Dear CILA Members,
March 2024 was another eventful month for us and included the following highlights, developments, and updates.
Join us in Vancouver and Montreal
We have made good progress in planning our first two in-person events of 2024 and hope to have you join us.
We will be in Vancouver on April 18 for a networking event between 4-6 PM PT and invite you to register now.
Join us in Montreal on May 9 between 2-4 PM ET. Registration is free!
Access to counsel and protecting newcomers
On Monday March 25th we sent an important update to all CILA members on the progress we are making to strengthen access to counsel in Canada’s immigration system as well as protecting newcomers from being represented by those who are underqualified. We will continue to provide you with key updates over the coming months.
Also on March 25th, CILA sent a letter to the Government of New Brunswick outlining our concerns regarding their new “Using a Representative” webpage.
Stakeholder Relations
In early March, we were interviewed by the Toronto Star for a story on Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan.
We were also interviewed by Global News to discuss how IRCC can offer more immigration support to Ukrainians.
CILA thanks Tamara Mosher-Kuczer for reappearing before SOCI on our behalf for the study on Bill S-235.
We received a response letter from IRCC’s new Deputy Minister and will be arranging a meeting with him shortly.
CILA also met with officials at IRCC to discuss our forthcoming study on IRPA reform entitled Cleaning up the Act. We are aiming to have the report released to the public by May at the latest, but we are hopeful of an April release.
CLEs
CILA thanks Janet Thompson-Price for leading our Ask Me Anything session on March 28. We greatly appreciate Janet’s contribution and support of junior immigration lawyers.
We invite you to sign up to our next CLE on April 18 entitled All Things Reciprocal: C-20 Work Permits, presented by Peter Rekai and Kevin Zemp, and sponsored by Visto.
Please also sign up for our April 25 CLE, Canadian Immigration + AI: What is it and how you can better manage your practice in 2024, delivered by Josh Schachnow.
Articles
We released 14 articles in March. We thank Patrick McCarthy, Kelly O’Connor, Yameena Ansari, Marina Sedai, Samuel Escobar, Sergio Karas, and Cedric Marin for their contributions.
We are always on the lookout for more articles. Please click here if you wish to submit one to us.
Join CILA’s Member’s Directory
One of the exciting new features on our website is a member’s directory where you can feature your services to the public. We encourage you to log onto our website and upload your professional profile. We are hoping the vast majority of our some 500 lawyers will feature in the directory.
In addition, we are pleased to offer a new “Premium” membership tier for only $150 more to feature you at the top of our public directory to provide you with more visibility. Simply click here to upgrade your membership.
CILA thanks its members for their ongoing support. Please continue to share your comments, questions, ideas, and feedback with us.
Sincerely,
Barbara Jo Caruso
Vance Langford
Co-Presidents
