Category Archives: Immigration and Refugee Law

Canada Study Permit Litigation – Critical Analysis of Inconsistent Jurisprudence on Financial Requirement

By: Gideon Christian

Case Commented On: Ocran v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2022 FC 175 (CanLII)

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Early this year, Justice Little of the Federal Court released the much-awaited decision in Ocran v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2022 FC 175 (CanLII). I am not aware of any study permit judicial review litigation that attracted the attention of Canadian immigration lawyers as much as Ocran. The notoriety of this judicial review litigation was based on the fact that it was a test case that the Department of Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) sought to use to obtain judicial approval for its use of the controversial Chinook software in processing of immigration applications. That approval never came. But the fixation on Chinook software caused many immigration lawyers to miss a very important and controversial judicial pronouncement in Ocran relating to the financial requirement for Canadian study permit applications. Continue reading →

Canada v Chhina: Supreme Court Makes Habeas Corpus Available to Immigration Detainees

By: Amy Matychuk

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Case Commented On: Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness) v Chhina, 2019 SCC 29

On May 10, 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada released its judgment in Canada v Chhina (Chhina SCC). It held that habeas corpus is available to immigration detainees where the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, SC 2001, c 27 (IRPA) does not provide a complete, comprehensive and expert statutory scheme equally as broad and advantageous as habeas corpus. Justice Andromache Karakatsanis, for the 6-1 majority, found that the IRPA’s procedures for reviewing the legality of immigration detention are not broad enough to preclude detainees from seeking habeas corpus as an alternative remedy. Justice Rosalie Abella, dissenting, would have held that the IRPA should be interpreted in such a way as to guarantee the fullest possible range of scrutiny for the legality of immigration detention. Continue reading →

The Niqab, the Oath of Citizenship, and the Blurry Line between Law and Policy

By: Shaun Fluker

PDF Version: The Niqab, the Oath of Citizenship, and the Blurry Line between Law and Policy

Case Commented On: Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) v Ishaq, 2015 FCA 194

Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) v Ishaq involves a challenge by Zunera Ishaq against a federal requirement that she remove her niqab (a veil that covers most of the face) when taking the Oath of Citizenship at a public citizenship ceremony administered under the Citizenship Act, RSC 1985, c C-29. Ishaq was previously successful at the Federal Court Trial Division before Mr. Justice Keith Boswell in Ishaq v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2015 FC 156 and on September 15 the Federal Court of Appeal issued a 6 paragraph decision from the Bench dismissing the Minister’s appeal and confirming that the federal requirement is unlawful. This is a significant policy issue for the Harper government. The Prime Minister himself has spoken strongly in favour of the requirement (see here), and not surprisingly the matter is now a significant issue in the federal election campaign. This comment uses the Federal Court of Appeal decision as an opportunity to revisit the rules governing the somewhat difficult relationship between law and policy.

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Intersection Between Different Legal Areas

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Case commented on: Basha v Lofca, 2013 ABQB 159.

Introduction

It is quite common for certain legal areas to intersect with others in cases that come before the courts. In the recent Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench case of Basha v Lofca, this intersection arose within the areas of immigration and family law.

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Canada’s Temporary Immigration System

Report considered: Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, Temporary Foreign Workers and Non-Status Workers (May 2009)

PDF version: Canada’s Temporary Immigration System

“If a person is good enough to work here, a person is good enough to stay here.” This was the sentiment expressed in the recently released Report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, entitled Temporary Foreign Workers and Non-Status Workers (40th Parl., 2nd Sess. (May 2009)). Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker’s Program was established to meet short-term labour shortages in the Canadian economy. Despite this initial goal, it has actually become more of a long-term solution to labour shortages and for immigrants wishing to make Canada their home. Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs) remain in Canada for longer than the intended period, but maintain their “temporary status” and the limited rights that go along with that.

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