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.

Alice Craft is a Research Associate in the Immigration knowledge area at the Conference Board of Canada. She recently published a paper titled Small Business, Big Impact Immigrant Hiring and Integration in Five Canadian Cities.

We discuss the key findings of that study — namely, that:

• In fast-growing small and mid-sized Canadian cities, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in multiple sectors identified skill shortages as their most common employment challenge.
• SMEs are using practical and inclusive strategies to evaluate newcomers’ education and experience, but they rarely intentionally reach out to newcomers or work with immigrant‑serving agencies during recruitment and onboarding.
• SMEs prioritize English/French language skills, particularly spoken communication, when hiring immigrants. Language skills are particularly important in client-facing roles or those involving safety regulations.
• Negative experiences and limited understanding of immigration processes discourage SMEs from engaging with the immigration system.
• Affordable housing and access to public transit and child care compound labour market challenges for both job-seeking immigrants and SMEs looking to hire and retain talent.

We also discuss her recommendations.