Borderlines

Steven Meurrens and Deanna Okun-Nachoff
  • 5.0 (7)
  • News
  • Updated Biweekly

A podcast for the discussion of Canadian immigration law and policy, although we often delve into other topics. Each episode features 2-3 lawyers, academics, politicians, and stakeholders discussing current migration issues. Hosted by Steven Meurrens and Deanna Okun-Nachoff, two immigration lawyers in Vancouver, British Columbia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 4d ago

    #233 - China, Espionage and Canadian Immigration Law: How Far Is Too Far?, with Joanna Chiu

    How should Canada respond to concerns about Chinese espionage and foreign interference without treating every connection to China as a national security threat? Joanna Chiu, journalist, author of China Unbound: A New World Disorder and founder of Nüora Global Advisors, joins the Borderlines Podcast to discuss how the Chinese Communist Party operates at home and abroad, and what that means for Canadian immigration law. We discuss the United Front Work Department, the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, Article 7 of China’s National Intelligence Law, foreign interference, overseas “police stations,” Chinese Communist Party membership, and the increasingly difficult security screening faced by Chinese visa and immigration applicants. Joanna also explains why understanding the Chinese-language sources, the structure of Chinese organizations and the realities of how Chinese laws operate in practice is essential when assessing allegations of espionage or foreign interference. We also discuss whether Canadian immigration authorities risk going too far when the possibility that someone could someday be compelled to cooperate with Chinese authorities becomes a basis for finding them inadmissible to Canada. Timestamps 06:02 – What is China’s United Front and what does it actually do? 19:40 – Article 7 of China’s National Intelligence Law: Does every Chinese citizen have to spy? 27:58 – Foreign interference, protests and the risks of profiling Chinese Canadians 32:54 – Is Canada going too far in immigration security screening? 43:10 – Elections, influence campaigns and China’s alleged overseas “police stations” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  2. Sep 22

    #232 - Firing Foreign Workers: Immigration Status, Severance & Employment Law

    What happens when a foreign worker loses their authorization to work in Canada? Can an employer put them on unpaid leave? Lay them off? Terminate them? And what happens to severance when a worker’s immigration status makes it difficult, or impossible, to find another job? Employment lawyer Erin Brandt returns to Borderlines to discuss the increasingly important intersection between Canadian immigration and employment law. We discuss: • The difference between termination, temporary layoffs and unpaid leave • What employers should do when a work permit extension is refused • Employees vs. independent and dependent contractors • Employment Standards Act vs. common-law severance • Whether being on a closed work permit can increase severance • Fixed-term employment contracts and immigration-related job offers • Whether employers have to support work permit extensions • Employer questions about immigration processing and security screening • Rescinding job offers when a worker cannot obtain authorization to work in Canada We also discuss why immigration lawyers and employment lawyers increasingly need to understand each other’s areas of practice, and why losing immigration status does not necessarily mean that an employee loses their employment-law rights. Erin Brandt is an employment lawyer in British Columbia. Like and subscribe for more discussions about Canadian immigration law and policy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  3. Sep 14

    #231 - Trump, the Canada–U.S. Border and the Future of U.S. Immigration, with Andrew Hayes

    What has actually changed at the Canada–U.S. border under the second Trump administration, and what is just noise? U.S. immigration lawyer Andrew Hayes joins to discuss the state of U.S. immigration law and what it means for Canadians travelling, working and doing business in the United States. In brief, while Canadian tourism to the United States is down, an increased number of Canadian citizens and permanent residents are moving to America. Topics include whether Canadians should be worried about travelling to the United States, detention and expedited removal at the border, the impact of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, the future of CUSMA/USMCA and what its collapse could mean for TN status, E-1 and E-2 visas, U.S. green card quotas and the lengthy waits faced by Indian-born applicants, travel restrictions and the difficulties facing some Iranian-born Canadian citizens, IRGC service and U.S. inadmissibility, the constitutional battle over birthright citizenship and the growing opportunities for Canadian skilled tradespeople in the United States. We also discuss the broader tension at the heart of U.S. immigration policy: restricting immigration and strengthening enforcement while continuing to attract the workers, investors and entrepreneurs that the U.S. economy needs. Andrew Hayes is a U.S. immigration lawyer based in Vancouver whose practice focuses on cross-border immigration, trade and travel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  4. Sep 8

    #230 - Becoming a Francophone, with Alyanna Chua

    Canada wants more Francophone immigrants. But what happens when people who have already built their lives in Canada suddenly discover that learning French may be their best, or only, pathway to permanent residence? In this episode of Borderlines, we speak with Maclean’s editorand recent Canadian permanent resident Alyanna Chua about her experience learning French after changes to Canada’s immigration system put her future in the country in doubt. Alana came to Canada from the Philippines in 2019 to attend the University of Toronto, believing that studying and working in Canada would provide a relatively straightforward pathway to permanent residence. Years later, as immigration targets were reduced and Express Entry became increasingly competitive, she found herself facing an unexpected reality: if she wanted to stay in Canada, she needed to learn French. What followed was an intense year of studying—early mornings, evenings, weekends, tutors, language tests and significant financial and emotional stress. Alyanna describes putting much of her life on hold, failing one component of her first French test, and watching friends and other temporary residents confront the same dilemma. We discuss: • Why French has become so important in Express Entry • What it is like to learn a language when your immigration status depends on it • Why doctors, researchers and other highly skilled workers are being told to learn French to remain competitive for permanent residence • Whether language ability is becoming a proxy for persistence, privilege and access to time and money • The resentment and competition that immigration selection can create between newcomers • What people struggling to learn French should consider as their work permits approach expiry • Whether Canada’s Francophone immigration policy is accomplishing what it is supposed to accomplish We also discuss live viewer comments and questions, including the experiences of people who have learned French specifically for immigration, the difficulty older applicants face under Express Entry, and whether Canada is losing people it otherwise says it wants to attract. Aylanna ultimately succeeded. She learned French, passed the required language test and became a Canadian permanent resident. But she describes the experience as “80% bitter and 20% sweet,” with lingering feelings of resentment, raising a larger question about what Canada’s rapidly changing immigration system is asking of the people who have already built their lives here. Borderlines is a podcast about Canadian immigration law, policy and politics Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  5. Sep 1

    #229 - What Counts as Unauthorized Work in Canada? Plus Free Trade Work Permits

    What actually counts as “work” under Canadian immigration law? The answer is much broader than simply receiving a paycheque. We discuss a recent Federal Court decision involving unauthorized work and the line between simply owning a Canadian business and actually working for it. We examine how unpaid activities, volunteering, helping a family business, self-employment and even a single instance of work can potentially lead to immigration consequences. We then turn to Canada's free trade agreements and an often-overlooked source of LMIA-exempt work permits. The discussion covers CUSMA, CETA, the CPTPP and Canada's other trade agreements, including the different options available to professionals, intra-company transferees, investors and business visitors. Finally, we look at Canada's expanding trade agenda, including negotiations with India and ASEAN and the Canada–Indonesia agreement, and discuss how new trade agreements could create significant new work-permit pathways. Topics include: unauthorized work; working without a work permit; owning vs. operating a Canadian business; unpaid and volunteer work; enforcement and removal orders; CUSMA/NAFTA; CETA; CPTPP; LMIA-exempt work permits; and Canada's emerging free trade agreements. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  6. Aug 25

    #228 - How Express Entry Went Off the Rails, with Steven Paolasini

    Canada’s Express Entry system was designed to rank skilled immigrants predictably and select those most likely to succeed economically. Has it instead become an unpredictable collection of category-based draws, shifting priorities and short-term policy fixes? Steven Paolasini joins us to discuss his recent Macdonald-Laurier Institute paper, co-authored with Nino Melikidze, on how Canada’s skilled immigration system went off the rails—and how it could be rebuilt. We discuss the transformation of Express Entry after the pandemic, historically high CRS cutoffs, the growing emphasis on French-language selection, and why highly educated and well-paid workers already established in Canada are increasingly unable to qualify. We also debate whether immigration selection should prioritize Canadian experience, earnings, education, language ability, occupational demand or broader social objectives. In the live listener questions, we address whether criticism of French-language draws unfairly characterizes Francophone immigrants, whether applicants already working and building lives in Canada should receive priority over candidates abroad, and what should happen to cooks, fast-food workers, construction labourers and other lower-wage workers who do not fit a narrowly defined high-skills model. Read Steven Paolasini and Nino Melikidze’s paper, “How Canada’s skilled immigration system went off the rails—and how to fix it”: https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/how-canadas-skilled-immigration-system-went-off-the-rails-and-how-to-fix-it-nino-melikidze-and-steven-paolasini/ 01:15 – How Canada’s skilled immigration system went off the rails 04:00 – What Express Entry was originally designed to do 08:08 – CRS scores before and after the pandemic 10:06 – The extraordinary 2021 CEC draw 12:32 – The rise of category-based selection 13:06 – French-language draws and lower cutoffs 17:25 – The skilled workers whom the system leaves behind 20:04 – Scientists and graduates struggling to qualify 27:03 – How Steven would redesign Express Entry 27:28 – Longer-lasting profiles and refundable deposits 29:22 – Why Canadian earnings should receive more weight 30:30 – Should all educational credentials be treated equally? 32:21 – Why predictability matters LIVE LISTENER QUESTIONS 39:37 – Is criticism of French-language draws anti-Francophone? 42:42 – Should workers already in Canada receive priority? 44:36 – Should cooks and lower-wage workers qualify through Express Entry? 48:43 – Who should design pathways for essential workers? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  7. Aug 18

    #227 - LMIA Exemption Code C-20, “Papers Please” and IRGC Conscripts

    We discuss three recent developments: IRCC’s abrupt addition and removal of new requirements for C20 reciprocal-employment work permits; CBSA officers checking the immigration status of participants at a Calgary protest, with 12 people identified as potentially inadmissible; and The hundreds of procedural fairness letters being sent to former IRGC conscripts who may now face inadmissibility allegations based on compulsory military service. We examine whether applicants and their lawyers can realistically keep pace with constantly shifting policies, what authority CBSA has to demand proof of status at a protest, whether people awaiting restoration can be removed, and why Parliament—not individual officers, applicants or courts—may need to resolve the consequences of mandatory IRGC service. The episode concludes with audience questions about lengthy security screening, mandamus applications and whether Canada’s immigration-security measures reflect a coherent national security strategy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  8. Aug 11

    #226 - Can Parliament Block Judicial Review? With Paul Daly and Sujit Choudhry

    Can Parliament prevent courts from reviewing the decisions of administrative tribunals? In this episode, we discuss the Supreme Court of Canada’s landmark decision in Democracy Watch v. Canada (Attorney General), 2026 SCC 28. The case arose after Democracy Watch sought judicial review of the Ethics Commissioner’s finding that former prime minister Justin Trudeau had not violated the Conflict of Interest Act in relation to the WE Charity controversy. The Court unanimously ruled that Parliament cannot prevent courts from reviewing whether administrative decision-makers have acted lawfully. We examine what the decision says about the constitutional foundations of administrative law. We also discuss what the ruling could mean for privative clauses, reasonableness review, and future challenges to federal administrative decisions in the immigration context. Live audience questions answered include what the case could mean for mandamus applications involving delays caused by Ministerial Instructions, and concerns about the apparent growing lack of public confidence in the courts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

A podcast for the discussion of Canadian immigration law and policy, although we often delve into other topics. Each episode features 2-3 lawyers, academics, politicians, and stakeholders discussing current migration issues. Hosted by Steven Meurrens and Deanna Okun-Nachoff, two immigration lawyers in Vancouver, British Columbia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Steven Meurrens and Deanna Okun-Nachoff
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2026
  • Episodes
    243
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    Borderlines

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