Barrister & Solicitor
Authorized recruiter licensed by the Nova Scotia Department of Labour
It’s 2021. Obviously I need to post some updates. Where to start? Elise Welcome Elise Mercier, our newest lawyer! In October, the intrepid Elise packed up her belongings and moved here from Ontario to join North Star. And from her first week in the office, she has been a huge help with our volume of […]
IRCC recently announced that people with a close connection to a Canadian can request authorization to travel. Until now, the exemption has only applied to close family members, shutting out everyone other than children, parents and spouses. And, oh ya, guardians. With last weeks’ announcement of expanding the exemptions to relieve hardship to people who […]
Many Canadian businesses rely on regular cross-border trips by US-based workers. Whether it is to maintain machinery and equipment or oversee operations, these visits are usually of short durations and are time-sensitive. Sometimes, the US based workers are even Canadian citizens or permanent residents who still have to isolate for 2 weeks upon arrival in […]
Arundati Roy is one of my favorite authors. And while, as the uncracked spines of the pile of books on my windowsill attest, my reading over the past while has been profoundly disappointing, I love what she has written about the pandemic. To be sure, seeing the disruption and devastation the pandemic has caused as […]
It’s not business as usual, not even close. But here at North Star, we’ve been working hard to continue to serve and advise clients as the rules change and shift before our eyes, sometimes mid-sentence. Our national immigration lawyer listserv has been tireless in reacting to the various announcements and guidance like it is in […]
At North Star Immigration Law, we are making efforts to ensure that our clients and employees are safe, healthy and helping to mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus. No one in our Halifax office has travelled by airplane since mid-January and we are all observing the recommendations (social distancing, no handshaking, coughing/sneezing etiquette and hand […]
The sentiment may be holiday-induced, but certain passages in Vavilov feel like sips from a cup of fresh eggnog. The Court’s take on choice of standard may spill the most ink in administrative legal circles. Yet, it is snippets from the Court’s subsequent master class on “Reasonableness & the Culture of Justification” that immigration litigators should […]
Apparently time flies when you’re practicing immigration law! We were in Guadeloupe then I blinked and now it’s Halloween. Nova Scotia continues to chart new territory with new immigration streams such as: Occupations in Demand: truck drivers and nurse’s aides– these are NOC C jobs which normally require 6-months experience with the NS employer before […]
North Star Immigration Law rented a house in Guadeloupe from late April to early June 2019. Our lawyers took turns going for a week or 2. It was a small, cute house with good wifi and a nice pool: The house came with a spectacular cat, one we almost brought home until we realized her […]
Lawyers have mandatory continuing professional development but it can start to feel, at least in our office where there is almost constant collaboration, like everything we do is one big professional development session. Conference? Check. Lunch and learn? Check. Networking event? Check. Consultations with government? Check. Group yoga? Um, no (but we really wish we […]
