On this episode we discuss the recommendations section of the recent report from the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration regarding “closed work permits and temporary foreign workers” (full report here). Our discussion also touches on the recently announced “Gender-based violence guiding principles and commitments” released by the Canada Border Services Agency.

The conversation focuses on the tension between these broad government directives — which respond (in part) to negative comments made by the United Nations Human Rights Council in their rather damning report on Canada’s temporary foreign worker program, and actual immigration policy as it is evolving in recent months. This brings us back to a general conversation about Canada’s plans to reduce permanent resident quotas in the upcoming year, and to deal with the numbers of temporary foreign workers and students who will find themselves unable to extend their status when their current permits expire.

Also referenced in the recording: this article from the CBC.

Andrew Mattu is the Principal Lawyer at Godwit Law Office, an immigration law firm, in Brampton ON.

Ajaypal Singh Ahluwalia is an Associate at Godwit Law Office.

We discuss restoration of status and Temporary Resident Permits (TRPs). Topics include how people fall out of status, eligibility for restoration of status, restoring to post-graduate work permits, removal during the restoration period, restoration of status and permanent resident applications, TRPs, when to recommend a TRP vs. leaving the country, processing delays and the 2025-2027 immigration levels plan.

We then shift gears and discuss the experience of recent immigrants, including Ajaypal, in finding employment in Canada, and whether Canada is meeting the expectations of recent arrivals.

Cases discussed are:

*Udobong v. Canada (MCI), 2018 FC 234 (CanLII)

-and –

* Toure v. Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness), 2014 FC 1086 (CanLII)

Douglas Cannon is a Partner at Elgin Cannon & Associates, and a veritable expert in both avoiding and defending refugees and protected persons against applications under s. 108 of the IRPA — to “cease” their status on grounds that:

(a) they have voluntarily reavailed themself of the protection of their country of nationality;
(b) they have voluntarily reacquired their nationality;
(c) they have acquired a new nationality where they enjoy protection;
(d) they have voluntarily become re-established in the country in respect of which they previously sought protection in Canada; or
(e) the reasons for which the person sought refugee protection have ceased to exist.

For a more detailed perspective from Doug, we highly recommend his article in the Canadian Association for Refugee Lawyer (CARL) Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, starting at page 43. To read the legislative amendments referenced by Doug in this episode, see here.

On the closing conversation about claiming CPD points, we are currently looking into the new LSBC requirements and will post on LinkedIn once we have a definitive answer.

A discussion of Canada’s 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan and the 2024 Report to Parliament on Immigration, in which the Trudeau government cut planned permanent residence levels by 20%, imposed caps on the number of international students and workers that would be allowed into the country and declared that they expect 1,000,000+ people currently in Canada to leave in the next few years as a result of their changes.