Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

Breaches to Residency Requirements

There are residency requirements under the IRPA - basically there is a minimum period of time that permanent residents must physically remain in Canada. The new IRPA replaces the previous Immigration Act which usually "recommended" that Permanent Residents remain in Canada for approximately 6 months out of a year (the "183 day" Rule). In essence, under the old Act, if a Permanent Resident leaves and remains outside Canada with the intention of abandoning Canada, the individual loses his or her permanent residence status. Remaining outside Canada for more than 183 days in any 12 month period was deemed intention to abandon residency in Canada. Under the new act, IRPA, there is little assessment as to the intention of a permanent resident. The formula for calculating a breach of residency is now simply a mathematical calculation. IRPA provides for a more flexible and generally more beneficial arrangement for individuals who travel and remain outside of Canada. To retain status, PR must accumulate 730 days in a five year period. Failure to do so, may lead to examination before an immigration officer, the writing of a inadmissibility report and eventual loss of status and removal from Canada. There are a number of... Read more →

Citizenship or PR status for International Students

An article outlines an interesting proposal by a Liberal Leadership candidate - Tony Seskus' piece in the Calgary Herald on June 20, 2006 at A5: Ontario MP and candidate for the Federal Liberal leadership Maurizio Bevilacqua is putting forth a proposal to grant citizenship or permanent resident status to foreign students upon graduation. An interesting and (in my opinion anyway) bold proposal, the move could serve to attract, and more importantly retain young professionals to Canada, serving as a (partial) solution to Canada's aging population and labour woes. Read more →