Immigration Law

Family sponsorship

Canadian citizens and permanent residents can sponsor a spouse, common-law or conjugal partner, dependent children, and in defined circumstances parents and grandparents. Sponsorship carries a binding undertaking to support the sponsored person financially for a set period, and that undertaking survives a relationship breakdown.

Spousal applications turn on proving the relationship is genuine and was not entered into primarily for immigration purposes. That is an evidentiary exercise: the quality and organisation of what you file matters as much as the underlying facts. Applications are refused on genuineness grounds every day for relationships that are entirely real but poorly documented.

Permanent residence

Economic immigration runs largely through Express Entry, which manages applications under the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, and the Canadian Experience Class, with candidates ranked under the Comprehensive Ranking System. Provincial Nominee Programs, including the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program, run alongside it and can substantially improve a candidate’s position.

Eligibility criteria, draw categories, and score thresholds change frequently. We assess where you actually stand against the current rules, identify which levers realistically move your score, and tell you plainly where a program is not a viable route rather than filing an application that will not succeed.

Work and study permits

Work permits are either employer-specific, usually requiring a Labour Market Impact Assessment, unless an exemption applies under an international agreement or a category such as intra-company transfer, or open, as with a post-graduation work permit or a spousal open work permit.

Study permits require acceptance at a designated learning institution, proof of adequate funds, and satisfying an officer that you will leave Canada at the end of your authorised stay. Provincial attestation letter requirements and caps have changed the landscape considerably in recent years.

Because these rules change so frequently, we confirm current requirements at the point of filing rather than relying on what was true last year.

Refusals, and what to do next

A refusal is not always the end. Depending on the decision, the options may include a reconsideration request, an appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division, an application for leave and judicial review at the Federal Court, or a fresh application addressing the stated grounds properly.

Deadlines here are short and strict; judicial review timelines in particular are measured in days, not months. Obtaining the officer’s notes through an access to information request is usually the first step, because the refusal letter rarely tells you what actually went wrong.