Our Team in the Media
Warda Shazadi Meighen – 2021 Lexpert Leading Lawyer to Watch in the area of immigration
The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory profiles leading practitioners across Canada in over 60 practice areas and leading law firms in over 40 practice areas as identified via an extensive, annual peer survey...
Landings LLP – U of T Law alumnae launch firm devoted to refugee, immigration and human rights law
Warda Shazadi Meighen (JD 2009) says the decision to pursue her area of practice was personal: she and her family arrived in Canada as refugees...
Jacqueline Swaisland – Family facing deportation from Canada say return to Portugal puts ‘our lives at risk’
A family in Milton, Ont., is racing against the clock to be able to stay in Canada, saying that being deported to Portugal will put their health in jeopardy...
Warda Shazadi Meighen Named a 2020 Lexpert® Rising Star
We are pleased to announce that partner, Warda Shazadi Meighen, has been named as a Leading Lawyer Under 40 by Lexpert® Magazine. This honour celebrates leading lawyers in Canada under the age of 40 who have an outstanding track record of success. Here is what ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Oxford University Refugee Studies Centre Alumni
Global migration captured my imagination from a young age and years ago, inspired me to become a lawyer...
Jacqueline Swaisland – Canada releasing immigration detainees at ‘unprecedented’ rates amid COVID-19 fears
The number of immigration detainees held in provincial jails and immigration holding centres across Canada has dropped by more than half since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic...
Jacqueline Swaisland – Lucene Charles granted stay so Federal Court can review her case
The call Lucene Charles was desperately waiting for came as she stepped out of the Tropicanada Schwarma and Grill and onto the King Street West sidewalk Friday. She was not being deported...
Erin Simpson – Refugee lawyers applaud federal funding after Ford’s legal aid cuts
Refugee lawyers are applauding the federal government's decision to put $26 million toward Ontario refugee and immigration legal aid services after the province cut the program's budget...
Erin Simpson – Precedent Setter Awards 2019
Erin Simpson was awarded the Precedent Setter Award for her work with Amnesty International, the Canadian Council for Refugees and the Canadian Council of Churches, and their challenge of the Safe Third Country Agreement...
Jacqueline Swaisland – Canada’s Syrian resettlement efforts: A flash in the pan?
In Canada, two distinct programs are responsible for the majority of overseas refugee resettlement. Both are subject to political trends and party policy...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Provincial legal aid cuts are senseless economic and social policy
The Government of Ontario has cut one-third of legal aid funding. Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) funds legal representation for those individuals whose annual income is less than $17,000 – in other words, the most impoverished in our society...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Changes to the Budget Implementation Act
Canada has made a name for itself around the world as a safe haven for refugees. But recent changes to its laws may make the country seem far less friendly, refugee advocates and legal critics warn...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Criticism of the Global Migration Pact misses the mark
Canada has recently signed the United Nations Global Migration Pact. The need for a concerted global response to the issue of migration is long overdue...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – The Criminalization of Migration
With over 240 million migrants in the world, including over 65 million forced migrants and refugees, states have turned to draconian measures to stem the flow of irregular migration, including the criminalization of migration itself...
Jacqueline Swaisland – Meet Refugee Lawyer Jacqueline Swaisland
It’s a tumultuous time for refugee lawyers. For Jacqueline Swaisland, the number of people willing to work hard and start over in this country is inspiring. It’s her job to help give those people a chance to start over...
Erin Simpson – Q&A with a refugee lawyer, on “irregular” border crossings in the age of Trump
Erin Simpson, a Toronto-based attorney who sits on the executive committee of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, is one of the people working to find out who’s fleeing the U.S., and why...
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 ...