Our Team in the Media
Jacqueline Swaisland- The Supreme Court just reined in the scope of a Canadian security law. Refugee advocates are praising the ruling
The Supreme Court of Canada has imposed a limit on the power of immigration officials and government tribunals to remove foreign nationals with no criminal convictions on security grounds. In a unanimous judgment released on Wednesday, the country’s highest court says if Canada is going to ...
Jacqueline Swaisland- SCC applies Vavilov standard of review framework; overturns FCA on immigration inadmissibility
Applying the Vavilov standard of review framework, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled 8-0 that non-citizens can be found inadmissible to Canada and deported under the s. 34(1)(e) “security grounds” provision of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) only if the non-citizen’s alleged violent conduct had a ...
Erin Simpson-SCC rules Safe 3rd Country Agreement with U.S. doesn’t infringe asylum seekers’ Charter s. 7 rights
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled 8-0 that a regulatory provision designating the United States as a “safe third country” to which most asylum seekers arriving at the Canada-U.S. border can safely be returned to make their refugee claims is not ultra vires nor an infringement ...
Erin Simpson-Human Rights Groups on SCC Ruling of Safe Third Country Agreement
On Parliament Hill, three human rights organizations respond to the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling on the constitutionality of the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement. The top court has ruled that the agreement recognizing the two countries as safe places for asylum seekers is constitutional.Taking ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Students duped by immigration scams face deportation
The Current with Matt Galloway Hundreds of international students from India have been threatened with deportation after their original offers to study in Canada turned out to be fake. We discuss what might happen next, and what needs to happen to protect students from immigration ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Suspend the US-Canada Safe Third Country Agreement to Restore Orderly Migration
Warda Shazadi Meighen is an immigration partner at Landings LLP and an adjunct professor of refugee law at the University of Toronto. Until 2004, when the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement was signed, asylum seekers could enter Canada in an orderly manner by presenting themselves at an ...
Jonathan Porter- Falling between the cracks of cornerstones: Challenging the detention of asylum seekers on identity grounds
Immigration detention on the grounds of identity is not novel in international law – many states reserve the right to detain foreign nationals where their identity is unknown. Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) permits Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to detain foreign nationals ...
Erin Simpson- They came to Canada, were in child protection, but never got legal immigration status. Now advocates are speaking up
Raised by his great-grandmother in the Dominican Republic, Fili has few memories of his parents or his sister and two brothers, who were both murdered. When his only caregiver died, the young boy, then about 10, moved in with friends he met on the streets ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Asylum seekers face a long journey to freedom along Roxham Road
It seems like an unremarkable site. A temporary building made of corrugated steel. A single white pillar outside, marking the official line between two countries. But for the tens of thousands of asylum seekers who have made the journey to that site over the past ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Calls to shut down the Roxham Road border crossing
The Current with Matt Galloway Thousands of asylum seekers enter Canada through Roxham Road in Quebec each year, but calls to close the unofficial border crossing are growing. Matt Galloway talks to Lovejoyce Amavi, a refugee and author who crossed at Roxham Road in 2017; ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Alleged Chinese police stations indication of wider ‘bullying, intimidation’ tactics, experts say
As allegations of five Chinese police stations located in Canada, including one in Vancouver, B.C., raise concerns of political interference, experts say the role of Chinese intelligence is far more widespread. Earlier this month, a friendship society in Richmond was visited by RCMP officers after ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – COVID-19 front-line worker and her family face deportation to Mexico
The Current with Matt Galloway Claudia Zamorano spent the pandemic working as a housekeeper in a COVID-19 ward in a B.C. hospital — but now she and her family face deportation to Mexico within weeks. She tells Matt Galloway her story; and we hear more ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Afghans who worked on Canadian-funded projects feel abandoned waiting for refuge in Pakistan
A group of Afghans who worked on Canadian-funded projects intended to promote the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan say they are now stuck in neighbouring Pakistan and running out of money for food and rent, more than a year after they thought they would be ...
Rachel Bryce- Canada doesn’t appear to have a plan to welcome climate migrants
Growing up in Ghana, Jamima Baada watched her community, including members of her own family, migrate from one region to another less impacted by climate change. Now she teaches climate change and human migration at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Jemima Baada teaches at ...
Landings LLP is pleased to be recognized on the Globe and Mail’s list of “Canada’s Best Law Firms” for 2023
This recognition is a testament to the hard work of each individual on the Landings team towards servicing our clients and the firm. Every person on our team contributes towards the firm's achievements -- we are proud of what Landings has accomplished in two years and excited ...
Erin Simpson – How long will Canada make this Afghan boy wait for a family reunion?
As the nine-year-old boy was shoved and pushed by the sea of desperate people behind him, his head kept turning, looking back for his parents and two younger brothers as they fell further and further behind him. When Hadisullhaq Afghanfar finally got past the front ...
Recent Developments
Recent Decisions
Anvar v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 1194 In Anvar v. Canada (MCI), Justice Go examined the Applicant’s cessation decision. The Applicant was found to be a convention refugee in 2005 and resettled in Canada in 2006. In 2022, the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) had found ...
Recent Decisions
St. Brice v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 1139 In St. Brice v. Canada (MCI), Justice Régimbald reviewed the Applicant’s Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) decision. The Applicant was a 31-year-old bisexual man, with a cognitive impairment, who feared persecution in St. Lucia due to his sexual ...
Recent Decisions
Ahmad v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 1087 In Ahmad v. Canada (MCI), Justice Southcott examined the Applicant’s cessation decision. The Applicant was granted asylum in 2010 and permanent resident status in 2011. Since then, the Applicant was issued two Pakistani passports and travelled to said ...
Recent Decisions
Sharma v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 1034 In Sharma v. Canada (MCI), Justice Aylen assessed the Applicant’s Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) decision. The Applicant originally sought asylum in Canada based on fear of persecution by a Hindu-nationalist paramilitary organization, the Rashtriya Sangh [RSS] and the ...
Recent Decisions
Li v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 957 In Li v. Canada (MCI) Justice Manson examined the Applicant’s Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) decision. The Applicant had originally entered Canada in 2016, along with his father, and sought asylum based on persecution by the Chinese authorities for ...
Recent Decisions
Brzezinski v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 936 In Brzezinski v. Canada (MCI), Justice Strickland examined the Applicants’ Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) refusal. The Applicants had claimed refugee protection on grounds of feared persecution in Poland due to their Roma identity. The RPD had rejected their ...
Recent Decisions
Obazughanmwen v. Canada (MPSEP) 2023 FCA 151 In Obazughanmwen v. Canada (MPSEP), Justices Gleason, Pelletier, and de Montigny, examined the Appellant’s Federal Court referrals, which the Appellant argued should be set aside and returned for reconsideration for more in depth consideration of the Humanitarian and ...
Recent Decisions
Abbas v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 871 In Abbas v. Canada (MCI) Justice Walker assessed the Applicant’s Refugee Protection Division (RPD) cessation decision. The Applicant was a journalist from Pakistan who had penned critical pieces of President Musharraf’s regime. He fled Pakistan in 2002 and ...
Recent Decisions
Nguyen v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 845 In Nguyen v. Canada (MCI) Justice Southcott examined the Applicant’s Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) refusal. The Applicant was a citizen of Vietnam who had claimed asylum in Canada based on persecution due to his support of human rights ...
Recent Decisions
Canadian Council for Refugees v. Canada (MCI) 2023 SCC 17 In Canadian Council for Refugees v. Canada (MCI) Justices Kaiser, Wagner, Karakatsanis, Côté, Rowe, Martin, Jamal and O'Bonsawin JJ examined the constitutionality of legislative provisions implementing the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA). The STCA is ...
Recent Decisions
Singh v. Canada (MPSEP) 2023 FC 743 In Singh v. Canada (MPSEP) Justice Gascon reviewed the Applicant’s Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) refusal. On judicial review, Justice Gascon found that due to the incompetence of the Applicant’s former counsel, there was a miscarriage of justice that ...
Recent Decisions
Khan v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 727 In Khan v. Canada (MCI), Justice O’Reilly examined the Officer’s decision to refuse the Applicant’s humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) application. The Applicant was a citizen of Afghanistan, who fled the country fearing persecution due to being a member ...
Recent Decisions
Adair v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 342 In Adair v. Canada (MCI) Justice Rochester examined the Officer’s decision to refuse the Applicants’ sponsorship application due to the Principal Applicant (PA) not meeting the definition of a member of the family class. The PA originally arrived ...
Recent Decisions
Tofa v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 135 In Tofa v. Canada (MCI) Justice Mosley examined the Refugee Appeal Division’s (RAD) decision to refuse the Applicants’ asylum appeal, upholding the RPD’s decision that there were significant discrepancies and inconsistencies in the Applicants’ testimony and evidence. The ...
Recent Decisions
Gopalakrishnan v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 277 In Gopalakrishnan v. Canada (MCI) Justice Ahmed examined the Refugee Appeal Division’s (RAD) decision to dismiss the Applicants’ appeal on the grounds of viable internal flight alternatives (IFA) existing in Bangalore or Mumbai. The Applicants had sought asylum ...
Recent Decisions
Figarola Ahumada v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 246 In Figarola Ahumada v. Canada (MCI) Justice Brown examined the Refugee Appeal Division’s (RAD) decision to refuse the Applicants’ appeal due to credibility findings. The Applicants had initially sought asylum in Canada on the basis of feared ...