CILA is excited to share with you an update on what we did in Q1 2025 as well as what you can expect from us in the months ahead.
Upcoming Event and CLEs
Join us in Vancouver on Wednesday April 23, 2025 (free event)
CILA will be back on the West Coast on Wednesday April 23. Please click here to register. This free event will be hosted at the lovely office of EY Law LLP in downtown Vancouver. CILA thanks CELPIP by Prometric and Dwyer Immigration Medical Services for sponsoring the event.
Sign up to our upcoming CLEs!
CILA has many exciting CLEs coming up. You can easily register for all the CLEs that interest you.
They include:
1) April 2: Understanding the Convention Refugee Definition: Essential UNHCR Guidance
2) April 9: Canadian Citizenship by Descent
3) April 16: The AI Toolbox: Custom GPTs, Deep Research, CoPilot, and Practical AI Applications and Prompts
4) May 7: Expand your Services with Global Residence and Citizenship Solutions with Henley & Partners
5) May 21: Ethical and Legal Considerations of the Practice of U.S. Immigration Law in Canada
6) June 11: CILA’s 2025 AGM
7) August 13: Tax Implications and Considerations for Immigrants
8) September 10: Global Travel Rule – New European Rules: A Look into the European Travel Information and Authorisation Systems (ETIAs)
9) October 22: PNPs Compared: Western Canada
Want to learn more about a CLE? They are all listed here for your convenience.
Research
March was a big month for CILA’s research initiatives.
The State of Canadian Immigration Fraud was released to coincide with March being the Government of Canada’s Fraud Prevention Month. The report has been shared with senior federal government officials and we will continue to disseminate it to help tackle fraud in the immigration system. CILA is grateful to its Ethics Committee for the tremendous work it put into the report.
Catalyst Canada also launched in March. CILA’s Canadian Business Immigration Committee (CBIC) has launched this initiative to promote stronger entrepreneur, investor, and self-employed programs in support of Canada’s economic development. In the coming months, they will be recording and releasing at least 10 podcast episodes featuring lawyers, economists, business leaders, researchers and more to explore this topic. In the fall, they will publish a research report summarizing their findings. Subscribe to the Catalyst Canada YouTube channel to get notified when the latest episodes are released. CILA thanks CBIC members for the very hard work they are putting into this major initiative.
Advocacy
Administrative Monetary Penalties (AMPs): CILA’s Professionalism Committee has worked tirelessly since the fall to prepare our submissions and advocacy calling for IRCC to exclude lawyers from its new AMPs framework. In January, CILA submitted two letters to IRCC and the Department of Justice (DOJ) outlining our position. CILA has also coordinated our response with the likes of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, Law Society of Ontario, CBA Immigration Section, and CARL. Following the submissions, CILA met with former immigration minister Marc Miller’s senior staff, and more recently, with IRCC’s Deputy Minister. CILA will continue to liaise with the federal government following the election on this matter.
IRB Backlog: In recent months, CARL and CILA have worked together to share recommendations on how the federal government can alleviate the backlog at the IRB. CILA thanks its Refugee Committee for working with CARL on the submissions.
Federal Court Consultations: In March, CILA’s Professionalism Committee prepared the following submission to Federal Court of Canada’s Public Consultations on Strategic Plan 2026-2030.
New Federal Government: Following the April 28 federal election and forming of a new cabinet, CILA will reach out to the new immigration, justice, and workforce ministers to express how we can support them in improving the immigration system.
CILA in the News
CILA featured in numerous media reports in Q1 2025. These include speaking to the Financial Post on investor immigration, the Toronto Star on the PGP, TRV refusals, work permit policies for temporary residents, CTV on IRCC workforce adjustments, and numerous interviews on how new U.S. policies will impact Canadian snowbirds. If you wish to represent CILA as a media spokesperson, please contact us here and inform us of which topics you would be interested in speaking to.
Purchase a CLE
As a reminder, we are pleased to offer access to our CLE recordings. Webinar recordings are available to CILA members and those eligible to become members.
Purchase your desired recordings HERE. You can buy access for multiple attendees! Within 3 business days, you’ll receive a unique, non-shareable link to access the recording, along with any additional materials from our presenters (like PowerPoint slides). If you purchased access for multiple people, each will receive their own link. Feel free to buy multiple recordings at once – no expiration means you can watch at your convenience!
Send us your articles
CILA is proud to have published over 130 articles last year thanks to the contributions of many of our members. These articles are key to demonstrating our thought-leadership to the government, media, and public. You are welcome to send us your submissions via our website here. We accept submissions on any topic of your choice and these articles are a great way to gain more experience (if you are a student or junior lawyer) as well as advocate for a stronger and fairer immigration system.
What’s next?
CILA is working on several major and exciting initiatives which we will be sharing more information on in the coming months. These relate to promoting mentorship, education, and networking among members as well as advancing the right to counsel.
Please contact us anytime if you have any recommendations or suggestions.
