-
May 11, 2026
National Interest Waivers to obtain a green card (permanent residence) in the U.S. are getting a lot of attention these days. With large backlogs creating long waits for some people applying for green cards, applying with a request for a National Interest Waiver of the usual labor market testing requirement to complete the process can make green card processing much quicker — if you qualify.
-
May 11, 2026
Three and a half years ago, I wrote in this column about the dangers of forcing treatment on people with serious mental health issues as a condition of keeping them living in the community.
-
May 08, 2026
Canada has committed $7 million to eight international migration initiatives in Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, while also announcing five new pledges aimed at strengthening global migration management systems at the United Nations’ International Migration Review Forum.
-
May 08, 2026
The British Columbia Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal relating to alleged wrongful dismissal of a city employee due to not being vaccinated against COVID-19.
-
May 08, 2026
B.C. is making regulatory changes and expanding the role of midwives to include abortion and continuous pregnancy care, allowing them to provide additional reproductive health services.
-
May 08, 2026
McLennan Ross has added Matt Riskin as a partner in its Edmonton office.
-
May 08, 2026
In remarks delivered to the House of Commons, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada emphasized the “impact of a rapidly evolving technological environment,” called for modernization of federal privacy laws and advocated for permanent funding of his office.
-
May 08, 2026
Spoiler Alert: The following contains plot details from Better Call Saul. Charles McGill, the decorated senior partner in the TV series Better Call Saul, is everything the legal profession tells itself it stands for: principled, authoritative, a guardian of the rule of law. His younger brother Jimmy — the poor, hustling, desperate Saul Goodman — represents everything the profession looks down on. But as artificial intelligence dismantles the gatekeeping function that long justified the legal profession’s self-image, it is worth asking: which one of them is a more accurate reflection of a lawyer?
-
May 07, 2026
The Carney government has introduced its second omnibus implementation bill to implement a slew of measures it proposed in the federal budget last November.
-
May 06, 2026
For many family businesses, especially those built across generations, the business is more than an asset. It represents decades of effort, risk-taking, and personal investment, which forms part of the family’s identity and legacy. Many family businesses are passed down among generations, with the ownership and management of such businesses often governed by family shareholder agreements. Yet, other family businesses may lack a clear succession plan when the next generation is not willing or capable of stepping into an owner-manager role.
-
May 06, 2026
International graduates usually move from study to work through the post-graduation work permit (PGWP) program. A recurring legal uncertainty arises where a graduate completes their studies, more than 90 days pass, and the expiry date printed on the study permit has not yet arrived. If the graduate applies for a PGWP before that printed expiry date and receives an IMM 0127/WP-EXT for PGWP letter confirming work authorization under paragraph 186(w) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, SOR/2002-227, can the graduate work?
-
May 05, 2026
Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced that former Supreme Court of Canada justice Louise Arbour will become Canada’s next governor general. Arbour will become the first former judge of the top court to take on the vice-regal role.
-
May 05, 2026
B.C.’s top court has rejected the arguments from a First Nations chief that he was acting in accordance with his peoples’ traditional laws when violating a court injunction against impeding the construction of a natural gas pipeline, saying such a defence if it were to be recognized could only be raised as a last resort.
-
May 05, 2026
There is a story told quietly in the corridors of law firms, whispered between partners and etched into the culture of legal practice almost everywhere you look. It goes something like this: to be truly successful, you must give everything. Long hours, missed dinners, canceled holidays, chronic stress — these are not unfortunate side effects of a thriving legal career. They are, according to this story, the price of admission.
-
May 05, 2026
In a decision on April 22, the Superior Court of Quebec (SCQ) annulled a 2025 award issued by an arbitrator in a domestic arbitration between the Osman Medical Clinic (Osman) in Quebec and the provincial health authority, Santé Québec-CCSMTL.
-
May 05, 2026
An audit by an extended health benefits insurer can be an extremely invasive and stressful process for a health provider such as a health clinic or health professional. These audits also carry significant potential consequences, including demands for repayment, being delisted by the insurer and complaints to regulatory colleges.
-
May 04, 2026
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced progress on the one-time In-Canada Workers Initiative, which aims to accelerate the transition of up to 33,000 workers to permanent residence in 2026 and 2027.
-
May 04, 2026
Ottawa has announced a $1.5-billion support package, including a $1-billion loan program, to help businesses that manufacture and export products containing steel, aluminum or copper following a recent U.S. tariff adjustment.
-
May 04, 2026
A recent Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision offers an important reminder for franchisors and franchisees alike: informal renewal arrangements can create significant legal uncertainty.
-
May 01, 2026
Heralding a significant shift in the Canadian legal landscape, the British Columbia Supreme Court has rejected the legal profession’s constitutional challenge to the B.C. Legal Professions Act — legislation that would end more than 150 years of lawyer self-governance and self-regulation by benchers elected from the provincial bar.
-
April 30, 2026
Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced a new measure called Team Canada Strong, a $6-billion nationwide effort to “recruit, train and hire 80,000 to 100,000 new Red Seal trades workers in the next five years.”
-
April 30, 2026
Increasingly, U.S. government entities appear to be utilizing technology to screen visa and other immigration benefit applicants. In some cases, this has become very public and transparent. For example, most people are aware that phones and other electronic devices can be screened when coming into the United States.
-
April 30, 2026
Artificial intelligence (AI) and associated algorithms increasingly underpin routine business functions and often form part of a company’s product or service offering. In June 2025, Microsoft found that 71 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) surveyed were actively using AI or generative AI for core operations; among digital-native firms, the rate reached 90 per cent. Behind the scenes, AI models are responsible for making material business decisions, running equipment and offering services to third parties — including health care decisions, dynamic pricing, forecasting, supply chain optimization, customer chats and routing, applicant screening, identity validation, fraud detection and marketing campaigns.
-
April 29, 2026
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) has stated that measures announced in yesterday’s federal spring economic update were “not enough to halt the alarming loss of small businesses” across the country.
-
April 29, 2026
On April 2, 2026, Bill 9, An Act respecting the reinforcement of laicity in Québec became law. While much of the public discussion has focused on the public sector implications, private sector employers should pay close attention: the legislation enacts a new Law promoting social cohesion and regulating accommodations for religious reasons (Loi favorisant le vivre-ensemble et encadrant les accommodements pour un motif religieux) that directly applies to them and fundamentally changes the rules governing religious accommodation in the workplace.