Josh Dehaas, Interim Litigation Director at the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF), joins to walk through the Federal Court of Appeal’s Emergencies Act decision, often referred to as the “Freedom Convoy” case.

Topics discussed include what actually happened in Ottawa in early 2022, why existing laws were already available to address blockades, what it practically meant when the Emergencies Act was invoked nationwide, protest bands, the freezing of bank accounts and why public support for extraordinary measures can be durable.

Guest: Josh Dehaas, Interim Litigation Director, Canadian Constitution Foundation

CCF podcast: Not Reserving Judgment

Chapters / timestamps

4:38 – Setting the stage: COVID restrictions, mandates, and public frustration

11:45 – Border blockades

22:50 – What invoking the Emergencies Act meant nationwide

29:28 – Was there a coherent convoy “message”?

31:24 – Did it accelerate the end of restrictions? (Ontario vs. federal)

35:32 – What this says about Canada, public opinion, and civil liberties

40:09 – What the Federal Court / FCA held (speech, search/seizure, emergency threshold)

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Jonathan Leebosh is a recently retired partner and longtime leader of EY Law’s immigration practice in Vancouver.

In this episode Jonathan reflects on a career that took him from refugee camps in Hong Kong with the UNHCR to building a corporate immigration practices inside a Big Four firm.

Topics discussed include how EY Law scaled, serving multinational corporate clients, managing people, policy innovation, the growing role of national security in immigration decisions, processing delays, and advice for young lawyers and consultants hoping to move from individual files to corporate work.

07:20 – Building EY Law’s corporate immigration practice

16:30 – Managing people vs. practicing law

24:00 – Policy innovation and lobbying

41:30 – The state of Canadian immigration

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Canada is deliberately slowing, and possibly reversing, its population growth. But what does that actually mean for the economy?

We are joined by economist Mikuel Scutterat for a wide-ranging and candid conversation about Canada’s immigration reset, GDP per capita, shrinking rental markets, Express Entry category draws, francophone targets, regional programs, and the political risks of a rapidly changing system, winners and losers when immigration rises or falls, why focusing on “essential workers” may be bad long-term policy and social cohesion.

03:06 – Does population size actually matter for prosperity?

10:45 – Falling rents and distributional effects

15:01 – Human capital vs labour shortages

20:39 – Are French targets distorting outcomes?

Listener Questions

32:55 – Economics of mass regularization

39:02 – Regional immigration targets

43:39 – Country caps

48:57 – Underemployment

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In this audio-only reunion episode, former Borderlines Podcast host Peter Edelman joins to discuss life on the British Columbia Court of Appeal.

Topics discussed include how decisions get made and written, the role of counsel in shaping outcomes, pressures facing Canada’s judicial review system, judicial collegiality and dissenting reasons, immigration backlogs, adversarial justice, and the emotional weight of judging.

2:16 – Learning curve: trial court vs appellate court

6:31 – Does good lawyering really matter in judicial review?

19:28 – Precision in judgments & unintended interpretations

23:40 – Dissents, concurrences & shaping the law

27:17 – Should judges clarify controversial rulings later?

33:06 – Rethinking adversarial justice

49:06 – Is it easier to judge or be judged?

55:07 – Does being a judge change personal decision-making?

https://youtu.be/nJ8kM4zJLdU?si=5L4nmGJz5eaKbXAm

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Canada is increasingly turning to immigration to address a growing healthcare shortage, but is the system actually built to absorb more doctors?

Steven Meurrens and Deanna Okun-Nachoff are joined by Dr. Brian Day (orthopedic surgeon and past president of the Canadian Medical Association) to unpack how policy decisions created today’s physician and nursing shortages, why hospitals ration care under fixed budgets, and what that means for internationally trained doctors trying to build careers in Canada.

Topics discussed include the decline of family medicine, ER overcrowding, delayed diagnosis and higher long-term costs, Canadians seeking faster care abroad, credential recognition, new pathways for physicians, medical inadmissibility and more.

Follow Dr. Brian Day on X/Twitter: @drbrianday

Timestamps

02:53 — 1990s cuts

10:29 — “Rationing” healthcare

22:21 — Canadians going abroad for treatment

28:10 — Immigration meets healthcare

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The first Borderlines episode of 2026 is our annual recap + predictions roundtable with Ottawa immigration lawyer Tamara Mosher-Kuczer. We look back at what actually happened in 2025, what surprised us most, and what 2026 might bring.

Timestamps / Chapters

0:52 Looking back: how many predictions were right last year?

14:40 2026 predictions

39:46 Listener question: What will happen with caregivers?

42:28 Listener prediction: Turning asylum into a temporary pathway

46:11 Listener question: Trades vs. Francophones

52:12 Listner question: LMIA exemptions / significant benefit work permits—any expansion?

57:56 Will Canada's population increase or decrease in 2026?

Subscribe for weekly immigration law breakdowns and policy updates, and tell us: What’s your boldest 2026 immigration prediction?

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Amandeep Hayer and Lisa Middlemiss, co-authors of the book Canadian Citizenship: What Practitioners Need to Know, discuss citizenship by descent now that Bill C-3 is in force.

Topics discussed include what changed under Bill C-3, citizienship by descent, how far citizenship can be traced back, proving citizenship without provincial birth certificates, interim measures vs. proof of citizenship applications, processing times, urgent requests, Canadians without proof who can’t get work permits or SINs, why adoptees may still be treated differently, fraud concerns, and how many Americans may now be Canadian citizens.

We also answer live listener questions and comments, including whether Canada will now have to many new Canadians, a possible TR → PR pathway, work permit options for foreign doctors, slow processing times, Bill C-12 and Canadian immigration law predictions for 2026.

Amandeep's blog post on Bill C-3 can be found here - https://hayerlawoffice.ca/2025/11/03/no-bill-c-3-does-not-create-a-new-second-generation/

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We return to Afghanistan, and to the unfinished work Canada left behind.

Following our recent conversation with retired Canadian Forces member Cory Moore, we are joined by three guests from Aman Lara, a Canadian registered charity working on refugee extraction, resettlement and protection.

Jon Feltham, Executive Director of Aman Lara and retired Canadian Armed Forces member

Julia Aitken, Program & Communications Director at Aman Lara

Denis Thompson, Major-General (Ret’d), former commander of NATO Task Force Kandahar

We examine Canada’s response to Afghans who worked alongside Canadian and NATO forces, through the lens of recent Federal Court decisions that highlight how many individuals were left behind after the fall of Kabul in 2021.

We discuss:

The reality faced by Afghan interpreters, contractors, and families still in hiding

How Canada’s approach relied on “process without a plan”

The bureaucratic gaps between DND, Global Affairs, and IRCC

How veterans became de facto evacuation coordinators during the 2021 crisis

How Ukraine’s uncapped emergency program contrasted so sharply with Afghanistan

What Aman Lara has accomplished (over 7,000 evacuations and 5,800 resettlements) and why the work is far from over

🔗 Aman Lara is a registered Canadian charity.

If you’re looking for a meaningful way to support refugee protection and resettlement efforts, we’ve included a donation link here - https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/130744

🎧 Subscribe for in-depth conversations on Canadian immigration law, policy, and the human consequences behind the headlines.

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Steven and Deanna break down the rapidly shifting landscape of Canadian study permits amid IRCC’s newly released 2026 international student caps. With approval rates falling sharply in 2024–2025 and IRCC committing to fixed national intake numbers, study permits are now effectively being graded on a curve, making strong applications more critical than ever.

We discuss the most common refusal grounds they see in practice, including:

▸ Weak or incoherent study plans

Why study plans are now a top refusal ground, what officers look for, how jurisprudence has evolved, and what applicants must show to demonstrate a logical academic and career trajectory—even for minors.

▸ Dual intent, PGWP confusion, and long-term plans

How to candidly discuss the possibility of a PGWP without triggering a refusal, and how applicants can articulate return-home benefits while acknowledging genuine motivations.

▸ Financial sufficiency and unexplained deposits

Why bank statements are scrutinized more heavily than ever, how to document source-of-funds properly, and why even technical checklist omissions can sink an otherwise strong application.

▸ Family ties and home-country incentives

How IRCC evaluates “significant family ties” in and outside Canada, and why applicants should proactively explain their home-country obligations to address concerns about leaving Canada at the end of their stay.

▸ Underdocumented travel history and other overlooked factors

Simple omissions that lead to refusals—such as failing to include exit/entry stamps, prior visas, or proof of assets.

Whether you are an international student, an immigration professional, or someone following Canadian immigration reform, this episode offers practical guidance on how to build a more compelling study permit application in a challenging and tightening system.

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