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North Star Immigration Law

@nsil.bsky.social
82 followers 268 following 132 posts

Canadian immigration law firm based in Halifax, NS.

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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
So sure, ask AI for recipes, or to edit an email, but man, don’t use it to tell you what LMIA-exempt work permit to apply for, or how to bring an adopted baby into Canada or how to reply to a PFL from IRCC.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
It’s hard for lawyers to say anything about this because it can look like we are trying to protect our turf, but actually this kind of stuff actually increases our workload/business because undoing an immigration mess is far more costly than preventing one in the first place.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Bad legal advice is worse than no legal advice when it comes to immigration matters. This holds true for incompetent consultants and AI.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
But it kinda sucks spending an hour talking to someone who has been drinking AI Kool-Aid, attempting to disabuse them of what immigration program they think they are eligible for.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
…And now you’re out of status and can’t work for the next 6 months…
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Welp, one of the impacts of AI is the insane volume of consultations we are getting after people have followed AI-generated immigration legal advice, and completely messed up their situation. “ChatGPT told me I definitely qualify” doesn’t work on IRCC forms.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
IRCC patting itself on the back for this nothingburger announcement is a new low.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
In other words, “we did our jobs, yay us”, like c’mon
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
“We are making progress and are on track to meet these goals. Between January 1st and February 28, 2026, 3,600 workers were granted permanent residence under this initiative.”
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
If this new “program” is for people who already have PR applications in process and who already qualify for a PR program, what is the point of this announcement? It’s just BS.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
What a bait and switch by IRCC: stay tuned for a program that is launching on April 1, 2026, oh wait, it’s just increasing the processing speed of EXISTING applications for a select few. www.canada.ca/en/immigrati...
canada.ca
Filling labour gaps in smaller communities by accelerating permanent residence for 33,000 workers
Canada continues to bring our immigration system to sustainable levels and focus immigration on the areas where it has the greatest impact. This means supporting rural and remote communities that are ...
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
This is one of my favourite places on earth. Hello to Moon Hill.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Thinking about our friends in Tumbler Ridge today. Such a gorgeous place, with some of the most interesting people. Sending love from Nova Scotia ❤️
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
Epstein’s Application for a TRP/Rehabilitation (which would have been needed to enter Canada), if this is what was actually submitted, could not have been lazier or sloppier. Most people would be more conscientious writing a grocery list.
Page 1 of Epstein’s Application for Rehabilitation, which is an IRCC form. It omits many required details.Page 2 of Epstein’s Application for Rehabilitation, which is an IRCC form. It omits many required details
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
I promised some thoughts on immigration consultants, so here they are😬 #canada #immigration open.substack.com/pub/northsta...
open.substack.com
PFL WTF
We have seen a spike in the number of inquiries about Procedural Fairness Letters people are getting from provincial immigration offices. Feels like the tip of the iceberg.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Well, that’s pretty shady: This week, #IRCC slashed study permits and told int’l students they aren’t welcome anymore. Then, they started an ad campaign to attract…int’l students? www.canada.ca/en/immigrati...
canada.ca
Get your graduate degree in Canada - Canada.ca
Information about studying in Canada for graduate studies.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
All in all, this isn’t really transformative or earth shattering - it’s more of the same in terms of reductions and pulling the rug out from under people who have followed the rules to get here. PS: we are waiting to see what the actual program-by-program breakdown looks like.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
“…a one-time initiative to recognise eligible Protected Persons in Canada as permanent residents over the next two years” [one time only?! Because processing times have blown up to 10+ years which means that’s how long it will take successful refugee claimants to see their families again]
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
“The 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan is already delivering results: new temporary foreign worker arrivals have fallen by about 50 per cent this year, and new international student arrivals are roughly 60 per cent lower than in 2024. Asylum claims are also down by one-third so far in 2025”[🙄]
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
“IRCC will transfer responsibility for employer-focused compliance inspections under the International Mobility Program (IMP) to Employment and Social Development Canada” [🔥as long as ESDC has the resources to handle this]
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
“…a one-time measure to accelerate the transition of up to 33,000 work permit holders to permanent residency in 2026 and 2027” [meh, sounds like the old TR-to-PR mess, how about just get processing times under better control, and whatever happened to more occupation-specific draws?]
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
“….a targeted, one-time initiative to recruit over a thousand highly qualified international researchers to Canada” [👏 yes to brain gain]
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
“…in the coming months the government will also launch an accelerated pathway for H1-B visa holders” [no shade on H1-Bs, but how did the program go last time around? How many approvals actually came? What about making it easier for Americans to come here in non-CUSMAs jobs, like allied healthcare?]
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Immigration takeaways from the Budget 2025: Canada Strong budget.canada.ca/2025/report-... In short: the party is over and this is the hangover. #canada #immigration
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
Not very compassionate: IRCC's processing time tool now says it will be TEN YEARS for a Humanitarian and Compassionate applications to be processed if submitted today. 10 years! Imagine if you were someone with a compelling H&C and this is the wait time.
A screenshot from IRCC's processing times tool that says a Humanitarian and Compassionate application will take 10 years to process if submitted today.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
4. Int’l students who graduate from Cdn schools have the most success settling here of all immigrants. They should have a clear, fair pathway to achieve PR. They’ve already invested here, built skills, and contributed. Cap total study permits overall, but reward grads with stability & retention.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Obviously immigrants aren’t the cause of Canada’s housing crisis and services crunch. Poor planning is. But the system exists to ensure the people who are here, contributing and sacrificing now, get to stay. It just needs a couple tweaks 😉
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
5. With things in the US pushing innovators north, Canada should welcome self-employed leaders. Expand “significant benefit” work permits and give PR points to self-employed Canadian work experience. Right now: self-employed = disqualified under Express Entry. This is a huge opportunity for Canada.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
3. Stop issuing LMIAs for unskilled fast-food jobs (looking at you, TEER 5 Food Counter Attendant). These workers have virtually no PR pathway and end up as temporary residents in perpetuity. Businesses must adapt, not rely on workers who end up trapped on closed work permits.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
2. Skilled workers already here should be at the front of the PR line. Instead, IRCC has runs random pilots (francophone streams, extended family PR streams) and bypassed people with who are already in Canada working and contributing.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
1. Restore the balance: In 2016/17, temporary residents (students and workers) were <5% of Canada's population. Today it’s nearly double. IRCC should reset the cap to sustainable levels without shutting the door completely.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
5 things IRCC could do right now to improve the immigration system without reinventing the wheel. A Friday afternoon🧵
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
If you’re blaming the TFW program for unemployment, you’re looking in the wrong place. The real culprit is an economy where the expectation of endless corporate profits takes priority over people. And a politician wiling to use TFWs as a dog-whistle to score cheap points is a disgrace.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
The solution isn’t to shut the door on TFWs. It’s to hold employers accountable. Pay fair wages. Offer decent conditions. Compete for talent. Retention improves when businesses treat workers like humans, not disposable labour.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
Youth unemployment isn’t about foreign workers. It’s about a labour market hollowed out by low wages, precarious working conditions and wealth inequality. Young people and foreign workers face the same challenge: an economy tilted in favour of the few.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
We've been saying for years: if you’re good enough to work here, you’re good enough to stay. TFWs deserve a fair pathway to PR so they’re not trapped on closed work permits, at the mercy of unscrupulous employers and predatory agents/consultants (that's a rant for another day).
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
(And if your fast food franchise can only turn a profit on the backs of TFWs then I suggest your business model is flawed)
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
Most TFWs are in remote, seasonal, or tough sectors like agriculture, food processing, caregiving and skilled trades. Yes, some fast-food franchises overuse TFWs. But let’s be clear: the problem is employer abuse, not the workers themselves.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
Blaming youth unemployment on temporary foreign workers is scapegoating. These are people who came to 🇨🇦 legally, studied, graduated, and worked under the rules we set. The real issue? Rising inequality of wealth and a job market reshaped by unchecked corporate greed
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
Screaming into the void, but here goes: Growing inequality of wealth is destroying living standards and changing the job landscape for young people. Not immigrants, not temporary foreign workers.
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Reposted by North Star Immigration Law
Amnesty Canada @amnesty.ca · 06/06/2025
With Bill C-2, the Canadian government threatens to chip away at that right, making it harder for people seeking safety and freedom to file an asylum claim and have it assessed fairly. amnesty.ca/human-rights...
amnesty.ca
Bill C-2, Canada’s new border bill, an attack on the human right to seek asylum
Amnesty International Canada says Bill C-2, the federal government’s new border bill, is an attack on refugees’ right to seek asylum.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Looking for suggestions to move away from US SaS products in our law office. We currently use Trello for task management, Adobe Acrobat (for immigration PDFs), Office 365 (we moved from Sync to SharePoint a few years back which was an effort), and Zoom for phones. #adobe #lawoffice #help
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Is there such thing as immigration tariffs? A month ago, the processing time for the same thing was ~6 weeks, now it’s 81. Sigh. #immigration #canada
Screenshot from IRCC showing work permit applications processed in the US are currently taking 81 weeks
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Reposted by North Star Immigration Law
George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
A reminder for these times.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Chump change for oligarchs
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
If we play our cards right, the US’s brain-drain can be Canada’s brain-gain. #canada
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
But we should also think about a pathway for US citizens with job offers here to become permanent residents quickly.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Obviously Canada needs to think seriously about a pathway for Americans who are being persecuted by their own government, for example those being denied gender-affirming medical care.
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Who can blame anyone for wanting to go to a more stable, reasonable and rational place when things in the US are this deliberately chaotic, and it’s clearly only just beginning?
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North Star Immigration Law @nsil.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
As unsettling as this last month has been with tariff and takeover threats, there is a silver lining: many highly-accomplished US citizens with plenty to offer are feeling completely at odds with what is happening in their country. #Canada #immigration
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