Spotlight on resource for asylum-seekers

  • August 22, 2018

Canada is seeing an influx of asylum-seekers crossing both regularly and irregularly over the Canada-U.S. border. The CBA Immigration Law Section has created a resource for navigating the Canadian refugee determination system, one of two new toolkits from the Section published in August.

The Asylum Seekers Toolkit provides brief, high-level guidance to lawyers and settlement agencies, and information for asylum-seekers needing preliminary guidance on Canadian refugee law and procedure. It also provides more general information about the Canadian immigration and refugee determination procedures regardless of the country of origin, and about other options for legally entering the country.

The resource breaks down the exceptions to the Safe Third-Country Agreement, talks about inland protection claims, and explains the refugee determination process. In addition, it offers links to other resources, including CBA’s Find-A-Lawyer, to help asylum-seekers find an immigration lawyer.

The other new resource is The Immigration Lawyers’ Guide to CETA Mobility provisions. CETA’s Chapter 10 eliminates many administrative hurdles on prospective business entrants to Canada or the EU. The provisions are designed to increase transparency and predictability at the border for key personnel. 

This guide offers guidance on navigating the framework set out in CETA to facilitate cross-border travel or relocation for selected categories of business persons: investors and business visitors for investment purposes, intra-corporate transferees, contractual services suppliers, independent professionals, and short-term business visitors.