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Home | Ravi Jain
Ravi Jain

Ravi Jain

B.A.(Hons.), LL.B., LL.M., C.S.
  • Barrister & Solicitor (Ontario)
  • Attorney-At-Law (Massachusetts)
  • Certified by the Law Society of Ontario as a Specialist in Citizenship & Immigration Law
[email protected]
(416) 840-4172

Ravi Jain is the Founder of Jain Immigration Law. He is one of Canada’s most recognized immigration lawyers in terms of leadership in the bar, peer recognition for excellence and client satisfaction.

Mr. Jain was presented with the Diamond Jubilee Medal by command of Her Majesty the Queen in recognition of his significant contributions to Canada. He was selected as “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers in Canada (the oldest peer-review publication for lawyers) for receiving the highest voter feedback from colleagues across Canada. Recently, he received a "Top 50 Under 50" award by the Indian High Commissioner recognizing 50 outstanding Canadians of Indian heritage under 50 years old.  Who’s Who Legal recognized him as a “Thought Leader” which is the top ranking for obtaining “the highest number of nominations from peers, corporate counsel and other market sources.” The Canadian Lexpert Directory describes their ranking as an “acknowledgement of excellence by a practitioner’s own peers and colleagues.” He has selected him for their highest category of "Most Frequently Recommended" which he shares with only 5 other Ontario immigration lawyers. Moreover, the prestigious Chambers and Partners, which ranks the world’s best lawyers, has repeatedly recognized Mr. Jain’s work.

Mr. Jain has over 23 years of practice experience and is among a small percentage who are certified by the Law Society of Ontario as Specialists in Immigration Law. He has been invited to address committees in both the Canadian Senate and Canada’s House of Commons as a subject matter expert in immigration law on several occasions. Mr. Jain is the only person who has held the top leadership position of the two major national immigration lawyer association groups, following elections. He was instrumental in founding CILA, the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association (www.cila.co). He initiated and held meetings with 6 prominent co-founder immigration lawyers across Canada to form this new national organization for Canadian immigration lawyers and was appointed National President by the Steering Committee for a short period and then following a general election was appointed National co-President by the Board for 2023-2024. He is also the Past National Chair of the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) Immigration Law Section having served in leadership roles from 2017-2021. The Immigration Section typically makes up over 50% of all CBA Parliamentary/Senate appearances and meetings and almost 25% of all CBA submissions and organizes an annual conference hosting hundreds of lawyers, judges and academics. Mr. Jain made several strong connections with Members of Parliament and Senators and simultaneously volunteered for three years as an Agenda Co-Chair, responsible for the agenda and speakers for the national CBA conference. Mr. Jain also led an initiative to compile a list of lawyers, including himself, willing to volunteer pro bono to assist the family members of victims of the airplane shot down by Iran on January 8, 2020. 

Mr. Jain has traveled extensively to India and Dubai and met and retained clients for Canada’s business immigration programs, including the Quebec Investor Program and the Start-up Visa Program. He’s held several meetings with the top immigration officials at the Canadian High Commission and has been invited to galas and other events there. He regularly meets with the High Commissioner.

Corporate clients include a financial information and analytics company that is also a stock market index, one of the world's largest IT companies, a world-famous iconic Canadian fashion brand, an American independent investment management company with branches in numerous countries and some of the largest US-based worldwide law firms advising on global immigration issues.

Some of family and humanitarian cases have been precedent-setting/ground-breaking. For instance, the Elahi decision which not only affirmed that cultural sensitivity must be applied to decision-making at the tribunal level but also set a major precedent by affirming the principle that “a person cannot be prejudiced by giving retroactive effect to new and additional requirements in a regulation.” A spousal application had been refused and the appeal was denied at the tribunal level. Mr. Jain took the tribunal’s decision to the Federal Court of Canada and won on all of the three issues at the judicial review – including (and importantly) the argument that the applicant should benefit from the law as it existed at the time. After major legal hurdles, this vulnerable young Muslim member of the South Asian community finally had her appeal granted by the Immigration and Refugee Board and was then reunited with her husband.

In another memorable case, Mr. Jain helped a woman whose ex-husband tried to murder her in Canada. Both were without status in Canada and when the woman came to the attention of the Canada Border Services Agency, they wished to remove her to her birthplace, Guyana. Instead of criminally prosecuting the ex-husband for attempted murder, he was removed back to Guyana. Mr. Jain realized that her life was in danger and was able to obtain a “stay” of removal from the Federal Court of Canada. He then applied for permanent resident status based on humanitarian and compassionate reasons. The case was approved and this woman and her straight-A student daughter became permanent residents.

  • Assisted a former federal leader of one of the two major political parties in Canada for his family's immigration matter. 
  • Assisted the Director of a major Hollywood franchise for the facilitation of US visas through the US consulate in Toronto for him and his family (the family was based in Los Angeles and he was shooting movies overseas). Have also assisted other Producers and Directors of major Hollywood movies. 
  • Assisted with visas for some of the most famous and highest paid athletes and models in the world with entry to Canada to work without the need of a work permit as per special exemptions in Canadian law
  • Assisted with the entry of performers and dancers for some of that highest grossing concerts in Canada, assisting these clients with special permits to overcome criminal inadmissibility. 
  • Assisted with visas for a major worldwide beauty pageant.
  • Assisted high-level CEOs and CFOs with their work permanent immigration matters along with their families and domestic support. 
  • Retainers by foreign governments in South Asia and the Middle East.

Full Details

  • Frequently sought out for his expert commentary in relation to immigration stories, Ravi has been interviewed by the national and international media, including: The Economist, The Times of India, The National (CBC), CTV News, CTV Canada AM, OMNI South Asian News, CFTO, Goldhawk Live (Rogers Cable 10), The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Sun, CBC Radio, India Abroad and the Indian Television Network.
  • Guest lecturer and Course Materials Contributor, Seneca College 1997-2001
  • Policy Discussion by-invitation-only with Federal Minister of Citizenship & Immigration Denis Coderre, 2003
  • Book co-author, Canada-U.S. Work Permits: Issues for Human Resources Professionals (2004 Thomson Carswell)
  • Speaker, “Temporary Entry to Canada – Best Practices,” Ontario Bar Association, January 30, 2004
  • Lecturer, “Skilled Worker & Family Immigration to Canada,” Jadavpur University Alumni Association Professional Development Day, Scarborough Civic Center, March 6, 2004
  • Panelist on “Canadian Border and Consular Issues and Trends,” Sponsored by The Upstate New York Chapter of American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Bar Association of Erie County, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, October 1, 2004
  • Panelist on “Citizenship – Appeals to the Federal Court” at Ontario Bar Association Conference Titled “Citizenship and Immigration: Advocacy post-IRPA – What You Need to Know to Succeed in Court,” February 4, 2005
  • Speaker, “Specialty Practices At Boutique Law Firms,” Osgoode Hall Law School, November 2, 2005
  • Appeared on CBC’s The National, November 18, 2005
  • Policy Discussion by invitation-only with Federal Minister of Citizenship & Immigration Diane Finley, October 19, 2007
  • Guest Lecturer on Business Immigration, Seneca College, November 20, 2007
  • Honoured to address the Canadian Senate as an expert witness on immigration law and appeared before the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights, March 10, 2008
  • Panelist, North American South Asian Bar Association (NASABA)’s Fifth Annual NASABA Convention “Reaching New Heights” Chicago, Illinois, June 26-29, 2008.
  • Panelist, Federation of Asian-Canadian Lawyers 2nd Annual Conference, University of Toronto Law School, November 8, 2008
  • Panelist on “Family Law Now – Immigration” Law Society of Upper Canada (paper: “An Overview of Immigration Law Terminology and Current Issues Relating to Marriages & Divorces,” February 11, 2009
  • Speaker and author, “Temporary Workers: Leading Cases Regarding Temporary Worker Applications” Canadian Bar Association National Citizenship & Immigration Law Conference, Whistler, B.C., April 16-18, 2009
  • Panelist, TVO’s The Agenda With Steve Paikin “Dual Citizens, Dual Loyalties?” April 23, 2009
  • Panelist, TVO’s The Agenda With Steve Paikin “Multiracial Identity,” July 22, 2011
  • Panelist, The Globe and Mail Report on Small Business & Achilles Media, Small Business Summit, November 8, 2011
  • Lecturer, PhD policy course of Dr. Usha George, Ryerson University, March 21, 2012
  • Policy Discussion by invitation-only with Federal Minister of Citizenship & Immigration Jason Kenney with two law partners on Green & Spiegel LLP’s premises, September 14, 2012
  • Speaker, “Understanding Immigration,” Speaker Series for Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce, September 18, 2012
  • Speaker, “Immigration Talk,” North Kipling Community Center, October 31, 2012
  • Panelist, “A Day in the Life:  Asian Canadian Litigators,” Toronto Board of Trade, Federation of Asian-Canadian Lawyers, November 16, 2013
  • Speaker, “Spousal Sponsorships – From Courtship to Marriage in Canada,” Ashton College, November 23, 2013
  • Speaker, “Complying with Compliance Reviews,” Law Society of Upper Canada 21st Annual Immigration Law Summit, November 26, 2013
  • Speaker and author, “Non-Spousal Applications in the Family Class,” Canadian Bar Association National Citizenship & Immigration Law Conference, Calgary, Alberta, May 8-10, 2014
  • Speaker, “The New Reality of Government Audits for Employers with Foreign Workers,” Federated Press’ Employing Foreign Workers Conference, May 13, 2014
  • Private Policy Discussion with one other person and Federal Minister of Citizenship & Immigration Chris Alexander, July 26, 2014 at Il Fornello in Ajax, Ontario.
  • Keynote Address, Newcomer Organization Network’s annual Professional Development Conference, September 26, 2014
  • Speaker, “Complying with Compliance Reviews – An Update,” Law Society of Upper Canada 22nd Annual Immigration Law Summit, November 19, 2014
  • Appeared on CBC’s The National, December 31, 2014
  • Speaker, “Labour Market Impact Assessments and Employee Relocation: Critical Compliance Essentials,” Human Resources Professional Association (HRPA) 2015 Annual Conference January 23, 2015
  • Panelist, “Recent Changes in Immigration Law,” Association of Chinese Canadian Lawyers (Ontario), April 11, 2015
  • Speaker, “Navigating Immigration for Foreign Physicians: Options for Temporary Work Permits and Permanent Residence,” Canadian Association of Staff Physician Recruiters, Niagara Falls, Ontario, April 27, 2015
  • Speaker, “Knock! Knock? We’re from the government and we’re not here to help.” Human Resources Professional Association (HRPA) 2016 Annual Conference. January 22, 2016
  • Panelist, “Advanced Family Law,” CBA National Citizenship and Immigration Law Conference, Vancouver, B.C., April 7-9, 2016
  • Author, “Family Class Update: Some Hot Topics” CBA National Citizenship and Immigration Law Conference, Vancouver, B.C. April 8, 2016
  • Global News interview, April 25, 2016: http://globalnews.ca/video/2661541/mothers-dying-wish-to-see-children-granted
  • Policy Discussion by invitation-only with Federal Minister of Citizenship & Immigration John McCallum, July 19, 2016 (appeared on behalf of Advocacy Committee of South Asian Bar Association).
  • Global News interview, Oct 4 2016 http://bit.ly/2e1Mg7j
  • Launched a Federal Court Class Action for former students of Niagara College who were refused post-graduation work permits. In response, the government created a special Operational Bulletin on October 17, 2016  which resulted in post-graduation work permit approvals: (https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/bulletins-2016/631-october-17-2016.html).
  • Speaker (to 700 international students) “Immigration – Next Steps,” BAPS charities 6th Annual Youth Seminar, BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, March 25, 2017.
  • Radio Guest, SiriusXM Satellite Radio, discussing citizenship revocation, April 18, 2017.
  • Honoured to address Canada’s House of Commons Parliamentary Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (appearing on behalf of the Canadian Bar Association), April 3, 2017.
  • Speaker, “Helping Physicians Navigate Immigration Process in Canada – Applying for the LMIA, Work Permits and Permanent Resident Status,” Canadian Association of Staff Physician Recruiters 2017 Conference: The Recruiter’s Toolkit, Windsor, Ontario, April 24, 2017.
  • Speaker, Inside Immigration Webinar regarding parental sponsorships, Global Skills, Global Talent, the Ontario PNP, IRB appointments and “flagpoling,” July 27, 2017 at Green and Spiegel LLP.
  • Private Policy Discussion with Federal Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Ahmed Hussen, July 29, 2017 at private home, Toronto, Ontario.
  • Appeared on CTV’s Your Morning, August 14, 2017 about non-lawyers exploiting vulnerable refugees: http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1186980 
  • Sept 2017 – Sept 2018: Secretary of the National Canadian Bar Association Immigration Section. Ours is the most active CBA Section. Though there are 40 other Sections, ours typically makes up over 50% of all CBA Parliamentary/Senate appearances and meetings and almost 25% of all CBA submissions. Our annual conference dwarfs all other Sections. My 4 co-leaders & I met often in Ottawa for government meetings and our Section produced numerous submissions, appearances and met with senior officials, MPs and Senators. I also volunteered to be Sr. Agenda Co-Chair, responsible for the agenda and speakers for the national conference. And I volunteered to co-lead the CBA advocacy on non-lawyer immigration consultants.
  • Met with Senator Harder, the Government Representative in the Senate, on November 10, 2017 at Centre Block, Canadian Senate, Ottawa on the issue of Bill C-23 and U.S. pre-clearance initiatives on Canadian soil. 
  • Appeared on a podcast December 13, 2017 commenting on parental sponsorships with my good friend Mark Holthe: https://www.canadianimmigrationpodcast.com/tag/ravi-jain-immigration-lawyer/.
  • Appeared live on Global News AM900 CHML with host Scott Thompson, June 26, 2018  about the approach of Canada and the U.S. to refugees claimants.
  • Appeared on CBC’s The National, June 26, 2018  speaking about refugees saying we need quicker adjudication and more refugee judges.
  • May 2, 2018: met with Senator Omidvar along with CBA colleague BJ Caruso and as a result, she and Senator Mobina Jaffer helped pass amendment to C-46 ensuring re-designating DUI’s “Serious criminality.” This was a major accomplishment although the House of Commons passed C-46 without the amendment. Fortunately, Minister Hussen instead promised a group of Senators and the CBA that he would implement a fix in IRPA.
  • Sept 2018 – Nov 2018: Treasurer of the National Canadian Bar Association Immigration Section until promoted to Vice-Chair. Co-leading the activities of the Section: our submissions, appearances, bi-annual government meetings in Ottawa and the national conference. In addition, volunteering on the conference agenda committee as a past co-chair and continuing the Section’s advocacy work in arguing that public protection demands that lawyers supervise consultants.
  • Speaker, “Start-up Visas,” The Address Boulevard in Dubai, UAE, September 15, 2018.
  • Co-Speaker, “Top 25 New Developments in Immigration for 2018,” 26th Annual Immigration Law Summit Nov 27.
  • Quoted in The Economist: “All of this is designed to pivot Canada away from the nativist policies of Trump,” says Ravi Jain, a Toronto immigration lawyer who has many tech clients. (https://www.economist.com/business/2018/12/22/indian-technology-talent-is-flocking-to-canada).
  • Speaker, “Strategies for Bringing in Foreign Workers: LMIAs and The Global Skills Strategy.” Human Resources Professional Association (HRPA) 2019 Annual Conference. January 31, 2019.
  • Appeared on CTV National News, February 15, 2019, speaking about ghost immigration consultants charging for fake job offers.
  • Co-Author, Op-Ed for CBA National Magazine: http://nationalmagazine.ca/en-ca/articles/law/commentary/2019/why-lawyers-must-supervise-the-work-of-immigration February 26, 2019.
  • Speaker, “Immigration and the Construction Industry,” Ontario Bar Association (Beyond The Construction Act: Legal Updates for Construction Lawyers). March 26, 2019.
  • Author – honoured to be invited to write an Opinion Editorial for the Globe & Mail, ‘Canada’s national newspaper’ which they published top-of-page opposite the editorial page, “Immigration Consultants Should Not Be Propped Up By Ottawa,” April 18, 2019: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-ottawa-should-stop-propping-up-immigration-consultants/
  • Honoured to address Canada’s House of Commons Parliamentary Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, May 7, 2019.
  • May 7, 2019: met with the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction on changes to the refugee determination process in Ottawa.
  • May 8, 2019: met with the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship’s Chief of Staff, Director of Policy and Policy Advisors in Ottawa.
  • Quoted in The Lawyer’s Daily, May 10, 2019: “I would like to see successive governments, as they come into power, ensuring that the people are there that are required, and I don’t fully understand why there is always a delay — whether it’s [appointments to] the courts or tribunals,” said Jain. The board was “clearly understaffed before the irregular migration increase” happened in 2017, Jain said. “That was an unfortunate thing that could have been avoided, and then it’s very difficult [to quickly remedy that]. You can’t just throw money at the board and have the problem go away tomorrow because it takes time to vet people and train people. It’s a very deliberate process.” Jain also gives credit to the Trudeau government for its efforts to reduce claims from non-bona fide refugees. He pointed, for example, to Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen’s trip to Nigeria to dispel the myth prevalent in that country that obtaining a U.S. visitor visa, and then crossing the border to claim refugee status in Canada, is a successful way to immigrate. The government also worked with the Americans to reduce such visitor visas. “I think those kinds of initiatives were wonderful,” Jain said. https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/12238/irb-needs-timely-appointments-and-resources-as-refugee-claim-backlogs-wait-times-skyrocket
  • Speaker, “Pathways To Business In Canada For International Students,” Centennial College (Jointly hosted by Applied Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Services (ARIES) & International Education, Services and Global Experience (SaGE), with support from RBC Foundation.) May 27, 2019.
  • Speaker, “Immigration Consultants,” CBA National Citizenship and Immigration Law Conference, Winnipeg, MB, May 30 – June 1, 2019.
  • Co-Author, “Registered Immigration Consultants: Where Are We Now?” CBA National Citizenship and Immigration Law Conference, Winnipeg, MB, May 30 – June 1, 2019.
  • Private Policy Discussion with Federal Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Ahmed Hussen and 3 fellow Canadian Bar Association Immigration Section Leaders, May 31, 2019.
  • Speaker, “International Mobility and Free Trade Agreements,” American Immigration Lawyers’ Association Global Immigration Forum, Orlando, Florida, June 17th, 2019. 
  • Quoted in The Globe and Mail June 24, 2019: “Immigration lawyer Ravi Jain agrees the new open work permits will mean little to workers if well-meaning employers are still hamstrung by red tape. ‘It’s really of no use to a foreign worker who is trying to flee an abusive situation,’ said Mr. Jain, who is the incoming representative on immigration issues for the Canadian Bar Association and a vocal critic of the role immigration consultants play in recruitment. Overall, though, he called the new initiative a ‘clever idea.’ ‘What I find attractive … is that foreign workers of this type may be more willing to report abuse if they can more easily leave and find new employment.’ He said the government should look into any employer whose foreign workers leave before the end of their contract, to get at another key problem revealed by The Globe’s investigation: recruiters or immigration consultants charging illegal fees to workers to find them a job, and sometimes sharing those fees with employers. Mr. Jain said workers who are no longer tied to their initial employers could give evidence, to help authorities determine ‘if the employers are in any way linked to human trafficking or are getting kickbacks from non-lawyer consultants or recruiters, for facilitating the entry of low-skill workers for a fee who otherwise cannot get to Canada any other way.’ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-ottawa-moves-to-end-employers-monopoly-on-foreign-workers/
  • Speaker, Inside Immigration Webinar regarding trade agreements, caregivers, sectoral open work permits and Quebec Immigration program cancellations” June 26, 2019 at Green and Spiegel LLP. 
  • August 12, 2019: Honoured to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Attorney General David Lametti at a small invitation-only event announcing the restoration of legal aid funding for immigrants and refugees in response to our CBA advocacy on this issue, Parkdale, Toronto.
  • Quoted in The Globe and Mail August 5, 2019: “One Canadian immigration lawyer thinks that the immigration consultant industry itself may be to blame. Ravi Jain, a Toronto-based immigration lawyer at Green and Spiegel LLP, said that lawyers are taking on clients who first worked with an Indian immigration consultant, only to find that the client’s visitor visa application was riddled with mistakes. In some cases, unlicensed immigration consultants impersonate applicants throughout the process. “Often times, those people will even make up e-mail addresses. I’m not kidding, they do this,” he said. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-visitors-from-india-face-high-rejection-rates-on-visa-applications/
  • Quoted in Canadian Lawyer Magazine, August 12, 2019: In a presentation he gave at the May CBA conference in Winnipeg, Ravi Jain, an immigration lawyer and partner at Green and Spiegel LLP in Toronto, included examples of disciplinary actions taken by the ICCRC, which detailed the wrongdoing he says is rampant among consultants. The list includes charging exorbitant fees, misrepresenting fees, failing to keep proper records, forging documents, taking money and providing no services, advising clients to lie on their applications leading to a denied application, lying about job opportunities, withholding passports and threatening clients with deportation if they report misconduct. “Whatever these complaints are, it’s scratching the surface, because the vast majority of people will not complain. And this experience is born out with MP offices and lawyers and law offices across the country. Because we know 99 per cent of people who’ve been harmed by consultants, they refuse to allow us to proceed with a complaint. Because if there’s no immigration benefit, they’re not going to waste their time,” Jain says… While the government was seeking input from the profession as part of its consultations, Jain prepared a submission in which he says he changed the position of the CBA from the view that consultants could adequately carry out their function if properly regulated to the opinion that lawyers, not consultants, should be representing those undergoing immigration, citizenship or refugee processes. “I just said, you know what? Enough is enough. There’s so much societal harm. . . . The reality is that the public has not been protected. The public has been really hosed and taken advantage of,” he says. “Most immigration lawyers make under six figures. Most of us litigate for under five figures. We’re the bleeding-heart types that go into this because we really care about people,” he says… “The whole thing is framed in terms of access to justice, which is such a joke. Because there’s no empirical evidence whatsoever, as they say, that lawyers are inaccessible in this bar. And there is massive evidence that the consultants are overcharging and ripping people off.” The government rests its desire to use immigration consultants on several faulty assumptions, says Jain. First, in the Mangat decision, the court was concerned the lawyers at the time were not representative of immigrant communities, didn’t speak the native languages of prospective immigrants and consultants could fill that gap. “That’s totally an outdated decision, given the diversity of the bar today,” he says. According to Statistics Canada, the country welcomed 303,257 immigrants in 2017-2018. The government also assumes immigration lawyers cannot handle the volume of demand for consultants, Jain says. “There’s no evidence of that. If you call any firm, and you say, ‘Look, I want to hand you 100 cases,’ know what? No law firm’s going to say no,” he says. https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/practice-areas/immigration/immigration-lawyers-skeptical-about-consultant-regulation/278049?utm_source=GA&utm_medium=20190812&utm_campaign=CLNewswire-Newsletter&utm_content=2A1DD1DF-7258-4374-879A-BCA7A41DEE9E&tu=2A1DD1DF-7258-4374-879A-BCA7A41DEE9E
  • Appeared on CTV National News, September 27 2019, speaking about immigration and the federal election: https://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1791758. 
  • Appeared on CBC National News, October 1 2019, answering questions from viewers about immigration and the federal election: https://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1791758. 
  • Published Letter to the Editor of the Globe and Mail, October 8 2019: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/letters/article-oct-8-how-do-we-fix-canadas-trucking-industry-plus-other-letters/.
  • Appeared on CBC National News, October 9 2019, answering questions from viewers about immigration and the federal election: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1623985219674.
  • Appeared on CTV National News, October 9 2019, answering questions from viewers about immigration and the federal election: https://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1800569.
  • Quoted in Politico Pro Magazine, October 19, 2019 “Canada deals with an influx of ‘irregular migration’” by Madi Bolaños regarding the Safe Third Country Agreement and the federal election.
  • Appeared on a podcast October 22, 2019 commenting on the impact of the election results on immigration policy with my good friend Mark Holthe: https://www.canadianimmigrationpodcast.com/special-edition-canadian-immigration-post-2019-election.
  • Co-Speaker, “Top 25 Things You May Have Missed,” 27th Annual Immigration Law Summit. Law Society of Ontario. November 6, 2019.
  • Quoted in CTV News, December 2, 2019: “Ravi Jain, chair of the Canadian Bar Association National Immigration Law Section, says that although the Federal Skilled Trades Program was introduced to help people like Guerrero immigrate to Canada, the system creates many limitations for foreign workers”.
    “There’s a huge shortage of these folks, particularly in construction and trucking,” Jain told CTVNews.ca by phone Monday. “There are a lot of language requirements… but the other issue is that you need to have a Canadian certification or approval from our department of labour to work in Canada. It’s kind of a catch-22, because in order to get that certification, it requires apprenticeship in Canada.” Jain is set to travel to Ottawa this week to lobby for changes to the Federal Skilled Trades Program, including lowering the English requirement, increasing the pool selection for skilled trades workers, and allotting more selection factor points, used to assess eligibility, to applicants. “When the program came out we thought, ‘how is this practical,’ which is why the numbers are so low,” said Jain.
    “They are pounding the table saying we need people. Employers here want them, but there is a disconnect right now.” https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/he-wants-to-leave-his-country-to-work-in-canada-will-a-music-video-help-1.4711917
  • Appeared on CTV National News, January 5, 2019 answering questions about parental sponsorships: https://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1868760
  • Spoke to radio host Mike Terasko of Calgary’s CHQR regarding the initiative I put together on behalf of the Canadian Bar Association to help the family members of victims of the airplane shot down by Iran: http://www.cba.org/For-The-Public/Pro-bono-initiative-for-individuals-affected-by-th?lang=en-ca (January 22, 2020).
  • Speaker, “Strategies for Bringing In Foreign Workers: LMIAs and The Global Skills Strategy,” Human Resources Professional Association (HRPA) 2020 Annual Conference January 22, 2020. 
  • Speaker, Inside Immigration Webinar regarding customer service, restore appeal rights, parents and grandparents and tricky issues (owner-operator LMIAs, work experience issues  for Express Entry, PGWP, caregivers and restoration) January 29, 2020 at Green and Spiegel LLP.
  • After assisting former international students of Niagara College with a class action in Federal Court to secure work permits for them, I engaged a civil litigation firm to assist with a class action civil suit and acted as co-counsel. Their claims against the College were successfully resolved:  https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/02/06/student-behind-class-action-lawsuit-against-niagara-college-says-settlement-empowers-international-students.html (February 2020).
  • Quoted in The Toronto Star, February 11, 2020: “I’ve seen this over and over in my practice. Some of these consultants are doing so much harm to the public and hurting the integrity of our immigration system,” said Ravi Jain, president of the Canadian Bar Association’s immigration section. Jain is urging the federal government to repeal a law passed last year authorizing the creation of the proposed regulator.” https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/02/11/brampton-immigration-consultant-stripped-of-licence-faces-fraud-charge.html?source=newsletter&utm_content=a01&utm_source=ts_nl&utm_medium=email&utm_email=B46092E0181631A8938FF0C488B861A1&utm_campaign=tmh_20943
  • Quoted by Global News, February 25 2020: “Now, lawyers such as… Ravi Jain, president of the immigration division of the Canadian Bar Association, are asking whether the council shares any responsibility for Djukic’s alleged wrongdoing while under its supervision. ‘I’m not impressed with their replies around how they supervised him,’ Jain said. ‘I don’t think they did anything at all.’… Jain says it’s not only about complaints. He thinks the requirements for becoming a consultant are insufficient to practice law, especially when appearing before the IRB. ‘The solution is for the government to require all immigration consultants to work under the supervision of a lawyer,’ Jain said, ‘such as in the United States, where the practice of law is limited to lawyers… Criminal lawyers would be shocked if all of a sudden we said, look, you don’t need a law degree to practice criminal law,’ Jain said. The IRB, meanwhile, has called refugee and immigration law one of the most complicated areas of law.” https://globalnews.ca/news/6588042/immigration-consultant-arrest-regulator-supervision/ 
  • Quoted in The Lawyer’s Daily, March 18, 2020: Immigration bar seeks clarification as Canada tightens border controls on foreign nationals. https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/18220/immigration-bar-seeks-clarification-as-canada-tightens-border-controls-on-foreign-nationals
  • Featured blog post in The Lawyer’s Daily, March 24, 2020: Making sense of shifting COVID-19 immigration laws. https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/18296/making-sense-of-shifting-covid-19-immigration-laws-ravi-jain-?spotlight=1 This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (www.thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc. 
  • Quoted in The Lawyer’s Daily, April 1, 2020: Bar calls for limited release of prison inmates, immigration detainees to stop spread of COVID19. https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/18412/bar-calls-for-limited-release-of-prison-inmates-immigration-detainees-to-stop-spread-of-covid-19. This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (www.thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc. 
  • Speaker, Inside Immigration Webinar, “COVID-19: Canadian Immigration Law Update” April 3, 2020, Green and Spiegel LLP
  • Speaker, Inside Immigration Webinar, “COVID-19: Canadian Immigration Law Update” April 9, 2020, Green and Spiegel LLP
  • Featured blog post in The Lawyer’s Daily, May 4, 2020: COVID-19 and immigration law: Difficulties and opportunities. https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/18868/covid-19-and-immigration-law-difficulties-and-opportunities?category=analysis This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (www.thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc. 
  • Webinar Speaker and host, Questions and Answers Webinar with the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marco Mendicino. May 5, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6gqiKNISmk
  • Quoted in the Law Times, May 6th 2020: Divergence in decisions by immigration and border officials frustrate lawyers, (https://www.lawtimesnews.com/practice-areas/immigration/divergence-in-decisions-by-immigration-and-border-officials-frustrate-lawyers/329381)
  • Webinar Speaker, American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Global Migration Section (GMS), “COVID-19: Canadian Immigration Law Update” May 8, 2020.
  • Delivered Opening Remarks as Conference Co-Chair & CBA Immigration Law Section Chair, CBA National Citizenship and Immigration Law Online Conference, May 21, 2020 
  • Speaker and Moderator, “Understanding the Orders in Council and Travel Restrictions: Reuniting Family Members, Business Travelers and Employer Obligations,” CBA National Citizenship and Immigration Law Online Conference, May 21, 2020
  • Speaker and Host, South Asian Bar Association Webinar, “Immigration Law Update with the National Chair of the Canadian Bar Association Immigration Section, Ravi Jain.” May 22, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhlY-oS4otc 
  • Co-Author, “Travel Restrictions and Exemptions during COVID-19,” CBA National Citizenship and Immigration Law Online Conference, May-June 2020
  • Speaker, “Ontario Ports of Entry: 12 Challenging Situations and How to Navigate Them in the Current Environment,” Ontario Bar Association Citizenship & Immigration Program, Online, May 26, 2020. Co-panelists: Darryl Dalton, CBSA Chief of Operations, Pearson International Airport; Bonnie Lucier, CBSA Chief, Windsor Tunnel Operation; Michael Prosia, Chief of Staff to the Regional Director General, Southern Ontario Region; Jordan Rupay, Regional Programs Officer, Southern Ontario Region; and Matthew Tong, A/Manager, Regional Programs, GTA Region.
  • Speaker, Inside Immigration Webinar regarding COVID-19 Update May 27, 2020 at Green and Spiegel LLP. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UBDuO682Xo
  • Speaker and Moderator of Q&A with Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marco Mendicino, “Running a Government Department during a Pandemic,” CBA National Citizenship and Immigration Law Online Conference, May 29, 2020
  • Speaker and Moderator of Q&A with Minister of Public Safety  and Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair, “Running a Government Department during a Pandemic,” CBA National Citizenship and Immigration Law Online Conference, (re-scheduled to)  June 4, 2020
  • Delivered Closing Remarks as Conference Co-Chair & CBA Immigration Law Section Chair, CBA National Citizenship and Immigration Law Online Conference, June 5, 2020
  • Speaker, American Bar Association Legal Summit 2.0. Immigration in North America During COVID-19 – Perspectives from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. June 25, 2020: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lARIFw7Qw2g.
  • Speaker, South Asian Bar Association Webinar Series on Tribunal Advocacy, “Witness Preparation,” July 7, 2020. http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=usluvohab&oeidk=a07eh31svnpefd216d6
  • Quoted in Canadian Lawyer Magazine, July 8, 2020: “By continuing to facilitate immigration consultants to be engaged in the practice of immigration law, it does actual Queen’s law JD students a disservice,” says Jain, who is certified by the Law Society of Ontario as a specialist in immigration law and is partner at Green and Spiegel LLP, in Toronto. https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/practice-areas/immigration/queens-launching-new-program-to-train-immigration-and-citizenship-consultants/331234
  • Speaker, “Alternative options for U.S. employers and foreign workers in light of the Presidential Proclamation” South Asian Bar Association, July 15, 2020: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wEz_70Cb2IVgMVDVSWtb1AgaMxGKFT_J/view?usp=sharing
  • Featured two-part article in The Lawyer’s Daily, August 12, 2020 co-authored by Aris Daghighian: Three C’s of immigration: Trump’s loss Canada’s gain. Part 1: https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/20491/three-c-s-of-immigration-trump-s-loss-canada-s-gain?category=analysis. Part 2: https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/20524/three-c-s-of-immigration-consistency-calibration-continuity?category=analysis. This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (www.thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc. 
  • Speaker, Manitoba Bar Association (Immigration Section), The Three Orders-in-Council:  An Update. October 14, 2020.
  • Featured two-part article series in The Lawyer’s Daily, November 11-12, 2020 (Part 1 and Part 2): Impact of Presidential Election on U.S. and Canadian Immigration Laws: https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/22308/impact-of-presidential-election-on-u-s-and-canadian-immigration-part-two?category=analysis and https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/22308/impact-of-presidential-election-on-u-s-and-canadian-immigration-part-two?category=analysis. Originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (www.thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc. 
  • Chair, Meeting between Canadian Bar Association Immigration Section and ESDC (Canada’s Department of Labour), November 13, 2020.
  • Quoted in The Toronto Star, November 17, 2020: “Immigration lawyer Ravi Jain, president of the Canadian Bar Association’s immigration division, said these individuals should be ineligible for the bonus points for permanent residence because they are essentially self-employed. ‘The program has been heavily marketed around the world as a pathway for immigration. But people are being misled. I don’t think it is (a clear pathway). That’s a grey area,’ Jain said, speaking on behalf of his own law practice. ‘There is a tremendous amount of room for discretion (from immigration officials evaluating an application). I think they are responding to that and are essentially looking to kill the program.’”https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/11/17/this-program-lets-global-investors-buy-a-canadian-business-then-hire-themselves-as-foreign-workers-proposed-changes-will-kill-it-some-say.html
  • Participant, Meeting between Canadian Bar Association Immigration Section and Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino’s office, November 23, 2020.
  • Speaker, Inside Immigration Webinar regarding an update on government meetings, work permits, restoration, Express Entry, CRS points for Francophones, the Levels Plan, the New Hong Kong Immigration Plan, spousal and parental sponsorships and the landing process in light of COVID-10” November 25, 2020, Green and Spiegel LLP. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uCKm8HTouc 
  • Co-Speaker, “Top 25 Developments From 2020,” 28th Annual Immigration Law Summit. Law Society of Ontario. November 26, 2020.  
  • Chair, Meeting between Canadian Bar Association Immigration Section and Public Safety Minister Bill Blair’s office, November 30, 2020.
  • Speaker, “Hyperdrive: Practicing Global Immigration Law in the Electronic Age: A Canadian Perspective,” American Immigration Lawyers’ Association Global Immigration Forum, Virtual Conference, December 2, 2020.
  • Author, “Practicing Immigration Law in the Electronic Age: A Canada Perspective” American Immigration Lawyers’ Association Global Immigration Forum Practice Advisory, December 2, 2020.
  • Co-Panelist with Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino, Senator Ratna Omidvar and Professor Jenna Hennebry on TVO’s The Agenda With Steve Paikin “Can Immigration Boost Canada’s Economy?” January 18, 2021: https://www.tvo.org/video/can-immigration-boost-canadas-economy and https://www.tvo.org/video/can-canadian-immigration-cope-amid-covid.
  • Private Policy Discussion with Federal Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino, January 26, 2021.
  • Private Policy Discussion with Olga Radchenko, Director of Policy, Office of the Minister, Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, February 3, 2021.
  • Author, “Public Health Objectives During Pandemic Should Be Balanced With Need to Increase Immigration,” Canadian Lawyer Magazine, February 5, 2021: https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/news/opinion/offering-permanent-residence-to-temporary-workers-should-not-mean-excluding-those-overseas/337577.
  • Panellist, I-squared Development seminar covering Immigration to Brampton, hosted by Pooja Handa, TV Host of CP24’s Morning Show, February 19, 2021
  • Webinar Speaker, Immigration Nation, “How Immigration Lawyers Helped Canada Navigate The Pandemic,” March 26, 2021: https://youtu.be/mEzsywX43Ks. See at 6 minutes and 47 seconds: “Ravi has a full practice, a family and a life and very quickly Ravi became the central disseminator of information related to everything related to the travel restrictions to quarantine… to all of these areas completely outside of our practices… Ravi really stepped up and became the point of contact not just for his clients… but pretty much every immigration lawyer across the country that’s a part of the Canadian Bar Association but I know it went further than that. Every day, we’d get some new notification on the government website and they’d be doing their best to disseminate information in a way that the average person could consume, and the information that was posted on those sites was often conflicting with the Orders in Council and then Ravi would have a thousand lawyers all sending him emails directly: ‘Well Ravi, what does this mean?” or “I have a client that wants to come in and I don’t know what this means. Can they travel? Can the board? Will CBSA turn them around?” and I can’t tell you for how many months – and I can say whatever I want Ravi so you just sit there and blush, I don’t care – Ravi was basically the immigration lawyer for all the other immigration lawyers telling them how to manage their practices, how to advise their clients. And it was unbelievable. I have never ever seen a Chair in the past nor will I don’t think there be ever in the future, and I mean this sincerely, who gave so much to our Section, and to the lawyers and overall, and he’s not joking when he said he really drove the ship on putting together all of these government departments that weren’t even talking to each other… It’s been quite amazing…” Mark Holthe, Chair, Canadian Bar Association – National Immigration Law Section.
  •  Speaker, Inside Immigration Webinar regarding COVID-19 Update March 31, 2021 at Green and Spiegel LLP: hhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uozZVsvycI
  • Advocacy work highlighted in Law Times, May 3, 2021: New Immigration Initiative Excludes Counsel, Is Unfair To Newcomers, Say Lawyers, https://www.lawtimesnews.com/practice-areas/immigration/new-immigration-initiative-excludes-counsel-is-unfair-to-newcomers-say-lawyers/355601?utm_source=GA&utm_medium=20210504&utm_campaign=LTW-Newsletter-20210504&utm_content=2A1DD1DF-7258-4374-879A-BCA7A41DEE9E&tu=2A1DD1DF-7258-4374-879A-BCA7A41DEE9E: “The portal for applications to a new pathway to permanent residence will open Thursday, and immigration lawyers say the process bypasses them and compromises procedural fairness for newcomers. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced the new pathway on April 14. There are 90,000 open spots for healthcare workers, essential workers and post-secondary graduates who are currently in Canada. Lawyers say the system is set up so that the applications are to be done entirely online by the applicants themselves. This will lead to mistakes, denied applications, and the first-come-first-served format will leave a short space of time until capacity is reached, which will be difficult for essential workers to accommodate on a Thursday, they say. This undermines the solicitor-client relationship and s. 91 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which provides for representation by counsel, says Ravi Jain, a managing senior lawyer at Green and Spiegel LLP and past chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s immigration law section. Jain has also been leading advocacy efforts with the Canadian Bar Association’s liaison at IRCC.”
  • Speaker, South Asian Bar Association Webinar Series on Tribunal Advocacy, “IRB Hearing Preparation,” June 2, 2021. http://ow.ly/QTsn50EOjxn
  • Assisted with drafting a Canadian Bar Association submission relating to paralegals and s.91 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, May-June, 2021.
  • Assisted with drafting a Canadian Bar Association submission relating to the new Code of Conduct for immigration consultants, May-June, 2021.
  • Speaker and Moderator of Q&A with Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair, CBA National Citizenship and Immigration Law Online Conference, June 11, 2021.
  • Featured blog post in The Lawyer’s Daily, June 24, 2021: Will new immigration consultants’ code of conduct have teeth? https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/27718/will-new-immigration-consultants-code-of-conduct-have-teeth-?category=analysis. This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (www.thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.
  • Quoted in the Law Times, July 27, 2021: Immigration consultant loses judicial review application, took $110,000 from Syrian, Iraqi refugees, (https://www.lawtimesnews.com/practice-areas/immigration/immigration-consultant-loses-judicial-review-application-took-110000-from-syrian-iraqi-refugees/358425).
  • Quoted in Toronto Star, August 1, 2021: Whether to let someone into the country should be based on vaccination status rather than just about which immigrant group Ottawa wants to prioritize, said Ravi Jain, past president of the Canadian Bar Association’s immigration division. “If people are fully vaccinated, I think we’ve got to start opening up,” he said, adding that processing immigration applications abroad depends very much on how well other countries manage the pandemic and their lockdown conditions, which hinders Ottawa’s priorities. Ottawa, Jain noted, needs to figure out a vaccine passport that’s easy to enforce and can complement ArriveCan, the government app for travellers to provide travel info before and after entry to Canada, as well as which vaccines should be recognized based on science. For fairness, he said, officials do need to allow prospective immigrants who have been waiting the longest to come first and start a new life here, as well as fast-tracking investors and business people who can create employment in Canada for its economic recovery. “I don’t want to say that you prioritize this and that particular group, and everyone else is waiting,” said Jain. “There’s nothing preventing the government from moving forward on all fronts and on all these issues. What’s been preventing them, frankly, has been the border. That’s been the real sticking point.” https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2021/08/01/canada-faces-a-staggering-immigration-backlog-with-the-border-reopening-and-applicants-anxious-to-get-here-how-should-ottawa-prioritize.html
  • Featured blog post in The Lawyer’s Daily, August 4, 2021: Questions surround ‘vaccine passports’ for immigration” https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/28741/questions-surround-vaccine-passports-for-immigration?category=analysis. This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (www.thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.
  • Speaker, Inside Immigration Webinar regarding federal election aftermath, Orders in Council Update, India flights, Visitor Visa Processing post-Sept 7 2021, Work Permits at Ports of Entry despite Ministerial Instruction requiring online applications, Parental Sponsorship Update and Processing Delays” September 29, 2021 at Green and Spiegel LLP.
  • Co-Speaker, “Comparing the Immigration Systems of Canada and the United States.” South Asian Bar Association of North America Immigration Section Chai Chat, October 15, 2021.
  • Featured blog post in The Lawyer’s Daily, October 29, 2021: “Canada’s new immigration minister: What we can expect” https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/30853/canada-s-new-immigration-minister-what-we-can-expect-ravi-jain. This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (www.thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.
  • Quoted in Hindustan Times, “Students from India face lots of challenges in Canada: Experts:” Ravi Jain, founder of Canadian Immigration Lawyers’ Association, said, “Consultants in India are painting a rosy picture and then there’s a tragic side.” Jain, who practices with the Toronto-based firm Green & Spiegel and is also former chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s Immigration unit, said this problem is “widespread” and “it’s become more common. The community doesn’t really come out about it too much because there’s a lot of shame and embarrassment and of course the government doesn’t want to publicise it” because of the billions of dollars in revenue involved. November 12, 2021. https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/students-from-india-face-lots-of-challenges-in-canada-experts-101636635626516.html
  • Featured in The Lawyer’s Daily, November 23, 2021 regarding my initiation and co-founding of the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association: “New Group For Immigration Lawyers Aims To Advocate For Change, Mentor New Practitioners” https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/31510/new-group-for-canadian-immigration-lawyers-aims-to-advocate-for-change-mentor-new-practitioners. This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (www.thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.
  • Featured in The Lawyer’s Daily, January 6, 2022: “Canadian immigration law 2020: Predictions, suggestions” https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/32569/canadian-immigration-law-2022-predictions-suggestions?spotlight=1. This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (www.thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc. 
  • Invited by The Honourable Senator Ratna Omidvar, to address 29 Senators who form The Senate Working Group on Immigration. Appeared on behalf of the Canadian Immigration Lawyers’ Association and on January 27, 2022 presented 6 “one-pagers” suggesting legislative improvements to Canadian immigration law.
  • Quoted in The Toronto Star, February 14, 2022 by reporter Nicholas Keung after he spoke with Immigration Minister Sean Fraser and me: “Calling the government plan ‘ambitious,’ Ravi Jain of the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association said he was concerned about reducing the permanent residence quota for federal high skilled workers by half, from 111,000 to 55,900. During the pandemic, many international students have been unable to earn the job experience they need to qualify for permanent residence despite the high tuition fees they have paid. Jain said Ottawa needs an immediate plan to extend their work permits in Canada. They’re going to be waiting potentially a few years and they’re going to need the status to be able to buy that time,” said the Toronto lawyer. “There are some major concerns around what to do about the people who are here and who won’t necessarily have a pathway for permanent residence.” https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/02/14/canada-unveils-plans-to-welcome-13-million-newcomers-over-three-years.html
  • Quoted in CBC News, April 22, 2022, "Refugees in limbo: Ukranians bound for Canada facing delays": "While there is a strong political will to help, the immigration system was unprepared to deal with the mounting humanitarian crisis, said Toronto-based immigration lawyer Ravi Jain. A massive backlog of refugee applications has been piling up for years, he said. 'These aren't file numbers,' Jain said. 'These are real people. And a lot of us who deal with them on a day-to-day basis, we're frustrated and we're fed up because we're seeing the pain they're going through.' COVID-19 put serious pressure on the system, which was further stressed by efforts to bring Afghan refugees to Canada, Jain said."
  • Speaker, 2022 Canadian Society of Physician Recruiters (www.caspr.ca) Conference scheduled for April 28-29, 2022.
  • Keynote Speaker, Annual Showcase; "Year in Review: Emerging trends in PEI's newcomer communities, innovation in response and priorities for 2022," PEI Provincial Immigration Partnership (PEIPIP) Immigrant and Refugee Services Association (IRSA) of PEI, May 13, 2022.
  • Featured in The Lawyer’s Daily, May 16, 2022: “How to speed up immigration applications,” https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/36336/how-to-speed-up-immigration-applications-ravi-jain?category=opinion. This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (www.thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc. 
  • Quoted in Global News, "Tangled in Canada’s immigration backlog? What you can do about the delay - National | Globalnews.ca" May 18, 2022: "Many of them are waiting for months and months and months, and they don’t know what to do,” said Ravi Jain, a Toronto-based immigration lawyer and co-founder of the Canadian Immigration Law Association. “Some of them are just distraught over how long it’s taking and they don’t have any answers as to how more long it could be,” he said, adding that customer service is at “an all-time low.”
  • Honoured to address Canada’s House of Commons Parliamentary Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (appearing on behalf of the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association), June 7, 2022: https://parlvu.parl.gc.ca/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/00010101/-1/37209?gefdesc=&startposition=20220607114957.
  • Quoted in CBC News, June 9, 2022, "She gave birth 8 months ago but this permanent resident can't bring her baby to Canada": Jain says there needs to be greater transparency in IRCC processing times, applications, and reasons for refusals as well as better planning for emergencies that could affect processes, such as COVID-19. "It's not good enough to say... 'We're spending all this money. We're hiring all these people,'" he said. "You guys didn't pivot, and you're in charge." https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/canada-immigration-delays-permanent-resident-1.6481432.
  • One-on-one interview with Sr. News Correspondent Jasleen Kaur, PTC Punjabi Canada, a 24 hour news and entertainment channel viewed in North America, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Dubai and India, June 15, 2022: https://fb.watch/dP4r0EzA-E/.
  • Quoted in Canada's national newspaper, the Globe & Mail: "Ravi Jain, a certified specialist in citizenship and immigration law, works directly with nannies and caregivers who are affected by the new pilot programs. 'It’s been very tough. Caregivers are keen to come to Canada, but I’ve had to advise that they must first apply for permanent residence abroad in order to then be issued a sectoral open work permit as a caregiver, and this process is taking well over a year. In fact, I haven’t seen any approvals,' he said. Mr. Jain also believes that faster processing is the answer." July 22, 2022: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/careers/article-caregivers-shortage-childcare-costs/.
  • Featured blog post in The Lawyer’s Daily, July 22, 2022: "Simple Fixes for Canada's Start-up Visa Program": . This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (www.thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc. https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/38117/simple-fixes-for-canada-s-start-up-visa-program-ravi-jain?category=opinion

  • Met with the federal Office of the Auditor General by personal invitation on the topic of immigration backlogs, July 27, 2022.

  • Featured article for the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association: Canada's Start-up Visa Program: A simple fix before it's too late, August 2, 2022: https://cila.co/canadas-start-up-visa-program-a-simple-fix-before-its-too-late/.
  • Featured blog post in The Lawyer’s Daily, August 30, 2022, "International Students: Canada Needs A Nuanced Approach": https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/39234/international-students-canada-needs-a-nuanced-approach-ravi-jain?category=opinion.
  • Speaker, “The Game of Immigration” which compared the American and Canadian immigration systems. My co-speakers and I invited the audience to follow along with South Asian 'players' in this game of navigating their immigration options; South Asian Bar Association of North America, October 20, 2022.
  • Spoke with the CBC's Ian Hanomansing on his "Cross Country Checkup" show on "Is Canada Ready to Accept over 1 Million New Immigrants?"; November 6, 2022. See 34 minute, 50 second mark: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-13-cross-country-checkup.
  • Quoted in the Toronto Star: "Ravi Jain of the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association says the ramped-up staffing levels at the department did not jive with the “massive slowdown” in people’s experience with the immigration system. He would like to see a royal commission report into the immigration delays and backlogs." November 14, 2022: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/11/14/new-data-shows-big-boost-in-hiring-at-canadas-immigration-department-what-were-they-doing.html
  • Speaker, “The Murky Waters of Ethical Immigration Law Issues,” 30th Annual Immigration Law Summit. Law Society of Ontario. November 22, 2022.
  • Quoted in the Hindustan Times regarding Canada's inventory backlog of immigration application: "This situation has attracted criticism from experts. Ravi Jain, co-founder of the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association, said, “It’s really a system that’s quite broken. As we look to bring in record numbers of students, workers on temporary work permits and also permanent residents, there needs to be a bit of a culture shift and there needs to be an accounting as to what happened in terms of this backlog. I don’t think that the answers so far from the government are sufficient.” Jain, founder of the Toronto-based Jain Immigration Law firm, welcomed the intent behind the ambitious targets as younger immigrants are necessary in a labour force that has already greyed. According to the IRCC, immigration accounts for almost 100% of Canada’s labour force growth, and, by 2032, it’s projected to account for all of the country’s population growth." December 11, 2022: Canada: Huge backlog to clear PR applications may hit govt’s ambitious immigrant intake targets | World News - Hindustan Times
  • Quoted in the Hindustan Times, “Promises are being made that these students will be able to graduate and become permanent residents quite easily but again if you look at the number of international students coming in and the programme that typically services them, which is the Canadian Experience Class, there simply is not the room to be able to accommodate all of them,” Ravi Jain, co-founder of the Canadian Immigration Lawyers’ Association said. Many among them will be hoping to become permanent residents (PRs), which is often the pitch made by recruiters in education sector based in India. As Jain said, “They’re being sold a fairy tale and that’s a big problem.” December 25, 2022: No guaranteed pathway to permanent residency in Canada, expert tells students from India | World News - Hindustan Times
  • Quoted in the Hindustan Times, "Ravi Jain, co-founder of the Canadian Immigration Lawyers’ Association said that recruiters promise an easy path to permanent residency to students, Hindustan Times reported last week. 'Promises are being made that these students will be able to graduate and become permanent residents quite easily but again if you look at the number of international students coming in and the programme that typically services them, which is the Canadian Experience Class, there simply is not the room to be able to accommodate all of them,'” he said. December 30, 2022: Concern over Indian students being defrauded in Canada: High Commissioner | World News - Hindustan Times.
  • Quoted in New Canadian Media, “Processing times for many types of applications remain far too long and this negatively impacts employers and foreign nationals significantly and also hampers family reunifications,” said Ravi Jain, principal at Jain Immigration Law and co-founder of CILA. “We certainly recognize that there has been increases in certain ‘lines of business’ with record numbers of work permits and student visas being issued, for instance. However, this does not fully explain how a backlog of over two million cases was allowed to develop.” January 3, 2023: Immigration Canada rings in 2023 by making history - New Canadian Media
  • Featured blog post in The Lawyer’s Daily, January 17, 2023: "Backlash on ramped up immigration numbers unwarranted." This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (www.thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc. https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/42868/backlash-on-ramped-up-immigration-numbers-unwarranted-ravi-jain?category=opinion.
  • Co-Speaker, "The Start-up Visa Program and Ontario's Entrepreneur Success Initiative." Co-speakers were Vikram Khurana (CEO of the Toronto Business Development Centre) and Preeya Malik & Deepanshu Choudhry (StepGlobal), Dubai, UAE, January 29, 2023.
  • Quoted in CTV News, "With the unemployment rate at historic lows, many companies are 'starved' for workers, and new immigrants will help fill some of the need, said Ravi Jain, principal at Jain Immigration Law and co-founder of the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association." February 1, 2023: Immigration to Canada won't fix labour market: experts | CTV News.
  • Quoted in Canadian Lawyer regarding leaked Immigration Department memo contemplating waiving eligibility criteria for visitor visas. "Once word of IRCC’s decision spreads, there will be more visa applications, and the decreased screening will lead to more refugee claimants. The leaked IRCC memo said that waiving eligibility requirements could lead to around 8,600 asylum claims. This surge will overburden the Immigration and Refugee Board, says Ravi Jain, founder of Jain Immigration Law, and past national chair of the Canadian Bar Association immigration law section.... Jain notes that IRCC is putting more money into the system and hiring more officers to deal with the backlog but adds that there is a lack of communication with lawyers. We should 'bring back some mutual respect, where they understand that we’re here to facilitate and assist the process. We’re the ones dissuading people from making fake refugee claims. We’re the ones who strategize and try to ensure that people don’t put in too many applications so that they don’t put in applications that are not very strong or that are disorganized, so officers have to spend more time on them.'" February 3, 2023: https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/practice-areas/immigration/waiving-visa-eligibility-requirements-risks-undermining-confidence-in-immigration-system-lawyers/373429.
  • Quoted in CTV News article "Ontario woman's family missed birth of her child due to visitor visa delays": Immigration Lawyer Ravi Jain said the backlog of applications is likely the only thing delaying the visa process. “In terms of both the processing times and the level of customer service, it's just at an all-time low,” he told CTV News Toronto. "There’s no reason someone should be waiting 300 plus days for a visitor application. I mean that's ridiculous." Jain stressed that while this is a Canada-wide issue likely spurred by the pandemic; it shouldn’t take over a year to review an application, which he says includes an assessment of the person’s ties to their home country and the reason they want to visit. “Here's a woman who had a baby and wants her mom. What's wrong with that?” February 8, 2023: https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/don-t-keep-me-in-limbo-ontario-woman-waiting-for-family-s-visitor-visa-over-a-year-later-1.6265354 
  • Co-Speaker, "The Start-up Visa Program and Ontario's Entrepreneur Success Initiative." Co-speakers were Vikram Khurana (CEO of the Toronto Business Development Centre) and Diep Truc Hoang “Trudi,” (Citizen Pathway), Sofitel Saigon Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, March 21, 2023.
  • Featured in Desi News's cover story "Canada Needs Immigrants. But do we meet their needs?" March 31 2023: https://www.e-desinews.com/april-2023/cover-story-canada-needs-immigrants-but-do-we-meet-their-needs.
  • Co-Speaker, “Comparing the Start-up Visa Program with the Entrepreneur Success Initiative Program in Ontario,” Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association, April 13, 2023.
  • Speaker, "Work Permits and Permanent Residence Options for Foreign Physicians," Canadian Association of Staff Physician Recruiters conference, Sheraton, Toronto, April 18, 2023.
  • Speaker, invitation-only Roundtable with Deputy Minister of Immigration and many Director Generals as well as the President of the CBSA. Invited along with Ottawa colleague Betsy Kane and we decided to appear on behalf of CILA after running our thoughts by the Board. We made suggestions relating to the integrity of the system. The first item was to suggest more consultations and transparency, prior to changes being introduced. We also talked about bad actors in the system, the move towards facilitation, portals, the consequences of slow processing, how to improve communication, AI challenges, a Trusted Partners model and how we can change the Act for the better. (May 4, 2023).
  • Speaker, "Employer Compliance," American Immigration Lawyers Association Global Migration Forum, Orlando, Florida, June 19, 2023.
  • Quoted throughout this LinkedIn article, July 7, 2023: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/get-hired-by-linkedin-news-india_gethiredindia-activity-7082928181921402880-CqqG?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios.
  • Featured blog post in The Lawyer’s Daily, July 26, 2023: "The anti-democratic marginalization of immigration lawyers." This article was originally published by Law360 Canada, part of LexisNexis Canada Inc. https://www.law360.ca/articles/48778/the-anti-democratic-marginalization-of-immigration-lawyers-ravi-jain?category=opinion.
  • Published blog on Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association website relating to eroding client service with moves to limit access to immigration lawyers: https://cila.co/eroding-client-service-and-access-to-immigration-lawyers-by-canadas-immigration-department/, August 21, 2023.
  • Private meeting with Immigration Minister Miller's Director of Policy and Legal Affairs, Julia Carbone and his Director of Operations Bryan Rourke, August 22, 2023.
  • Published blog on Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association website relating to the exploitation of international students: https://cila.co/the-moral-case-for-curtailing-international-students/, August 30, 2023.
  • Published guest contributor article for The Economic Times (India) on alternatives to capping international students: Housing crisis in Canada: Is capping international students the only way? - The Economic Times (indiatimes.com), September 8, 2023.
  • Guest Lecturer, Seneca College Law Clerk Program on the topic of international students, September 13, 2023.
  • Quoted in the Economic Times (India): "Some Indo-Canadians of Sikh background are already saying they don’t feel as safe in Canada as they once did, says Ravi Jain, Canada-based immigration lawyer and founder of Jain immigration, though Trudeau’s move did not surprise some in Canada’s Sikh community. Some leaders of this community are already indicating that they are not surprised by the Prime Minister’s announcement. Others of Indian descent will find the nature of the allegations shocking,” Jain said: https://m.economictimes.com/nri/migrate/will-recent-events-take-the-charm-off-the-great-canadian-dream/amp_articleshow/103857541.cms, September 22, 2023.
  • Quoted in the Globe and Mail, Ontario’s publicly funded colleges posted significant operating surpluses last year - The Globe and Mail: "Ravi Jain, co-chair of the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association, said the colleges are taking a 'greedy' approach to international students. Some students arrive deeply in debt, and need to work to support themselves and feel tremendous pressure to obtain permanent residency, which is often their principal objective, he said. The colleges are 'making huge, huge profits. And really, the victims here are the students,' Mr. Jain said." September 26, 2023.
  • Op-Ed Featured in National Post: "Ravi Jain: Fix immigration system to  unleash full potential of newcomers." https://nationalpost.com/opinion/ravi-jain-fix-immigration-system-to-unleash-full-potential-of-newcomers, September 27, 2023
  • Guest on 900 CHML Radio Show with host Scott Thompson discussing National Post op-ed, September 27, 2023.
  • Presented in Mexico City, September 29, 2023 at a conference focused on work permits under the treaty between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Moderated a panel and spoke on general trends with visa processing given the Consuls were present from the US and Canada and also the top immigration managers from the US and Canada. On Ravi's panel were Peggy Petrovich from the US Embassy, the Mission Mexico Visas Country Coordinator and Cyril Joseph, the Program Manager who leads IRCC Mexico in delivering all aspects of Canada’s migration programs there. We relayed that Latin Americans from other countries living in Mexico 2 years can get citizenship (then use CUSMA); the use of eTAs are highest among citizens from France, UK and Mexico (~2M); about 29k agricultural workers come from Mexico; low skill is up 220%; and only about 1.5 % of IMP work permit holders are Mexicans. We also talked about how processing has changed over the years at visa offices and in terms of trends, Ravi mentioned that he imagined there to be some discussion between Ottawa and Washington around easing undocumented entry into the US with Canada taking Mexicans in via work permits. Indeed, this has occurred and the visa office is trying to raise awareness around other options for Mexicans to get work permits, beyond agricultural work. Ravi found the government announcement on June 28, 2016 eliminating the visa requirement for Mexicans. Prime Minister Trudeau was new to his office and wanted a new approach to Mexico given the Harper government took a more hardline approach to what they called ‘bogus refugee claims.’ The change happened as of Nov 25 2016. It’s almost been 7 years now. The rationale was that there would be an increase in the flow of travelers, ideas and businesses. The announcement also said that the Trudeau government was prepared to reimpose a visa requirement if refugee claims spiked to say 3,500/year. I asked if it ever did get that high and want the numbers are now but didn’t get an answer. However, Cyril did mention that there is a concern about high claims and also Mexicans coming as visitors but then working illegally (hence the push to raise awareness on the various other types of work permits available.
  • Hosted webinar for Brilliant Minds Group, "Canada-India Relations & International Students," October 4, 2023.
  • Guest on CBC Radio's Ontario Today with host Amanda Pfeffer. The topic related to the spat between India and Canada and potential impacts to immigration. October 5, 2023.
  • Invited by Deputy Minister of Immigration Christiane Fox to attend a briefing and Q&A on India's decision to reduce staff at the High Commission in New Delhi and implications to immigration processing. Represented the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association as Co-President, October 20, 2023.
  • Arranged and led a meeting between Immigration Minister Marc Miller (and his team) and the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association, October 23, 2023.
  • Featured in this opinion piece for the Economic Times (India) on Canada's immigration levels plan: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/migrate/canada-needs-more-immigrants-to-solve-a-problem-caused-by-immigrants/articleshow/104958372.cms, November 3, 2023.
  • Quoted in the Toronto Star regarding PR Card Delays: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/thousands-of-canada-s-permanent-residents-are-afraid-to-leave-the-country-here-s-why/article_6208d73d-e6bc-5de0-8b65-9c51147c3478.html#tncms-source=login, November 28, 2023.
  • Quoted in the Hindustan Times regarding anti-immigrant sentiment: https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/experts-believe-canada-s-anti-immigrant-sentiments-will-change-post-economic-revival-101702276845108.html, December 11, 2023.
  • Featured in Report of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, "In Demand Yet Unprocessed: Endemic Immigration Backlogs," December 2023, 44th Parliament, 1st Session: "According to Ravi Jain... the number of applications for the TR to PR pathway was not properly capped and 'resulted in more applications than intended.'" "Ravi Jain testified that members of CILA received emails from the New Delhi office stating that any messages sent to them that were not transmitted via the web form would be deleted." "Ravi Jain reported that, despite the departmental workers being described as part of Canada's 'critical infrastructure' by Public Safety Canada, there were 'extended periods of time' where 80% of IRCC's staff were unable to work." Ravi Jain explained that the paralysis of the workforce had severe impacts on IRCC's backlog, and in turn affected Canada's ability to respond to humanitarian crises, to reunite families and [its] competitiveness in terms of our economy." "Ravi Jain indicated that CILA [members] had been 'excluded altogether from the new digital platforms developed by IRCC, with the excuse that they needed to be rolled out quickly."
  • Featured in this opinion piece for the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association: https://cila.co/canada-must-do-more-to-protect-newcomers/, February 16, 2024.
  • Quoted in The Globe and Mail: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-alleged-uk-airport-scam-allowed-travellers-to-circumvent-canadas/,  March 1, 2024: "Airlines and airline employees are given 'a high degree of trust' when it comes to ensuring that immigration laws are properly followed, said Ravi Jain, a Toronto-based immigration lawyer...  Canada has an obligation to process asylum claims... 'So the way the government tries to prevent that,' said Mr. Jain, 'is by putting the onus on the airline.'” 
  • Speaker, "'Polycrisis' - Crisis Management in Today's Globally Mobile World" with Moderator Lisa Atkins (US) and Co-Panelists Valeriia Bezpala (Ukraine), Michal Kacprzyk (Poland) and Noriko Kurotsu (US), March 1, 2024 at GMS's Global Migration Conference, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
  • Appeared live on Global News AM900 CHML with host Scott Thompson, March 22, 2024  regarding IRCC's pledge to reduce foreign workers.
  • Addressed the Canadian Senate as an expert witness on immigration law and appeared before the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights, March 10, 2008.
  • Presented the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by Command of Her Majesty The Queen in commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of Her Majesty’s Accession to the Throne and in recognition of significant contributions to Canada, November 27, 2012.
  • Selected as one of Canada’s leading corporate immigration lawyers for Who’s Who Legal: Canada 2016-2024 and as a Thought Leader for 2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024 for obtaining “the highest number of nominations from peers, corporate counsel and other market sources.”
  • Addressed Canada’s House of Commons Parliamentary Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (appearing on behalf of the Canadian Bar Association), April 3, 2017.
  • Selected for the prestigious Best Lawyers in Canada (the oldest peer-review publication for the legal profession which selects for legal expertise, ethics and professionalism) for “Immigration Law” for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023.
  • Selected as the “Lawyer of the Year” for 2022 by Best Lawyers in Canada (the oldest peer-review publication for the legal profession which selects for legal expertise, ethics and professionalism) for receiving the highest voter feedback from peers for Immigration.
  • Selected for the The Canadian Lexpert® Directory (which is “acknowledgement of excellence by a practitioner’s own peers and colleagues”) for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024. Currently in the highest category of "Most Frequently Recommended" with 5 other Ontario immigration lawyers.
  • Selected as one of the world’s best lawyers by Chambers and Partners for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023 (which is based in London, U.K. and conducts in-depth, objective research employing over 170 full-time researchers). 
  • Addressed Canada’s House of Commons Parliamentary Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, May 7, 2019.
  • Addressed the Canadian Senate, specifically the 29 Senators who form The Senate Working Group on Immigration appearing on behalf of the Canadian Immigration Lawyers’ Association, January 27, 2022. Presented 6 “one-pagers” suggesting legislative improvements to Canadian immigration law.
  • Honoured to address Canada’s House of Commons Parliamentary Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (appearing on behalf of the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association), June 7, 2022: https://parlvu.parl.gc.ca/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/00010101/-1/37209?gefdesc=&startposition=20220607114957.
  • Recipient of a "Top 50 Under 50" award honouring 50 outstanding Canadians of Indian heritage under 50 years old. Presented by His Excellency the Indian High Commissioner to Canada, Shri Sanjay Kumar Verma, and Consul General Apoorva Srivastava, June 30, 2023.

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