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

September 28th, 2023|Tags: |

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

September 28th, 2023|Tags: |

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

June 22nd, 2023|

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 ...

Warda Shazadi Meighen – Suspend the US-Canada Safe Third Country Agreement to Restore Orderly Migration

March 15th, 2023|

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

March 14th, 2023|

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

March 7th, 2023|Tags: |

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 – Alleged Chinese police stations indication of wider ‘bullying, intimidation’ tactics, experts say

January 9th, 2023|Tags: |

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 – Afghans who worked on Canadian-funded projects feel abandoned waiting for refuge in Pakistan

November 28th, 2022|Tags: |

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 ...

Recent Developments

Recent Decisions

September 25th, 2023|Tags: |

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

September 12th, 2023|Tags: |

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

August 30th, 2023|Tags: |

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

August 22nd, 2023|Tags: |

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

August 3rd, 2023|Tags: |

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

July 25th, 2023|Tags: |

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

July 19th, 2023|Tags: |

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

July 12th, 2023|Tags: |

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

July 7th, 2023|Tags: |

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

June 29th, 2023|Tags: |

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

June 23rd, 2023|Tags: |

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

June 14th, 2023|Tags: |

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

April 17th, 2023|Tags: |

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

April 11th, 2023|Tags: |

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

April 6th, 2023|Tags: |

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

March 16th, 2023|Tags: |

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 ...