Month: October 2018

Episode #24 – The Temporary Foreign Worker Program, with Meera Thakrar and Kyle Hyndman

Steven Meurrens

The Temporary Foreign Worker Program, also known as the Labour Market Impact Assessment, is the main program through which Canadian companies hire temporary foreign workers. We discuss numerous aspects of obtaining Labour Market Impact Assessments, including prevailing wage, recruitment, transition plans, processing times, job match, the Global Talent Stream and the Owner – Operator LMIA.

Kyle Hyndman and Meera Thakrar are both Canadian immigration lawyers whose practices focus on helping companies recruit and retain foreign workers.

3:00 – What are the first questions or things that Kyle and Meera tell Canadian employers that want to apply for Labour Market Impact Assessments?

3:57 – What is the difference between the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and the International Mobility Program?

8:00 – Why are companies generally reluctant to obtain Labour Market Impact Assessments?

8:20 – What are the recruitment requirements for a Labour Market Impact Assessment?

12:50 – What is Job Match?

19:00 – What do companies have to show and demonstrate through the recruitment process?

23:20 – What is the wage requirement for a LMIA? What is the prevailing wage?

25:00 – Do employers hire foreign workers to undercut Canadian wages?

26:30 – Can employers of foreign workers offer raises or bonuses?

30:00 – What are Transition Plans in High Wage LMIA applications?

36:00 – How does the Low Wage cap work?

37:00 – How does an employer show they can afford to pay the foreign worker?

39:00 – Can recruitment have a language requirement?

41:00 – What is an Owner Operator Labour Market Impact Assessment?

42:15 – What is the Global Talent Stream?

47:25 – How long do LMIAs take to process?

51:45 – What changes would Kyle and Meera like made to the Labour Market Impact Assessment process?

Episode 23 – Appellate Advocacy Tips, with Former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Marshall Rothstein

Steven Meurrens

Marshall Rothstein served as a Justice on the Supreme Court of Canada from 2006 – 2015. He previously was a Judge on the Federal Court of Canada and the Federal Court of Appeal.

Garth Barriere is a criminal defence attorney in Vancouver. He was counsel in Khosa v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration, a major Supreme Court of Canada immigration decision in which Justice Rothstein wrote a concurring opinion.

In this episode Justice Rothstein provides tips for written and oral advocacy. While the focus is on appellate litigation, anyone interesting in strengthening their advocacy skills will benefit from what he has to say. We also discuss the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Khosa v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), and its impact on administrative law in Canada. It is a frank conversation.

9:00 – What it was like for Justice Rothstein when he was appointed to the Federal Court of Canada and to adjudicate cases on which he had no previous experience?

12:30 – How was it different being on the Federal Court vs. the Federal Court of Appeal vs. the Supreme Court of Canada?

14:20 – What strategies or approaches would Justice Rothstein suggest for counsel appearing at the appellate level instead of at the trial division?

18:23 – What is the most important thing to remember in written advocacy? What is “point-first writing?” A helpful piece to read on this can be found here. http://www.ontariocourts.ca/coa/en/ps/speeches/forget.htm

21:10 – What tips does Justice Rothstein have for oral advocacy at the Supreme Court of Canada?

31:30 – What makes a good factum? Does Justice Rothstein believe that the IP bar produces the best factums?

36:20 – What was the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) v. Khosa about?

41:15 – How did Khosa change the standard of review analysis?

45:00 – Justice Rothstein discusses his dissent in Khosa and his thoughts on Dunsmuir v. New Brunswick, the leading case on standard of review.

57:40 –  Garth Barriere, who was counsel in Khosa, offers a critique of the Supreme Court of Canada’s standard of review jurisprudence.

1:01:20 – What, if any, guidance should be given to judges regarding when they should show deference and when they shouldn’t?

1:08:00 – At the time of Khosa did Justice Rothstein predict how far along the deference path that standard of review deference would develop?