In this episode, we break down IRCC’s practice of rejecting applications for incompleteness, often for minor technical issues. Effectively a form of stats manipulation, this practice creates a misleading picture of departmental efficiency while leaving applicants stranded, often forcing them to restart the process for trivial errors. Cases discussed include Gennai v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2017 FCA 29 and Goel v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2025 FC 275.

Misty Ty is a documentary film maker. Her father, Robert Ty, was the owner of a shipping company whose cargo ship, The Tung An, encountered a fishing vessel with over 200 people. Mymy Huynh was one of the children on that boat. The Vietnamese Boat People were refugees who fled Vietnam by sea after the fall of Saigon in 1975, escaping communist rule and persecution. Over one million people would flee. Several hundred thousand would perish due to storms, starvation, pirate attacks, and overcrowded boats. In response to the humanitarian crisis, Canada would introduce its private refugee sponsorship program, and resettle tens of thousands of Indochinese. Misty’s website for the project is thetungan.com. She would love to hear from anyone who was on, or whose relatives that were on, the Tung An.

Martin Levine was a Visa Officer and Analyst at Citizenship and Immigration Canada from 1978 – 2009. He then worked as a contract employee as an ATIP Analyst for numerous federal departments. He previously appeared on Episodes #108 and #110.

Towards the end of episode #110 Martin commented that he thought the immigration consultant profession shouldn’t exist. Steven said that this was a huge topic and probably deserved its own episode.

In this episode Martin explains why he believes that Canada should abolish the immigration consultant profession. Steven and Deanna disagree. Numerous arguments and counter arguments are discussed.

Erin Brandt is a co-founder of PortaLaw, a Vancouver law firm which specializes in employment law.

Audience submitted questions that we discuss include:

1. Is it illegal for employers to not provide reference letters necessary for immigration purposes or to charge their employees for them?
2. Is it illegal for employers with foreign worker employees to not apply for LMIAs to try to extend their employees’ employment?
3. Can employers distinguish between Canadian citizens, permanent residents and foreign workers when hiring? 
4. Can an employer not hire a foreign national or asylum claimant if they are likely to be deported? 
5. Is it ok for an employer to ask if someone is an asylum claimant? 
6. If an employer learns that an employee is without status – and the employee lied to them – can they legitimately refuse to pay the employee out for work completed during this time? 
7. If in order to meet prevailing wage an employer increases the wages of all of their LMIA-based TFWs, is it discrimination to not also increase it for their permanent resident or Canadian employees? 

We also discuss the Ontario Court of Appeal decision in Imperial Oil Limited v. Haseeb, 2023 ONCA 364, upheld a Human Rights Tribunal decision that it was a breach of human rights for an employer to fire an employee because of their temporary resident status.