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Immigration - Immigration Act (IA) (Ont). Dalwadi v. Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development
In Dalwadi v. Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (Div Court, 2023) the Divisional Court considered an unusual JR under Ontario's Immigration Act (IA), here relating to the 'Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program'. In these quotes to court sets out the program and some relevant IA provisions:[1] The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (the “Program”) is an economic immigration selection program that promotes the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development’s mandate of attracting skilled and in-demand newcomers to Ontario in order to maximize the benefits of immigration to the province. The Program nominates foreign nationals who meet criteria intended to benefit Ontario’s economy to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”), allowing the nominee to apply for permanent residence.
[2] The applicants are foreign nationals who received job offer-based nominations from the Program and applied for permanent residence. With their nominations, each applicant received a work permit support letter (“WPSL”), which was valid for six months.
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Legislative Framework
[6] The Program was created under the Ontario Immigration Act, 2015,[1] which enables the Minister to create a selection program by regulation if the province has entered into an agreement with the federal government under s. 8(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.[2] The current agreement is the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement.
[7] The Program has multiple “streams” for people to apply. For any of the streams, if an applicant meets the criteria, the director of the Program issues a certificate of nomination. The certificate is used by the applicant to apply for permanent residence.
[8] Upon granting an application, the director may attach to the approval the conditions and restrictions the director considers advisable: Ontario Immigration Act, 2015, s. 17(1). The holder of an approval is required to comply with any conditions and restrictions attached to the approval: Act, s. 17(2).
[9] Section 18 of the Act provides:(1) The director may cancel an approval if,
(a) the director is of the opinion that it was issued based on mistaken, false or incorrect information;
(b) the holder of the approval fails to comply with the conditions or restrictions attached to the approval;
(c) the approval is an approval of a foreign national that is subject to the condition that an approved employer employ the individual and,
(i) the employer requests the director in writing to cancel the approval, or
(ii) the employer’s approval is cancelled; or
(d) the approval is an approval of a foreign national that is subject to another approval and the other approval is cancelled.
(2) Upon cancelling an approval, the director shall give a written notice of the cancellation to the holder of the approval. [10] A person may request an internal review of a decision or order of the director: Act, s. 34. The internal review requirements are set out at s. 10 of O. Reg. 421/17 which provides:(1) A requester of an internal review under section 34 of the Act of a decision or an order,
(a) shall identify in the request an error in the decision or order that, if not made, would have resulted in the decision or order being decided differently; and
(b) shall not include in the request any evidence that was not adduced before the decision or order was made unless the evidence was not reasonably available at that time.
(2) The individual conducting an internal review under subsection (1) shall consider only,
(a) any error that clause 1(a) requires the requester to identify; and
(b) the evidence that the requester is entitled to include in the request. Further IA procedural facts are set out at paras 11-26.
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