Immigration Issues in Depth 2025

Course Chairs
Phillippe Alma — Department of Justice Canada, Vancouver
Brett J. Nash — Department of Justice Canada, Vancouver
Will Tao — Heron Law Offices, Burnaby

About the Course Chairs
Phil Alma obtained his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) from McGill University in 2008. He is counsel with the Department of Justice Canada in Vancouver, where he practices primarily in the field of immigration and refugee law. Phil has appeared before numerous administrative tribunals, the Federal Court, the Federal Court of Appeal, and the Ontario Court of Appeal, and has contributed to matters argued across Canada.

Prior to focusing his practice on immigration law, Phil worked in tax law, as well as extensively in public safety and regulatory litigation. His experience includes involvement in national class actions, constitutional challenges, criminal and quasi-criminal proceedings, and cases pertaining to policing and corrections law.

Brett Nash is counsel with the Department of Justice Canada in Vancouver and practices primarily in the area of immigration and refugee law.

Brett has appeared in the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal on a wide range of immigration and refugee issues. Prior to focusing on immigration matters, Brett was counsel on Aboriginal rights and title claims in the Aboriginal Law Section, and before joining the Department of Justice, he had a general litigation practice. Brett holds a Master of Laws degree focusing on constitutional and statutory interpretation and international law. 

Will Tao is founder/counsel at Heron Law Offices, an Immigration, Refugee, Citizenship, Public and Administrative law firm based in Burnaby.

He received his JD from the University of Ottawa in 2014. Will is an active member of the Canadian Immigration Bar, served as past co-chair of the Anti-Racism Committee, and is an award-winning blogger and frequent policy analyst/media contributor. Will is currently taking his LLM at the Allard/UBC Faculty of Law where he is focusing on studying the automated administrative state. Most recently, he has been involved in consultations including with the Federal Court on their recent use of AI Directive and with the Treasury Board Secretariat on their Algorithmic Impact Assessment. He is the co-founder of a civil society organization called AIMICI that explores the use of artificial intelligence technologies in immigration systems in Canada and globally.

Faculty
The Honourable Negar Azmudeh — Federal Court, Ottawa
Associate Judge Kathleen Ring — Federal Court, Vancouver 
Hilla Aharon — Department of Justice Canada, Vancouver
Jesse Davidson — Acting Assistant Deputy Chairperson, Immigration Division, Western Region, IRB, Vancouver
Sashka Djordjevic — Department of Justice Canada, Vancouver
Paula Faber — Acting Assistant Deputy Chairperson, Refugee Appeal Division, Western Region, IRB, Vancouver
Beth Friesen — Edelmann & Co., Vancouver
Amandeep Hayer — Hayer Law, Langley
Hannah Lindy — Larlee Rosenberg, Vancouver
Mark Mancini — Assistant Professor, Thompson Rivers University, Faculty of Law, Kamloops
Soraya Premji — Registry Officer, Courts Administration Services, Vancouver
Johanna Russell — Legal Counsel, IRB, Vancouver
Alex Stojicevic — MKS Immigration Lawyers LLP, Vancouver
Alice Tang — Assistant Deputy Chairperson, Refugee Protection Division, Western Region, IRB, Vancouver
Linda Taylor — Assistant Deputy Chairperson, Immigration Appeal Division, Western Region, IRB, Vancouver

Course Materials Contributor
Karina Juma — Heron Law Offices, Burnaby

• review of key Federal Court, Federal Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of Canada immigration, refugee and citizenship decisions in 2025
• discussion of recent developments in other areas of the law that may impact immigration, refugee and citizenship law practice
• trends, highlights and lowlights in recent jurisprudence, and what is expected in 2026

• updates from the IRB

• preparing the record for a stay application: what information is most relevant from each side and why it is important to include
• clarity on the nature of the underlying decision being challenged: different legal tests
• understanding the purpose of a stay: short term vs. indefinite deferral
• particular nuances that affect the application of the tripartite test:
  • effect of previous decisions
  • potential mootness
  • children and family separation
  • health risks
  • avoidance of immigration law
• do's and don'ts of deferral requests and stay motions
• the balance of convenience with supporting case law

• amended Consolidated Practice Guidelines for Citizenship, Immigration, and Refugee Protection Proceedings dated June 20, 2025
• procedural motions in immigration proceedings
• use of artificial intelligence
• view from the registry

• new proposed bill
• possible litigation arising
• increasing number of citizenship revocation cases