Melissa Elizabeth Eberly, immigration lawyer with Paolucci Law, answers your question, “how long will it take for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to Process my Application?”
If you have recently applied to sponsor your family members through a family class sponsorship, or if you are planning on doing so, new IRCC measures may apply to you and your family.
I am a student at a designated learning institution in Canada and want to apply for a post-graduation work permit. What do I need to know?
Pathways to Permanent Residence for Spouses or Common-Law Partners of Canadian Citizens or Permanent Residents living in Canada
In July of this year, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (the IRB) came out with its new and improved guidelines for gender-based considerations. This new guide greatly improves on its predecessor by broadening what qualifies as gender-based discrimination to encompass sexual orientation and all gender identities; addresses how other grounds for discrimination and persecution intersect with gender; and finally provides guidance to decision makers on assessing credibility and conducting hearings with individuals who have suffered gender-based trauma.
Niku Shaeri is an Immigration lawyer at Gerami Law PC. She represents clients on various immigration and refugee matters including sponsorships, humanitarian applications, refugee appeals and applications for protection, as well as other temporary and permanent residence applications.
Canada has undertaken significant efforts to assist those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine, including introducing two new programs to facilitate temporary residence applications for Ukrainians and expediting the processing of all immigration applications made by Ukrainian nationals.
If your marriage or relationship to your spouse or partner was genuine, getting separated or divorced from your sponsor will not affect your permanent resident (PR) status, even if you obtained permanent residence through the sponsorship of your spouse or common-law partner.
For many Canadians, their citizenship is obtained by birth, either because they were born in Canada, or they have a Canadian parent. However, Canadian citizenship can also be granted to Permanent Residents through what is called the “naturalization” process.
This article addresses the following question: Once I am a permanent resident of Canada, do I have to stay in Canada?
No, you are not required to hire an immigration lawyer to apply to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for immigration to Canada, the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) to make a refugee claim or file an immigration appeal, or apply to the Federal Court to seek judicial review of a refusal. However, even though it is not a requirement, I strongly recommend that you get legal advice from a lawyer that is personalized to your situation before making any immigration application or refugee claim.
Ruth MacKenzie - Board Member
Ruth’s career in the charitable sector spans 30+ years and the local, national and global levels. She is currently the President & CEO of the Canadian Association of Gift Planners (CAGP), and Executive Director of the CAGP Foundation, national organizations that inspire and strengthen philanthropy in Canada. Prior to CAGP, Ruth was the president & CEO of Volunteer Canada.
Ruth is also a committed volunteer, and has served on many boards and committees at the national and international level. She served on the Governor General’s Volunteer and Philanthropy Advisory Committee from 2012-2015, and currently is the Chair of the Board of CanadaHelps. In 2015 Ruth was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in acknowledgement of her impact on
volunteerism, and received the Ontario Volunteer Service Award in 2020.
Mechthild Meyer - Past Board Chair
Mechthild's work with other immigrant women in Ottawa dates back 31 years, when she became the coordinator of OCISO's Immigrant Women's Centre. The lack of services for abused immigrant women at that time led her (together with Lucya Spencer and Alma Estable) to spearhead an advocacy initiative that led to the creation of what is now known as IWSO.
Her commitment to women's equality, anti-racism, and social justice issues inspired many community-based research and training projects, as the co-principal in a social science consulting firm (Gentium Consulting, since 1989). She has implemented numerous public health, social research and evaluation studies for the non-profit sector and for all levels of government.
For 15 years she also was a member of the qualitative research team at the Community Health Research Unit (CHRU), University of Ottawa, co-authoring many publications and conference presentations. Currently, she is Gentium's lead researcher in two developmental evaluation projects for Canadian national women's organizations focusing on the prevention of violence against young women (cyberviolence; sexual exploitation).
Mechthild is the proud mother of three grown-up children, a son and two daughters, who as young children were dragged to many immigrant women's community meetings. She plays in two community music groups (an orchestra and a big band), and loves to ski and canoe in the Canadian wilderness.
Mechthild has a Masters degree in Counselling from the University of Western Ontario and holds a teaching degree (Political Science, Physical Education) from the University of Hamburg, Germany. She also completed training in peer-counselling. She recently finished a Certificate in E-Learning at the University of Toronto.
Juliet Woodfield, CPA, CA
Board Member, Vice-President, Finance & Human Resources and Chief Financial Officer
Ms. Woodfield joined DCC's Executive Management Team in September 2016. She brings more than 20 years of public and private sector experience, and was most recently the Vice-President, Corporate Services and CFO at the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.
She has worked with a variety of government organizations and has also served as the Deputy Chief Financial Officer of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Security Investment Program in Brussels, Belgium.
She is a Chartered Professional Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calgary.
She has two daughters at university. She volunteers at the Ottawa Catholic Immigration Services of Ottawa as a career mentor for new Canadians and at the Immigrant Women Services Ottawa as a Board member (Treasurer).
Lori-Ann McDonald - Member
Lori-Ann McDonald is a Registered Social Worker, currently working as a Counsellor for Sexual Assault survivors and as a Women's Advocate at a local Domestic Violence shelter. Lori-Ann is an immigrant from Jamaica, now citizen of Canada who moved here with her family. Over the years, Lori-Ann has been gaining experience in the non-profit world with various agencies serving different populations.
She is a hard worker and even more caring person who seeks to see women living their best lives without fear of violence or anything unsafe.