Immigration
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October 09, 2025
New federal Bill C-12 features immigration reforms carved out from contentious ‘strong borders’ bill
The federal government has removed about half of its controversial 140-page omnibus “strong borders” bill (C-2) and inserted excised measures into a newly introduced 70-page “immigration and borders” bill (C-12), which proposes many of the same immigration changes that critics had called on Ottawa to scrap.
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October 08, 2025
Fraser calls provinces’ demand to scrap Ottawa’s SCC arguments on notwithstanding clause ‘untenable’
Attorney General of Canada Sean Fraser has pushed back against the demands of five premiers that Ottawa should drop its novel arguments at the Supreme Court that there are substantive constraints on governments’ powers to invoke the Charter’s s. 33 “notwithstanding” clause — arguments that those five provinces contend “represent a complete disavowal of the constitutional bargain that brought the Charter into being” in 1982.
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October 08, 2025
Importance of sufficient funds for study permit applications in Canada
In the case of Mohammadi v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2024 FC 598, an 18-year-old Iranian national who wished to complete Grade 12 at a private high school in Ontario submitted a study permit application in which he showed parental funds of $168,000 to cover $32,500 in costs for tuition and room and board.
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October 07, 2025
Feds aim to downsize Temporary Foreign Worker Program, noting increased penalties
The federal government has announced measures to reduce reliance on the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program, including a 50 per cent overall reduction in applications to the program and 70 per cent in the low-wage stream. This was done, the statement read, “in context of the tightening labour market in September 2024.”
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October 07, 2025
Attorney General Sean Fraser tells SCC the law needs to protect people with ‘no voice’
There was a celebratory mood at the opening ceremony for the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2025-26 court year, but Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Sean Fraser and other legal leaders delivered a sober message to the Ottawa courtroom packed with lawyers and judges.
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October 07, 2025
Lawyer ordered to pay costs for non-disclosure of gen AI use and citing fake precedents in court
In a cautionary case for litigation lawyers who use generative artificial intelligence (AI) for court submissions, a Federal Court associate judge recently hit an immigration lawyer with personal costs for submitting two defective AI-generated precedents and for breaching the Federal Court’s requirement to disclose any generative AI use in court filings.
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October 07, 2025
The I-94 question: Entering the U.S. as a Canadian and understanding your obligations
In today’s stricter enforcement environment in the U.S., it is imperative that travellers be both aware of and attentive to their status when admitted to the U.S. Making assumptions about status can lead to endless and significant problems. Never has “assuming” facts been more perilous than it is for today’s traveller entering the U.S.
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October 06, 2025
Canada signals renewed interest in attracting U.S. technology H-1B visa applicants
Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed that the federal government is examining measures to draw skilled workers affected by the recently announced US$100,000 H-1B fee, with particular attention to technology professionals. The initiative comes amid concerns over policy uncertainty in the United States, positioning Canada as an alternative destination for specialized talent.
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October 02, 2025
Line crossed: IRCC’s proposed administrative monetary penalties should alarm all Canadian bars
The federal government is quietly implementing a regulatory framework that should alarm every lawyer in Canada, regardless of practice area. Under the guise of addressing immigration “ghost consultants,” Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has crafted administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) that grant it unprecedented authority to discipline lawyers — the same lawyers who routinely challenge that department’s decisions in court.
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September 29, 2025
UN and Palestine: Recognition, refugees and Canada’s role
This week at the United Nations General Assembly, history was made. Several Western nations, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France and Portugal, formally recognized the State of Palestine. In doing so, these countries joined the overwhelming majority of UN members — now 157 of 193 — that formally acknowledge Palestinian statehood.