Immigration
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April 13, 2026
SCC’s new session precedes big moves as Martin J. and judges prep for departures
The Supreme Court of Canada’s spring docket presents the nine judges with a wide range of appeals, including the last cases to be heard by soon-to-retire Justice Sheilah Martin and her colleagues in their iconic 1940s-era Ottawa courthouse, which is slated for a multi-year major update. The Supreme Court’s new spring session, scheduled from April 13 to May 22, 2026, features 14 appeals, 10 of which involve criminal law issues.
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April 10, 2026
Osgoode Hall launches new access to justice fund
Toronto’s Osgoode Hall Law School has unveiled a new million-dollar fund to help support access to justice research and students pursuing careers in the area of public interest.
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April 10, 2026
Developments in Canadian telecommunications regulation in 2025, implications for 2026
There were a number of significant developments in Canadian telecommunications regulation in 2025. Key developments included: the introduction and retraction of lawful access legislation; the reintroduction of cybersecurity legislation; judicial decisions on the jurisdiction of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC or Commission) and government liability in tort; and, regulatory decisions on direct-to-cell, wholesale broadband, broadband subsidy requirements and outage reporting. Decisions are also pending on a number of CRTC proceedings on retail consumer wireless and internet service marketing obligations.
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April 08, 2026
The rule of law is not a given
Most of us who have grown up in Canada, whether we realize it or not, have always taken the rule of law for granted. We never really thought about it, or what it even was, but that is precisely the point. It has always just been there, like oxygen. You don’t think about oxygen until you have trouble breathing. We as a society are now having trouble breathing.
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April 02, 2026
Can you possess dual citizenship in Canada and should you keep it?
Canadian immigration and nationality policy are rooted in the objective of supporting individuals and families in building meaningful and long-standing connections with Canada. Through its multiplicity of immigration pathways, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has developed innovative programs and shifted immigration policy to provide opportunities for individuals to build their lives in Canada, or if required, to renounce Canadian citizenship.
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April 01, 2026
Ottawa gives Ukrainian CUAET holders extra year to apply to extend temporary work permits
The federal government says Ukrainians who arrived in Canada pursuant to the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) and related measures now have an additional year — until March 31, 2027 — to apply to extend temporarily their work permits for up to three years.
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April 01, 2026
Carney mandates shortlist of 3+ bilingual western jurists for SCC, but only 2 were found last time
The Carney government has opted to stick with the predecessor Liberal government’s requirement that the prime minister be handed a shortlist of at least three bilingual qualified candidates to fill an impending western/northern vacancy on the Supreme Court of Canada, despite the inability of the advisory committee that created the shortlist for the last such vacancy to recommend more than two bilingual qualified jurists.
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April 01, 2026
Bill C 12: Reinforcing system integrity while testing the limits of immigration law
The passage of Bill C‑12, the Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act, reflects a reality that immigration lawyers increasingly confront in practice. Canada’s immigration system faces persistent pressures from fraud, irregular migration and national security risks that legacy statutory tools were not designed to manage at scale. Against that backdrop, Parliament’s objective in enacting Bill C‑12 — strengthening border integrity, deterring abuse and maintaining public confidence — is not only legitimate, but necessary.
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March 31, 2026
Judicial council sanctions handful of federal judges but rejects hundreds of conduct complaints
The Canadian Judicial Council (CJC), which oversees the professional conduct of the country’s 1,184 federally appointed judges, says that five judges were reprimanded or received other disciplinary sanctions last year.
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March 31, 2026
Alberta pushes for constitutional change on judicial appointments
The Government of Alberta announced that it will introduce a motion calling for “constitutional amendments that give the province a say in superior court appointments.”