July 18, 2014

Federal Skilled Worker Litigation Appeal: Update

Further to our last update on June 25th, 2014.  The hearing at the Federal Court of Appeal that took place over two days on June 23 and June 24th in Toronto has been concluded and the Court has reserved a decision.  There is no timeline for a decision but it is anticipated it will take at least a few months.

As stated in our last update:

Our office continued to pursue arguments under section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, emphasizing that the termination of the backlog was discriminatory and had disproportionate effects on applications at Visa Offices around the world. We argued that the individual applicants terminated from the backlog were eligible applicants for permanent residence in Canada, and that the applications ought to have been assessed to determine whether they satisfied Canada’s labour-market needs (the very requirement that the Government of Canada suggested necessitated termination). Arguments including the Bill of Rights, Legitimate Expectation, Rule of Law, Procedural Fairness, the application of humanitarian and compassionate considerations as well as arguments related to section 6 and 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms were also presented to the Court by lawyers for the Appellants (applicants).  After hearing the Appellants’ arguments the Federal Court of Appeal sought oral arguments from the Department of Justice on only the section 7 and 15 Charter arguments. 

Regardless of the outcome it is anticipated an application for leave (permission) to the Supreme Court of Canada will be pursued.  The participation of our office in the case at the Supreme Court of Canada to either defend a positive decision or appeal a negative decision of the Federal Court of Appeal will depend upon the particulars of the decision and your support.

Thank you all and we will keep you posted.