Jacqueline SwaislandB.A.H., LL.B., LL.M.

Jacqueline’s award-winning legal practice encompasses all areas of Canadian immigration and refugee law with a particular expertise in complex cases and cases involving the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  Jacqueline is a graduate of Harvard Law School and has appeared before all levels of court, including multiple times before the Supreme Court of Canada. She brings adjudicative experience to her practice as a former member of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board, has taught at many of Canada’s leading universities, and she has published both books and papers on Canadian immigration and constitutional law issues. In 2024 she was appointed a Special Advocate by the Minister of Justice to assist in cases involving Canadian national security and other sensitive legal issues.

In addition to her degree from Harvard Law School, Jacqueline holds a law degree from Queen’s University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Guelph. Throughout her academic career she was the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships for academic excellence and contributions to her community. Upon graduating law school, she clerked at the Federal Court of Appeal and worked at the Constitutional Law Branch of the Ontario Attorney General’s office.  She then began to practice exclusively in immigration and refugee law, where she has continued to practice for almost 20 years. From 2019 to 2020, she served as a member of the Immigration Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board, presiding over detention reviews and admissibility hearings and contributing to the training of new board members.

Jacqueline has taught at several leading Canadian universities, including Osgoode Hall Law School, the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law, and the University of Guelph. She is currently a course developer and instructor in Queen’s University’s Postgraduate Diploma in Immigration and Citizenship Law program, and the creator and subject matter expert for the Administrative Law module in Toronto Metropolitan University’s Law Practice Program. Jacqueline is also the co-author of two texts in immigration and refugee law published by LexisNexis and the co-founder of the Refugee Sponsorship Support Program, a national pro bono initiative that helped thousands of refugees resettle in Canada.

Jacqueline’s advocacy and community leadership have been recognized with awards from the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, the Advocates’ Society, and Precedent Magazine.  She was also honoured by the University of Guelph which named her a distinguished alumnus and had her address the University’s graduating class.