tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278912352009-07-04T12:07:20.171-04:00The purpose of this site is to express my views on the cross-border movement of people in general and the Canadian experience in particular. I hope to touch on foreign politics, world events, notable immigration cases and landmark decisions, policy, domestic issues and personal anecdotes as they all relate to Canadian immigration.David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-30106426752977682862009-06-30T21:48:00.001-04:002009-06-30T21:52:36.418-04:00

We Canadians take our hockey seriously. And why not? It is, after all, our game and no other country can match us over the long haul in international competitions. Hockey for us is a source of pride and many of us follow our favourite teams with the fervour you would expect from a religious devotee.The two most storied Canadian franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL) are, without a doubt,

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-17575567430403615752009-05-26T18:30:00.002-04:002009-06-08T16:27:33.666-04:00

Around this time last year most Canadians were relieved to learn that Ms Brenda Martin, a Canadian Citizen, had been brought back to Canada after having languished for more than two years in a Mexican Prison.Ms Martin had been incarcerated in Guadalajara in 2006 and charged with receiving illicit funds from a massive investment scam involving her former boss. The ordeal was difficult for Ms

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-68953198578108594942009-04-29T17:35:00.002-04:002009-05-04T09:18:30.352-04:00

If you were to ask me what I consider to be the greatest benefit of being a Canadian, I'd say it's that I get to pass citizenship on to my children. While it's still true for me, its no longer the case for one of my kids who happened to be born in the U.S..My son was born in Boston because we knew that he would require a life-saving operation right after birth and my wife's Canadian obstetrician

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-56412762573966564232009-03-31T18:12:00.003-04:002009-03-31T18:18:40.980-04:00

First, a bit of good news: Canada will likely weather the current economic storm better than any other Western nation. As the Prime Minister recently pointed out, Canada has a low debt burden, an efficient inflation regime, a diversified economy, flexible labor markets and proper fiscal management going back for more than a decade. Canadian banks have not needed the government bailouts that have

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-51228688073489718262009-02-25T17:45:00.007-05:002009-03-04T10:33:48.267-05:00

On most days, I truly love what I do. Many lawyers spend their working lives locked in adversarial battles, where one side wins and the other loses. Not much fun, if you ask me. In my job I get to work in an environment, where most of the time, there are no losers. Our clients almost always get what they want...Canada gets what it needs...and I get to make a decent living from it all.But some

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-68938826434502908602009-01-11T18:02:00.002-05:002009-01-12T12:16:46.714-05:00

I have previously written about what I perceive to be the missing link in Canadian immigration. My grandfather's story illustrates it best. When he arrived in Canada many years ago, my grandfather had nothing but the name of a man in Montreal who once lived in his town. My grandfather was eternally grateful when, after tracking the man down, he was given a small space to fix shoes in the corner

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-47095455767327379892008-12-22T19:26:00.002-05:002008-12-22T20:20:22.222-05:00

Without a doubt, the Canadian immigration story of the past year has to do with the changes made to the Federal Skilled Worker category of immigration. Not only is qualifying now different than it was a year ago, but the application process itself has also changed significantly.Getting approved as a Federal Skilled Worker still requires achieving a score of at least 67 points according to the

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-12539485064098707652008-11-24T16:51:00.004-05:002008-11-26T11:07:37.872-05:00

In a few days from now, the waiting will be over.Not only will we know the fate of the Federal Skilled Worker applications submitted to the Canadian Visa Offices after February 27, 2008, (now in a suspended state) but we will also find out what lies in store for Skilled Worker applications that will be submitted in the coming twelve months. More to the point, we expect to soon learn which of

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-61716307567353757392008-10-29T17:39:00.002-04:002008-10-29T17:43:06.935-04:00

Here's what the Province of Ontario has to say about immigration on its official website."Immigration is a cornerstone of Ontario's economic prosperity and social fabric""More than half of all newcomers to Canada have chosen to settle in Ontario each year since 1987."Maybe so, but that was then and this is now.One reason for Ontario's continued popularity among landing immigrants is that the

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-4192279653503295102008-09-29T11:58:00.005-04:002008-09-29T14:05:21.820-04:00

In two weeks from now, Canadians will go to the polls to select their federal members of Parliament, and unless we experience our own "Dewey Wins" moment, the Conservative Party of Canada will be called upon to form the next national government.I had initially intended this blog to be a review of the immigration policies of the three major political parties (Conservative, Liberal and New Democrat

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-48059263253283930682008-08-26T15:46:00.001-04:002008-08-27T15:28:54.300-04:00

It seems more probable by the day that Canadians will be going to the polls in the next couple of months to elect a new federal government. A snap election will likely be called by the minority Conservative government as early as September 5th for later in the Fall on the pretext that Parliament is now dysfunctional.The election results could have a significant affect on Canadian immigration

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-54523247660947135532008-07-30T16:54:00.001-04:002008-08-01T09:50:11.611-04:00

The United States is fortunate. It attracts a seemingly endless supply of the best and brightest people from all parts of the globe as foreign guest workers. Most of these individuals enter on H-1B visas and all of them have a high-skilled job set aside for their arrival. These temporary workers include IT professionals, physical and social scientists, and engineers, to name but a few. They are

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-479211973279474062008-06-30T15:40:00.000-04:002008-06-30T15:43:02.249-04:00

It's easy, in this day and age, to be cynical. Examples of greed and selfishness abound in most parts of the world, including Canada. I certainly have no trouble pointing out inequities in the Canadian immigration selection system, as readers of my previous blogs can attest. That said, it's important to keep in mind that if you look hard enough you will find people who set an example for the rest

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-1694522151208672122008-05-28T16:59:00.001-04:002008-05-28T17:01:21.199-04:00

The Canadian government announced last week that it will create a 29 million dollar grant program as redress for various shameful incidents in Canada's history, relating to the way Canada treated prospective and landed immigrants. For example, from 1885-1923 there was a Chinese head tax which was a fee charged for each person wishing to immigrate to Canada from China. There was also the Komagata

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-74960786734431745132008-04-01T11:34:00.001-04:002008-04-01T16:43:00.154-04:00

The Conservative led minority government has recently introduced a bill in Parliament that contains significant changes to Canada's immigration law. If passed, the proposed amendments will empower the immigration minister to instruct visa officers to take certain candidates quickly, hold some applications for consideration at a later date, and return others without any consideration at all. No

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-71265055011580682872008-03-18T18:49:00.003-04:002008-03-18T19:49:23.865-04:00

Since it's inception in 2002, Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) has stood for the principle that anyone is entitled to apply for permission to live in Canada and to have his or her admissibility considered fairly, according to purely objective criteria. This core value is now threatened. In an effort to modernize and streamline the visa application process, the Conservative

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-6323175104079176862008-02-26T17:59:00.009-05:002008-02-27T15:00:29.916-05:00

If you are a Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident, and want to sponsor your dependent child who resides, say, in China or Turkey, you will likely wait about four months to be reunited. On the other hand, if your child happens to reside in Egypt, the same process will take 34 months. Why should that be?Similarly, a Brazilian applicant for Canadian Permanent Residency under the Skilled Worker

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-78638228642595856032008-01-23T17:45:00.000-05:002008-01-24T11:35:32.009-05:00

In immigration law, we come across many situations where the decision taken greatly impacts the welfare of children. In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on a case (Baker v. Canada) which brought the interests of children to the forefront in immigration matters. In that case, a woman with 4 Canadian-born children was ordered deported from Canada despite the concerns for her own medical

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-67106095071599928692007-12-31T09:43:00.000-05:002007-12-31T09:44:22.169-05:00

Over the past year we've seen quite a few changes in Canadian immigration. The trend continues towards the decentralization of immigration selection, with more and more power being put in the hands of provinces through Federal-Provincial agreements. More people are coming to Canada through Provincial Nomination Programs (PNP). The PNP's also show another ongoing trend in Canadian immigration: a

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-73761286594103906252007-12-17T15:48:00.000-05:002007-12-17T17:32:21.251-05:00

In Canada, we enjoy first-class social services such as healthcare and education. To pay for these services, the government has a number of sources of revenue... from income taxes to goods and services taxes (VAT). While most government services are free to the user, some - including visa services - charge fees to cover administrative costs.When one applies for a Canadian visa, whether it is for

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-32560040904221488112007-11-26T14:58:00.000-05:002007-11-26T15:01:30.633-05:00

From the day Permanent Residents land in Canada, they have nearly all the rights and obligations of Canadian citizens. Aside from the right to vote, a Permanent Resident who landed in Canada yesterday and a native-born Canadian pay the same taxes and in return have the same expectation to services from the government. That is, unless they get sick.In four Canadian provinces (Ontario, Quebec,

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-2492842474991082972007-10-24T13:57:00.000-04:002007-10-24T13:58:52.674-04:00

Niagara Falls is one of the wonders of the world, and a point of Canadian national pride. The Falls lie on the border with the United States, however the more impressive Horseshoe Falls are within Canada's jurisdiction. While Canadians take pride in ownership of the better share of the famous waterfall, recent incidents at the nearby border crossing with the U.S. call into question how much

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-62490216965869882782007-09-26T11:30:00.000-04:002007-09-26T17:05:17.229-04:00

Canadians went to the polls earlier this month in a series of Federal by-elections marked by controversy. Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand announced that in light of the Canada Elections Act he would not require women wearing burka or veils to show their faces in order verify their identity. Until recently this was not an issue as there was no requirement to present photo identification

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-69573902620742251102007-08-29T16:31:00.000-04:002007-11-18T15:25:41.449-05:00

Ontario is Canada's most populous province and a beacon for newly arriving immigrants. In fact, well over half of new immigrants arriving in Canada settle in Ontario. On October 10, residents of the province will head to the polls to elect a new government. As the campaign picks up momentum, it is becoming clear that this fall's vote will have major implications for multiculturalism in Canada.The

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27891235.post-5243725612634714222007-07-30T11:40:00.000-04:002007-07-30T11:45:19.761-04:00

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously said, "Sunlight is the best disinfectant." He meant that openness and transparency are fundamental elements of a true democracy. As Canadians, we pride ourselves on the strength of our democracy and the rights which are enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.Recent events have brought rights and democracy in Canada into

David Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07642071149355900091noreply@blogger.com2