomination Certificates in 2024. That was a significant increase from previous years. The current NDP government passed a budget that increased staff at MPNP. This was very good news for skilled workers in Manitoba. We have met many of the Managers and Officers at MPNP. We can attest that they have been working very hard to process the applications. They have been working evenings and weekends to get the work done.

As reported, MPNP issued 9,540 Nomination Certificates in 2024. That is a huge success.

In 2024, Manitoba accepted all of the 9,500 nominees it was allotted through the program, which brings skilled workers to the province to fill labour gaps.

Manitoba was granted 40 more nominee spots in December and filled those too, says Malaya Marcelino, the province’s labour and immigration minister.

I told my staff that I’m the happiest minister in all of Canada, she said in an interview.

We get calls from international students across Canada who are envious of the applicants in Manitoba. They report how difficult it can be in other provinces.

During Mr Clarke’s recent meeting with Minister Marcelino, he was extremely impressed with her leadership. She has taken a strong interest in improving the MPNP program and she is open to new ideas. We look forward to working with her to help process 12,000 NC for 2025 – if IRCC agrees with her request.

For context, here is a chart that shows the increasing number of Nomination Certificates issued by the MPNP program over the years:

MPNP NOMINATION CERTIFICATES

(SKILLED WORKERS)

 NC ISSUED
2019 4,830
2020 5,635
2021 6,300
2022 6,325
2023 7,348
2024 9,540
2025 12,000?

As noted above, the MPNP program only issued 7,348 certificates in 2023, even though they were given 9,500 certificates by IRCC during that year. That led to significant changes at MPNP. At that time, the MPNP program had difficulty processing the applications due to many factors. For example, they were short-staffed at that time. They could not manage to keep up with demand. Many candidates moved from other provinces to Manitoba based on the success of the MPNP program. There were other factors that had an impact on the program as well. As reported in 2023:

The province has routinely accepted as many nominees as Ottawa has allowed, so missing the mark [in 2023] was extremely unusual, immigration lawyer Alastair Clarke told CBC last year.

You can see from the above chart that, based on past data, the MPNP program has steadily been expanding. The fact that MPNP was granted 9.500 NC in 2023 and only issued 7,348 is extremely unusual. They made corrections for 2024 and they processed the most number of applications in the history of the program.

We look forward to working with MPNP Officers to help them process 12,000 applications for 2025. We love building Manitoba and helping skilled workers!

 

Petition to save EESE

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CIL works with many partners and service providers in Manitoba to help our clients. Alastair Clarke regularly gives guest lectures to students at UofW, Robson Hall and he has helped students at the Enhanced English Skills for Employment (EESE) in Winnipeg. This is a valuable program for newcomers so they can understand how things work in Canada and, of course, so they can improve their English skills. As you can read from Alastair’s bio, he was an ESL teacher in Japan for many years so this program is close to his heart.

We encourage you to sign this petition to support EESE and similar programs. As stated by EESE:

The federal government has decided to cut funding for Enhanced English Skills for Employment (EESE) and similar programs serving newcomers with Canadian Language Benchmark levels 5-8.

If this decision is not reversed, EESE will close on March 31, 2025, leaving hundreds of newcomers without critical resources for language education, integration and employment.

This decision will affect many newcomers to Manitoba. These classes help students learn many aspects of Canadian culture, not just English skills.

As described in the petition:

Petition to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

Whereas:
  • Enhanced English Skills for Employment (EESE) has been instrumental in helping newcomers gain essential language skills and a deep understanding of Canadian workplace culture, enabling them to succeed in their new communities and workplace;
  • The decision to close EESE on March 31, 2025, will leave hundreds of newcomers without access to critical education and support for integration and employment.
We, the undersigned, Students and teachers of Enhanced English Skills for Employment, call upon the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenshipto reverse its decision to cut funding for EESE, which serves newcomers with Canadian Language Benchmark levels 5-8, to ensure its continuation.

We urge you to support EESE and hopefully the Minister will rethink this decision.

CityNews: Agents Convicted in USA

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Alastair Clarke and the team at CIL have helped many victims over the years. These victims are often misguided by their immigration consultants or agents and it can result in an investigation. Victims almost never pay the ultimate price of losing their lives after following bad advice from an immigration consultant or agent. Today, we are sharing a story where a family of 4 – mother, father and two (2) young children – paid that ultimate price and they lost their lives crossing from Canada into the USA on foot. WARNING: this story may be traumatic or triggering for some readers.

CityNews, as well as many other news agencies, have been covering this tragic story over the past 2 years. As reported, the mother or father from India applied to come to Canada on a Study Permit and the application was approved. They were granted the right to come and study in Canada by the Visa Office. In 2022, the family entered Canada and travelled from Ontario to Manitoba. Presumably, they were granted a Permit to study at a DLI in Ontario and it is possible that the DLI was one of the “puppy mills” described by the Minister. After entering Ontario, this family were in contact with their agent who instructed them to travel to Manitoba and then walk across the border to the USA on foot through farmland. They never made it to their destination. They were found frozen to death in a blizzard in 2022. As reported by CityNews:

Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel and Steve Shand are accused of being part of an operation that brought people from India to Canada then across the border from Manitoba to Minnesota.

One of the trips they are accused of taking part in saw a family from India — a couple and their two young children — die in a blizzard in January 2022, when the wind chill was below -35.

Alastair Clarke has been interviewed many times by various news outlets related to immigration stories. Unfortunately, there are many victims of these schemes. In most cases, the victims do not perish from the journey. In this case, a survivor from the trek testified against Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel and Steve Shand in the criminal court in the USA. That testimony was key to these convictions.

As reported, there are criminal investigations ongoing in India. RCMP has also announced that they have an investigation open; however, no one has been charged or convicted in Canada.

Victims of Immigration Agents & “Bad Actors”

Minister Miller has repeatedly called out “bad actors” in the system. These are individuals who are taking advantage of the most vulnerable people. CIL has helped hundreds, possibly thousands, of victims of bad immigration agents. As we reported here in SEPT 2024:

Mr. Alozie is part of a group of criminals who have created victims in the immigration system. Also in 2020, Mr Zhihao Jia was also criminally charged for unlawfully representing people applying for immigration, misrepresenting facts on immigration applications, and communicating false or misleading information with the intent of inducing immigration to Canada. This is an offence under IRPA.

Jiatoo Immigration Consulting has closed and many Chinese families are facing investigations by CBSA. They are also at risk of losing their status and being removed from Canada. Thankfully, we have helped both Nigerian clients who made the mistake of hiring a shady agent as well as Chinese clients who made the same mistake. None of our clients have lost their status.

We were able to help many Nigerian victims and Chinese victims who were abused by these immigration agents.

CILA Recommendations

The Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association has responded to many of these concerns in a letter dated 20 NOV 2024. Full disclosure: Alastair Clarke has personal connections with BJ Caruso, one of the writers of this letter and he has personal connections with many members of the Executive at CILA. They recommend the following 7 points:

  1. Launch an “Expert Task Force to Combat Ghost Consultants” with a mandate to provide you with recommendations for improvement by 2025.
  2. Require applicants who do not file a Use of a Representative Form to complete a Letter of Attestation confirming they did not receive assistance for their application from a third party in exchange for compensation.
  3. Introduce a reform that consultants operating outside Canada are no longer authorized to represent clients.
  4. Ensure the CICC has the means to thoroughly audit each one of its members. If they do not, enforce regulatory change to limit their mandate and the number of consultants.
  5. Ensure that the CICC mandate its licensees to assist in maintaining the honour and integrity of the immigration system, and to expose dishonest conduct by any other licensee, unlicensed consultant, or any other parties, and being forthcoming with clients and adjudicators about such conduct.
  6. Consider introducing a whistleblower reporting system similar to what exists in criminal law wherein victims of immigration consultants can become cooperative witnesses.
  7. Ensure IRCC has enough capacity to apply the new AMPs and that they only apply to immigration consultants to avoid jurisdictional conflict with law societies, preserve the independence of the bar, and avoid duplication of regulation of lawyers.

To be clear, CIL agrees with the recommendations above. In particular, point #6 needs to be prioritized. On the US side, it seems the victim who crossed with the family in 2022 was able to testify against the criminal immigration agents. I imagine that this testimy was key to the above convictions. In my view, Canada needs to immediately pass legislation to support whistleblowers who can help weed out the “bad actors” in the system.

WFP: Manitoba Prepares for Trump

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Alastair Clarke was recently interviewed by the Winnipeg Free Press Tyler Searle regarding the potential impact of future Trump policies on Manitoba. We have been following the events in the USA closely. If you have read Mr Clarke’s background information, his mother was born and raised in the USA.

As noted in the WFP, CIL assisted many individuals immigrate to Canada from the USA after Trump was elected for the first time. We are seeing a similar flood of calls again in 2024:

The Canadian Border Services Agency said it will continue to closely monitor trade and travel at the border.

“The agency works in an operating environment that changes on a daily basis and we are ready to respond and adapt as needed,” spokesperson Luke Reimer said in an email.

Winnipeg immigration lawyer Alastair Clarke said his office has already begun fielding calls from potential clients south of the border.

“My first thought was that we are going to need to hire more people,” he said, describing the moment he learned Trump won the election.

Clarke said his office engaged with “hundreds, possibly thousands” of migrants after Trump last took office, including refugee claimants, skilled workers and international students.

Some American citizens also reached out to inquire about coming to Canada, citing fears of a potential civil war and a feeling the incoming administration did not represent their values, he said.

“We are going to have to see which policies are implemented, which of (Trump’s) campaign promises actually lead to changes in legislation or executive orders. At this point, I would caution people not to make any rash decisions,” the lawyer said.

As reported, we have assisted many individuals, families and businesses. Every case is different. 

Mr Clarke has family members in Minnesota, Virginia, California, New York, Florida and other states. He is in regular contact with many American clients to guide them on Canadian immigration matters. In our post, “Where are you from?”, Mr Clarke describes his connections to the USA:

My mother’s side is more complicated. Her parents are from Kansas, USA. Her mother was the eldest of 10 children and she grew up on a farm during the Depression. She joked that she walked to and from school uphill 10 miles every day. We would, of course, chide her that it is impossible to walk uphill in both directions.

My maternal grandparents both graduated from the University of Kansas, where my grandfather completed his medical degree. After they married, my grandfather worked at Johns Hopkins University where he did research on finding treatments for chemical weapons. During WWII, they were worried the Japanese would send balloons with anthrax and my grandfather worked on a cure. Afterwards, they moved to Red Wing, Minnesota where he had a general practice in medicine and he worked at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

Mr Clarke has many fond memories of his time in Minnesota, at his grandmother’s house overlooking the Mississippi river. As an adult, he lived in Washington DC in 2002 where he spent time at the Canadian Embassy and at the OAS. He also lived in New York City in 2004. As he described:

 I moved to Washington DC and spent time at the Canadian Embassy. I was privileged to work on issues of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and, based on my proficiency in Spanish, I liaised with the Organization of American States (OAS). At that time, I took the foreign service exam and I was on my way to join DFAIT. Then, with the Ebola crisis, we decided not to move abroad (again). After a year in DC, we moved to NYC where I connected with Global Youth Action Network (GYAN) where I worked as an Assistant Producer to TV shows. I worked on YVote 2004 and Chat the Planet, which aired on MTV. I also worked on contract with the United Nations to further the Millennium Development Goals. Then law school…

If you would like assistance by CIL, the first step is to book a consultation to discuss your potential options. 

Success: Family Reunification

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We are pleased to report that another family has been reunited in Manitoba. This family first connected in Pennsylvania and they do not have a traditional model. These situations can be a challenge as IRCC Officers may not have the same perspective. We have heard from many clients who are frustrated that Officers do not understand their situation. They have their own unique situation and perspective and they complain that IRCC Officers may be too conservative or traditional.

This family came to CIL so they can settle in Manitoba. They have found a unique place where they can live their lives in peace. The IRCC Officer, however, had concerns related to their background and the Officer expressed concerns. We were able to work with this family to address the Officer’s concerns and satisfy their questions.

In this case, we wish congratulations to our clients who got a positive result!

 

Family Reunification is articulated in section 12 of IRPA:

Family reunification

  • 12 (1) A foreign national may be selected as a member of the family class on the basis of their relationship as the spouse, common-law partner, child, parent or other prescribed family member of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.

The above section relates to one of the Objectives of Canadian immigration law and it is one of the cornerstones of our system.

Family Reunification is Not a Right

We have had clients who argue they have a “right” to bring their family members to Canada. Unfortunately, this is not correct. They have the right to apply; however, the IRCC Officer must review their application to ensure they meet all the requirements. These Officers has significant power to assess the applications and make a decision. If they are not satisfied, they may refuse the application and the family may be forced to go to Federal Court.

Ideally, we try to help our clients as quickly as possible to avoid litigation. Federal Court litigation is both expensive and lengthy. Litigation can cost our clients significant resources and it may cause our clients to be separated from their family even longer.