Federal Skilled Worker Class Action Lawsuit

[sac]

It seems the litigation is a losing proposition now that CIC is mounting an all out effort to shift its focus of attracting would immigrants to Canada from the younger, skilled and language proficient ones. We are now clutching on straws and I have a feeling the litigants are going to be ruled out eventually and will surrender to the fact that their Canadian dream is slowly fading away into the sunset.

 

[Gaber1]

sac, may be correct

 

[sac]

My options left are: (1) re-apply under the new criteria in 2013 and complete against the others for a total of 10,000 slots for FSW worldwide. This is a long shot since I need my educational credentials assessed first, then have to take the IELTS and then submit my documents as soon as I can as it is race against time and against others. (2) take the student visa route by gaining admission in a masteral degree course and if lucky, gain a slot in a university. (3) remain in my country of birth and bid my ass goodbye to my Canadian dream.

 

[Gaber1]

If you have a good job paying 40000+ PM, then be in your home country. Beleave me It will be a foolish idea to shift to canada for nothing .I know many canadians who are not better than beggers here.

 

[warmest]

Here is the latest update from Tim Leahy (from his www.unfaircic.com).

FWS Processing
30 October 2012

Immigration agreed to resume processing on files of the pre-BIll C-50 litigants whose files had been assessed before March 29th, to do so on a priority basis and to issue the visas once the file is visa-ready but, in any event, before the end of August, absent extenuating circumstances.

The motion, filed June 29th, asking the Court to compel CIC to honour the February 3rd agreement to "be guided by" the representative case, continues to gather dust on the judge's desk. No estimated date has been offered for when a ruling on that motion will be released.

 

[warmest]

Here is one another update from Tim Leahy, but this is regarding 'Investor Immigrant Applicants'.

Investor Immigrant Applicants seek justice in the Federal Court
Several Chinese investor applicants have asked the Federal Court to bar the Minister from closing the litigants’ files without having assessed their cases. The Minister has made clear that he is unhappy with these 21,868 applicants willing to invest $400,000 or $800,0000 each – or a total of $8.8 to $16.6 billion dollars.

In April, the Minister said in Vancouver: “Canada’s Immigrant Investor Program undervalues the importance of Canadian Citizenship”. In a speech in Calgary in June, the Minister complained: “Most other developed countries offer temporary residency with an option on permanent residency at a much higher price point. So we are looking at how we can get more economic bang for the buck from that program.”

In 2013, the Minister proposed issuing no more than 4,300 visas to business-class applicants and their dependants. Business-class includes federal investors, entrepreneurs and self-employed. As of July 6th, the number of such prospective immigrants totalled 95,863 souls1. At that rate, it will take 22 years to finalize all the current business-class applications, of which investor applications comprise 80% of the total.

Square those figures with the Minister’s oft-repeated boast that he is moving to a “just in time” processing system with his view that Canada’s federal investor program should significantly increase the amount of required net-worth and investment and his penchant for sneaking poison-pill amendments into budget bills2, and it does not require a leap of faith to know that in the 2013 budget bill, the Minister will insert in a provision to close the files of all the current investor applicants – hence the reason for this litigation.


1 http://www.data.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=En&formid=B6F7C54E-EF4B-4EC1-8DDE-7315E97D18EB&xml=F36C86A9-85F5-454E-835A-5C534A9E942E&resource=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cic.gc.ca%2Fopendata-donneesouvertes%2Fdata%2F000023-eng.xls&formid=B6F7C54E-EF4B-4EC1-8DDE-7315E97D18EB

2 In the mini-budget bill, he has inserted a provision to allow him to bar from Canada anyone whose opinion he dislikes.

Would-be immigrant investors sue federal government over processing... vancouversun.com
A half-dozen Chinese immigrant investors have filed a lawsuit against the federal government over lengthy processing delays.

 

[warmest]

Here is that news article from The Vancouver Sun.

Would-be immigrant investors sue federal government over processing delays

By Tobi Cohen, Postmedia News November 3, 2012

A half-dozen Chinese immigrant investors have filed a lawsuit against the federal government over lengthy processing delays.

The would-be investors applied to the popular cash-for-visa program before September 2009 and want the courts to force the government to review their applications within six months to a year, according to documents filed in Federal Court this week.

As the immigrant investor stream is under review by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, they're also calling on the courts to bar the government from tossing their applications should "more stringent" criteria be adopted and are seeking $5 million in compensation if in fact their applications are returned without consideration.

Toronto lawyer Tim Leahy said his clients are ultimately afraid Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is going to do to the immigrant investor backlog what he did to the pre-2008 federal skilled worker backlog - eliminate it through legislation and simply return application fees to those who have been waiting patiently in the queue.

"The minister has caused great fear amongst everyone about what's going to happen to their file," he said. "They're willing to wait in the queue, but they just don't know whether the queue is going to be abolished. That's what motivated this litigation."

He's planning to ask the court for an injunction that will prevent the government from tossing the immigrant investor files so long as his case is still before the courts. It's something he did not think to ask for when he filed a similar suit on behalf of skilled worker applicants.

He essentially won his case in June but when the government passed a budget weeks later that eliminated 280,000 unassessed applications from federal skilled workers and their dependents received before February 2008, the bulk of his clients found themselves out of luck. That said, his skilled worker case is ongoing, while another group of lawyers are planning a class-action lawsuit.

As for the immigrant investor class, the current backlog stands at about 25,000 - 86,000 if you include dependents. Many, including Leahy's clients, applied when the minimum investment was just $400,000. It has since doubled and the government has fast-tracked those who have applied under the new criteria.

Critics say the program is really just a cash-for-visa scheme that fast-tracks permanent residency for those who can cough up $800,000 - not much compared to other countries that have set thresholds as high as $1.6 million. And since the money is returned after five years, Kenney has said he also wants the investment to become a permanent contribution to the Canadian economy. Kenney capped the program at 700 last year, prompting an application frenzy.

He ultimately froze the program in June pending its restructuring.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

 

[sac]

If you have a good job paying 40000+ PM, then be in your home country. Beleave me It will be a foolish idea to shift to canada for nothing .I know many canadians who are not better than beggers here.

Gaber: Really, there are many Canadians who are not better than beggars? I took a part time masters in management degree at McGill University and I could not find any beggar in Canada, nor anyone living squalid conditions such as can be found in my country. I do not have a good paying job, only a decent fulfilling job. My desire to shift to Canada is because my sisters are there and I want to join them there. How about you, are you now there in Canada? Do you have a fulfilling job?

 

[warmest]

Here is the latest 'News Release' from CIC.

An Immigration System That Works For Canada's Economy -- Moving to a Fast, Flexible Just-in-Time Immigration System

Toronto, November 2, 2012 — Today, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced that by the end of 2013, Canada's immigration system will be transformed from one that was plagued by backlogs into one that is fast, flexible, and responsive to the labour market.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) announced today it will admit up to 55,300 persons in the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) category in 2013. Combined with previous actions taken to manage the backlog, this means by the end of 2013 we will be able to process new applications as they are received – a “just in time” system – and aim to process them in less than a year, instead of up to eight years under the old FSW program. In addition, CIC expects to clear the FSW applications received to date by the end of 2014, three years earlier than originally expected.

This will allow for the introduction of an Expression of Interest (EOI) system to be put in place for FSW and possibly other economic immigration streams. CIC is moving to a just-in-time system that recruits people with the right skills to meet Canada's labour market needs, fast tracks their applications, and gets them working in a period of months, instead of years.

“The Government's number one priority remains the economy and job growth,” said Minister Kenney. “Immigration backlogs are detrimental to our ability to attract the world's top talent. With the decisive actions we've taken to tackle the backlog, we will finally be able to select immigrants who better meet the needs of the Canadian labour market. We will aim to process their applications in less than 12 months.”

The volume of FSW applications has been a longstanding dilemma, since the number of applications received inevitably exceeded the space available within the Immigration Levels Plan each year. As a result, wait times in the FSW program were as high as eight years.

Over the past few years, CIC has taken concrete measures to tackle this problem, including the following:
1. Under the 2008 Action Plan for Faster Immigration, CIC began to limit FSW application intake to priority occupations.
2. In 2010, the Department added caps to the number of new applications.
3. In June 2012, the Jobs, Growth and Long-Term Prosperity Act eliminated most of the remaining FSW applications received before February 27, 2008.
4. In July 2012, CIC issued a temporary pause on new FSW applications, excluding candidates with a qualifying job offer or those applying under the PhD stream.

Taken together, these efforts have dramatically reduced the total number of people waiting in the FSW backlog from a height of 640,000 people in 2008 to approximately 100,000 today, even with new applications received since the 2008 Action Plan.

“By tackling the backlog to make way for a faster, more flexible just-in-time immigration system, newcomers to Canada will be able to fully participate in the economy more quickly,” said Minister Kenney. “Immigration plays a vital role in our country's long-term prosperity. By improving our economic immigration system, we can ensure that Canada is competitive on the world stage.”

In 2013, CIC plans to admit between 53,500 to 55,300 Federal Skilled Workers, including their spouses and dependants. CIC intends to lift the current pause on FSW applications in 2013, when the new selection criteria are expected to take effect. The final regulatory changes will be available in the Canada Gazette later this year.

 

[sac]

Hello Warmest!

What are your options? Will you fight it out in the litigation? Are you going to re-apply next year? Or you do both? Do you consider applying for a student permit instead by applying for admission to a university? I wish I can hear from you your options.

SAC

 

[Bagi]

Hi Guys,

I am wondering whether this will apply to non-litigants who applied before 27 Feb 2008 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks and good luck for all of us

FWS Processing
30 October 2012

Immigration agreed to resume processing on files of the pre-BIll C-50 litigants whose files had been assessed before March 29th, to do so on a priority basis and to issue the visas once the file is visa-ready but, in any event, before the end of August, absent extenuating circumstances.

The motion, filed June 29th, asking the Court to compel CIC to honour the February 3rd agreement to "be guided by" the representative case, continues to gather dust on the judge's desk. No estimated date has been offered for when a ruling on that motion will be released.

 

[hopeful4]

Hi Guys,

I am wondering whether this will apply to non-litigants who applied before 27 Feb 2008 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks and good luck for all of us

No it only applies to about 40 applicants for whom Tim reached a settlement.

 

[warmest]

Hello Warmest!

What are your options? Will you fight it out in the litigation? Are you going to re-apply next year? Or you do both? Do you consider applying for a student permit instead by applying for admission to a university? I wish I can hear from you your options.

SAC

Dear sac,

Thanks for your interest in knowing my options. Here are my options:

FIRST OPTION: I am optimistic about Tim Leahy's pre-Feb 2008 FSW litigation. I am hopeful that Justice Barnes will rule on Tim's motion in litigants' favour by asking CIC to honour its February 3rd agreement to "be guided by" the representative case.

SECOND OPTION: If Justice Barnes does not rule in Tim's favour, then Tim's litigation will automatically become a part of class action lawsuit. But, I guess Justice Barnes will not certify class action unless there are atleast a total of 10,000 litigants. If class action is not certified, then the litigant's files would be case managed. I know this will take a lot of time (atleast a year or two) to get a favourable judgement, but there is no other legal remedy available.

THIRD OPTION: I will try to re-apply in 2013 if the new occupations list or any other new programme of CIC favours me. But, what is of concern to me is that I should take the IELTS once again (and shell out some money as exam fees, stress myself preparing for the exam and undergo the pain of sitting for the exam once again). Undertaking/undergoing any examination of any sort is always painful. Is it not?

FOURTH OPTION: I would always wish to study further, even though I am a PhD degree holder already. For an additional PhD degree, I may try applying for a PhD programme in Canada if I could manage to get a full or partial scholarship/sponsorship. Otherwise not. I may also try to apply for an advanced/specialised master's programme in Management if I could manage to get scholarship. Otherwise not, because it will be costly to study in Canada as you will be spending your money in Canadian dollars and it is not worth it according to me. If you really wish to get a Canadian educational qualification, you can always do it part-time (off-office hours) after reaching Canada as a permanent resident. It will be cost effective if you study in Canada as a permanent resident or as a citizen, as you can get some benefits there. It will always be a great idea to equip yourself with a Canadian educational qualification. No doubt about it.

FIFTH OPTION: I would first love to immigrate to Canada. But if nothing works in my favour, then I may consider Switzerland or New Zealand or any other prosperous cold country worth immigrating.

My options are wide open, as of now.

Best wishes to you sac. All the best.

 

[hopefulever]

Hi warmest, even if justice shows courtesy for allowing motion of tim let us say in Dec 2012 and advise for case managd in next six months then all of tims clients will see june 2013 for processing. it may go beyond that.But here the chance of win is 50:50. Fingers crossed till then.

 

[sac]

Dear sac,

Thanks for your interest in knowing my options. Here are my options:

FIRST OPTION: I am optimistic about Tim Leahy's pre-Feb 2008 FSW litigation. I am hopeful that Justice Barnes will rule on Tim's motion in litigants' favour by asking CIC to honour its February 3rd agreement to "be guided by" the representative case.

SECOND OPTION: If Justice Barnes does not rule in Tim's favour, then Tim's litigation will automatically become a part of class action lawsuit. But, I guess Justice Barnes will not certify class action unless there are atleast a total of 10,000 litigants. If class action is not certified, then the litigant's files would be case managed. I know this will take a lot of time (atleast a year or two) to get a favourable judgement, but there is no other legal remedy available.

THIRD OPTION: I will try to re-apply in 2013 if the new occupations list or any other new programme of CIC favours me. But, what is of concern to me is that I should take the IELTS once again (and shell out some money as exam fees, stress myself preparing for the exam and undergo the pain of sitting for the exam once again). Undertaking/undergoing any examination of any sort is always painful. Is it not?

FOURTH OPTION: I would always wish to study further, even though I am a PhD degree holder already. For an additional PhD degree, I may try applying for a PhD programme in Canada if I could manage to get a full or partial scholarship/sponsorship. Otherwise not. I may also try to apply for an advanced/specialised master's programme in Management if I could manage to get scholarship. Otherwise not, because it will be costly to study in Canada as you will be spending your money in Canadian dollars and it is not worth it according to me. If you really wish to get a Canadian educational qualification, you can always do it part-time (off-office hours) after reaching Canada as a permanent resident. It will be cost effective if you study in Canada as a permanent resident or as a citizen, as you can get some benefits there. It will always be a great idea to equip yourself with a Canadian educational qualification. No doubt about it.

FIFTH OPTION: I would first love to immigrate to Canada. But if nothing works in my favour, then I may consider Switzerland or New Zealand or any other prosperous cold country worth immigrating.

My options are wide open, as of now.

Best wishes to you sac. All the best.

Hello Warmest:

Thank you so much for your long description of your options and I deeply appreciate that you painstakingly posted it online for me. I may consider applying as soon as possible for a Masters in Social Work at McGill University. And since I have some savings that is enough for me to last for a year, I could take the risk of applying for this study and take it from there. Then once I am admitted and is able to get a student visa, I would find some gainful employment after my studies, as it is allowed for one who is studying in Canada to apply for a working permit within 6o days after receiving the degree or letter or notice from the university of obtaining the degree.

My only drawback is that I am already 44 years old, perhaps my age level is a minus for me as I am able to graduate from my course in 4 terms, which is barely two years. I would be 46 by then and I do not know if the labor market is favorable for someone my age, although I would specialize in a course that is social work, which will benefit Canadian society in general, especially the marginalized groups such as immigrants and refugees.

What do you think of my chances of going through this route?

SAC