Immigration
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July 10, 2025
Concerns raised over senior Iranian officials trying to enter Canada
Canada’s efforts to block senior Iranian government officials from entering the country are facing increased scrutiny following the war between Israel and Iran. Human rights advocates and legal experts have raised concerns that some Iranian officials, including members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), may have already entered Canada undetected, and that others could attempt to do the same.
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July 10, 2025
‘External monitor’ sees progress & challenges in military’s handling of its sexual misconduct crisis
Ottawa has renewed its pledge to abolish, for the most part, the military justice system’s jurisdiction over sexual offence investigations and prosecutions involving military members. Meanwhile, the military has not delivered on the government’s aim to transfer most existing military sexual offence cases to Canada’s civilian courts — explaining that complainants and provincial authorities have not agreed to the transfers, according to a new report released by the Department of National Defence (DND).
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July 09, 2025
Immigration guidance for business travellers entering the U.S.
Business visitor status allows foreign nationals to enter the United States for specific business-related activities temporarily. It is important to understand that business visitor status is not intended for employment or permanent residence in the United States.
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July 07, 2025
A common mistake in statutory interpretation
In the training that I deliver on statutory interpretation, I caution against relying on prior interpretations of a statutory provision or a related provision without first doing your own interpretive analysis of the provision. In Pepa v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2025 SCC 21, the Supreme Court of Canada overturned a tribunal decision that made this mistake.
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July 02, 2025
The future of coerced debt relief in Ontario
Ontario is preparing to launch consultations on a new law aimed at severing the financial ties between human trafficking survivors and their abusers (The Protect Ontario Through Safer Streets and Stronger Communities Act).
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June 30, 2025
Alcohol-related driving offences in Canada: Immigration risks and visa application challenges
Canada’s impaired driving laws are among the strictest in the world for the threshold of blood alcohol concentration that can trigger criminal inadmissibility under our justice and immigration laws. The legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) threshold for impaired driving is 0.08 per cent and has significant and potentially harsh consequences for both permanent residence holders and temporary immigration applicants. A single conviction for impaired driving under the Criminal Code is treated as “serious criminality” rendering an applicant inadmissible to Canada under Canadian immigration law.
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June 30, 2025
Saskatchewan regulator’s 2024 report highlights mental health, AI, competency
Saskatchewan’s legal regulator was active last year in continuing its goals of increasing competency, minding members’ mental health and guiding lawyers in the use of artificial intelligence. The Law Society of Saskatchewan (LSS) laid out progress in these areas and others as part of its recently released annual report for 2024.
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June 27, 2025
SCC clarifies appeal right from removal orders in immigration judicial review case
In an immigration and statutory interpretation decision that sheds light on administrative law and how to analyze reasonableness in judicial review cases, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that foreign nationals may appeal removal orders to the Immigration and Refugee Board’s Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) if their visas were current on arrival in Canada, even if their visas expire after their arrival here.
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June 27, 2025
B.C. Court of Appeal increases damages award to parents who lost son, citing potential contributions
The B.C. Court of Appeal has increased damages awarded to parents who lost their 17-year-old son in a car accident to include compensation for the unpaid work their son was likely to undertake during his university years.
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June 27, 2025
Tax Court turns to 1997 'safe harbour' rule to allow appeal related to refugee’s expired work permit
The Tax Court of Canada has allowed an appeal of a decision that ruled that the appellant was not in insurable and pensionable employment for a period of about one year because his work permit was not renewed.