Instructors
Andrew is a Toronto lawyer and Managing Lawyer at Carvajal Law, where he is the Head of Economic Immigration and Director of the firm’s Latin American (LATAM) Group. He received a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Civil Law from McGill University.
Andrew’s Canadian immigration practice focuses on all types of business immigration, including the representation of employers and employees on all types of Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) applications and Canadian work permit applications. He also assists professionals and entrepreneurs around the world with permanent residence applications under federal and provincial economic programs. His team also prepares applications for study permits, visitor visas and citizenship applications.
For over 12 years, Andrew has taught at the university and college levels, as well as professional development courses to immigration lawyers, Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants and paralegals. He is also a frequent contributor to several publications dealing with immigration law and has been invited to speak about immigration changes on local and national news segments, as well as to testify before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration.
Andrew is also the CEO of DLG Mobility. Through this company, he helps students find post-secondary programs and immigrate to Canada, as well as assist Canadian employers in finding and bringing the right talent from abroad.
Outside of work, Andrew enjoys travel, tennis and wine tasting. He is the host of the biweekly wine and immigration podcast “Vivir Afuera”.
Adrienne has a full-service legal practice with expertise in litigation and administrative appeals. Her legal experience is concentrated in matters before Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the Federal Court and the Immigration and Refugee Board.
She regularly represents clients with all types of permanent and temporary applications to Canada, including medical and criminal inadmissibility issues, sponsorship applications and appeals, refugee claims and appeals, Federal Court applications, humanitarian and compassionate applications, study and visitor visas, and detention reviews.
Adrienne has been invited as an expert to speak on medical inadmissibility before Canada’s House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, which monitor’s federal immigration policies.
She is an Instructor with Ryerson’s Faculty of Law and the University of British Columbia’s Continuing Education Program. Adrienne has been invited to speak as a guest lecturer at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law and York University’s Centre for Refugee Studies.
Stewart Gillis
LL.B., CS – Barrister & Solicitor
Certified by the Law Society of Ontario as a Specialist in Citizenship and Immigration Law and Refugee Law
Is a Deputy Judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Small Claims Court). He was Certified as a Specialist in Civil Litigation by the Law Society of Upper Canada on September 7, 2000 and since his Call to the Ontario Bar in March, 1977, he practiced in personal injury law, exclusively.
He has served as a Director of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association and been a lecturer in civil procedure and practice at the Bar Admission Course in Toronto.
He began his career in Toronto involving himself in insurance defence work including motor vehicle personal injury litigation, medical and hospital malpractice matters, and municipal liability cases.
In 1986, he relocated to Brampton and established a successful plaintiff personal injury practice ultimately founding Gillis Zago LLP in 2001 and Gillis Injury Law (Stewart Gillis Legal Professional Corporation) in 2010.
In June 2016, he stepped away from day-to-day practice and is following his twin passions for the courtroom and for mentoring up-and-coming lawyers in their trial practice and procedures.
Tamara Mosher-Kuczer, is a top-ranked lawyer, recognized by the Law Society of Ontario as a Certified Specialist in Canadian Citizenship and Immigration law.Tamara has exclusively practiced citizenship and immigration law for over 9 years.Tamara has helped hundreds of clients across a range of sectors obtain work permits in support of short- and long-term employment in Canada, and achieve Canadian permanent residency and citizenship.She represents clients on a variety of Canadian immigration issues.
Tamara has been recognized by her peers in Best Lawyers™ Canada since 2018.
Her enthusiasm and expertise makes her a popular regular speaker at legal and industry conferences and continuing professional education panels, including:
- Law Society of Ontario’s annual Immigration Summit
- Canadian Bar Association’s annual Immigration Conference
- Annual Ottawa Immigration Law Conference
Is certified by the Law Society of Ontario as a Specialist in both Citizenship/Immigration law and Refugee law. Her practice encompasses every possible area of Canadian citizenship, immigration and refugee law, such as business class applications, skilled workers, family sponsorships, work and study permits, refugee cases, citizenship applications, plus Appeals and Judicial Reviews of refused cases. She was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1999 and is the founding and senior partner of Desloges Law Group.
In November, 2016, Chantal and her good friend Cathryn Sawicki published the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Law: A Practitioner’s Handbook. Chantal has been called upon 15 times by Parliamentary and Senate Committees to appear as an expert witness on immigration and refugee issues.
Chantal is a regular immigration commentator on CTV Power Play, and has been interviewed by both national and local television stations such as CBC, CTV National News, W5, Canada AM, Global News and CP24. She has also been interviewed and quoted in national and local newspapers such as the Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, Globe and Mail, National Post and the Ottawa Citizen.
Sam is a graduate of the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto. Prior to law school, Sam studied Peace and Conflict Studies at the Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Toronto. He is a member of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, the Refugee Lawyers Association, and the Canadian Bar Association.
Sam has experience in a wide variety of immigration matters, including applications involving inadmissibility matters, humanitarian and compassionate applications, pre-removal risk assessments, family sponsorship applications, temporary resident permits, and applications for work and study permits. Sam has extensive experience with applications for Judicial Review before the Federal Court of Canada, including applications involving constitutional challenges and motions for stays of removal; and has appeared before the Federal Court of Appeal. Sam has appeared before all three Divisions of the Immigration and Refugee Board in various matters including refugee hearings, appeals before the Immigration Appeal Division, and detention reviews.
Prior to his work at Plett Law Professional Corporation, Sam was a Partner and Head of Litigation at Desloges Law Group.
Immigration Lawyer Mark Holthe started his legal career with a large national law firm in Calgary where he initiated the business immigration practice at the firm. Since those early days, he has had the opportunity to work in a wide variety of law firm configurations before finally realizing that the best place for him was within the confines of an immigration boutique firm of his own making.
As a Canadian Immigration lawyer Mark Holthe has particular experience in assisting clients with all aspects of Canadian immigration law. He assists large national and multinational companies in navigating the complex world of Canadian immigration and provides strategic immigration advice to international and domestic companies seeking to recruit and retain foreign skilled and semi-skilled personnel.
Mark also assists temporary foreign workers with their transition to permanent resident status in Canada and over the past few years, he has taken great satisfaction in helping individuals and families with their various immigration related needs. Mark finds no greater satisfaction than helping to facilitate the reunification of families.
While attending law school, Mark worked as an Immigration officer for Citizenship and Immigration Canada on the Alberta/Montana border. While completing his final year of law school, he worked as a pro bono student to the Canada Border Services Agency Hearings Officers representing the minister before the Immigration Appeal Division in Calgary, Alberta. As a result of his prior experience as an immigration officer, Mark has been able to enhance the services he offers to his cross-border and overseas clients. Since that time, he has continued to work hard fostering positive relationships with the various immigration related government departments and has focused a significant portion of his practice on cross-border matters.
Deanna Okun-Nachoff
Partner, McCrea Immigration Law
Deanna is one of the most respected immigration lawyers in Canada. She joined McCrea Immigration Law in 2010 after working for many years as the executive director and staff lawyer of a non-profit serving the needs of foreign live-in caregivers. Deanna is a crack immigration litigator, winning all the cases she should and a few she probably shouldn’t.
In between solving seemingly unsolvable problems for her clients, Deanna somehow finds time to speak at various conferences and for grassroots organizations and to challenge our ongoing “cutest office dog” competition.
Deanna is your go-to expert on live-in caregivers, medical inadmissibility, human trafficking and immigration litigation before the Federal Court and the Immigration and Refugee Board.
Is the thought leader behind Workplace Legal. He focuses on improving work climate and empowering business leaders, entrepreneurs, managers, supervisors and human resources professionals to reduce the inherent threats of workplace relations by providing innovative training, advisory, investigations, and litigation services. Antonio uses coaching tools and skills to inform, advice and represent workplaces in their virtual and physical challenges, including business transformation and managing toxic leadership.
Antonio obtained a Bachelor’s of Civil Law from Zulia’s University in 2003 and completed the Canadian National Committee on Accreditation in 2015. His legal work includes employment standards, human rights, health and safety, pay equity, harassment, discrimination, violence, hazards, privacy, BYOD, agreements, contracts and policies, employment related ADRs (mediation, arbitration), and litigation (wrongful/constructive dismissals). He has successfully represented and assisted clients at the Superior Court of Justice and various administrative tribunals in Ontario.
Antonio also conducts workplace investigations regarding allegations of violence, harassment, discrimination, accidents/incidents, theft and failure to comply with company policies, by-laws and collective agreements.
Richard Kurland
Lawyer and Policy Analyst
Richard is a lawyer and policy analyst at Kurland, Tobe with offices in Vancouver and Montreal. Since 1994 he has served as a member of the Social Affairs Committee in the Senate of Canada as well as the House of Commons – Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. In the past, he has been the Special Advisor to the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (International Affairs and Immigration).
Richard is a regular commentator on television including CTV, CBC and CCTV as well as in newspapers and on the radio. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Lexbase, Canada’s largest immigration and policy publication.
He has lectured at the Canadian Bar Association, the Law Society of British Columbia and the University of British Columbia.
Cindy is the firm’s cross-border lawyer, practicing both Canadian and US immigration law. She has lived in both countries and has more than 20 years of experience supporting people and businesses move and thrive across North America. Nowadays she keeps busy outside of work raising two kids and a dog, and volunteering as a board member at a public legal education non-profit.
Melissa is recognized as a Certified Specialist in the area of Citizenship and Immigration Law by the Law Society of Ontario. Over the span of her career, Melissa has acquired a unique combination of experience that spans all areas of Canadian Immigration law. As a trusted advisor to Canadian employers and multinational companies, Melissa has provided strategic immigration planning advice for all temporary and permanent residence issues, as well as complex corporate compliance matters. Melissa’s focused, integrated and practical advice to companies in industries as diverse as technology, aerospace, oil and gas, financial services and fintech, mining and energy, project management, engineering, manufacturing and hospitality.
Will Tao* (pronouns: he/him) is a Canadian Immigration and Refugee Lawyer and the founder of Heron Law Offices who lives and works on the traditional, unceded territories of the Coast Salish – sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) nations.
Will provides legal services in all areas of Canadian immigration and refugee law with a focus on complex applications, overcoming refusals, inadmissibility matters, appeals, and judicial reviews. Will regularly appears before the Immigration and Refugee Board and the Federal Court of Canada. His focus is on international students, families, and temporary foreign workers.
Will also provides strategic advice and consultation to government, media, educational institutions, and businesses on immigration/refugee, decolonization, and race equity related issues. He is the founder and creator of the award-winning Vancouver Immigration Blog, where he hopes to make immigration and refugee law more accessible to the general public. He also has significant past teaching experience as an instructor for University of British Columbia’s Certificate in Immigration Laws, Policies, and Procedures (CILPP) program.
Outside of the law, Will is a blogger, podcaster, poet, writer, and often can be found in the back aisles of local ethnic grocery stores and sweating profusely in hole-in-the-wall restaurants/eateries asking for the ‘extra spicy.’ His most important job now is father to young diasporic daughters, Esmeranda and Almeria, and cheerleader for his incredible spouse, Olivia.
Zeynab has been assisting businesses and individuals with their immigration needs for over a decade. With a practice that merges business and immigration law, she advises clients in a wide range of immigration issues and provides strategic advice for short-term visa planning and long-term immigration purposes.
Zeynab advises multinational corporations, small and medium sized businesses and individuals with regards visa requirements for setting up business operations in Canada, planning for talent mobility and related immigration compliance obligations. Her practices involves assisting business owners and employees obtain work permits and authorizations such as intra-company transfers and Labour Market Impact Assessments (including under the Global Talent Stream). Zeynab is involved in Toronto’s tech community and regularly represents Canadian start-ups in bringing foreign talent to Canada as well as assisting start-up companies to come to Canada either through the start-up visa program.
Zeynab regularly represents clients before the Immigration Appeal Division and the Federal Court of Canada representing clients in residency obligation, sponsorship or removal appeals and applications for judicial review as well as other types of enforcement matters. She is an ardent advocate for use of using technology to better deliver legal services and increase access to justice. She regularly speaks and writes on the topic of immigration and citizenship law developments and policy.
Marina Sedai is a Past National Chair for the Canadian Bar Association Immigration Section (2018-2019) and has been practicing exclusively immigration and citizenship law since 2005.
Marina is the principal and owner of Sedai Immigration Law Corporation, a boutique immigration firm in Surrey, British Columbia. Her practice focuses on businesses, families, and individual clients with a variety of needs: temporary residence (students, workers, visitors) and permanent residence (economic and family classes primarily), employer compliance, citizenship, and overcoming criminal inadmissibility.
Marina’s frequently writes and speaks for continuing legal education programs for the public and legal community, including the Canadian Bar Association Immigration Section (national and provincial), the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association, the Continuing Legal Education Society of BC and from 2012-2014, she was an instructor at the University of British Columbia Certificate in Immigration: Laws, Policies, and Procedures teaching classes for economic immigration, inadmissibilities, and citizenship. She is pleased to now also present for Legal Professionals Education Network.
With a decade of invaluable experience in Human Resources, Catalina possesses an unwavering passion for helping organizations cultivate healthy, equitable, and effective employer practices. Currently serving as the Senior Manager, HR & Operations at UBC Peter Allard School of Law, and previously holding the position of Senior Manager, Engagement and Organizational Development at UBC Sauder School of Business, Catalina has played a pivotal role in designing, implementing, and sustaining impactful HR initiatives.
As an esteemed coach with Coaching@UBC, Catalina empowers individuals to unlock their full potential, guiding them on their path to success. Simultaneously, her role as a Human Resources Advisor at the University of British Columbia involves providing strategic HR counsel and adeptly handling various employee relations issues.
Throughout her accomplished career, Catalina has showcased proficiency in full-cycle recruitment, performance management, payroll administration, and health and safety coordination. During her tenure as the former Regional HR Manager at Harvest Power Ltd., she effectively managed HR matters for multiple Canadian sites, ensuring compliance with collective agreements and fostering a positive work culture.
Catalina’s dedication to continuous improvement is evident through her Certificate in Organizational Coaching from the University of British Columbia and her CHRP designation from BCHRMA. Beyond her professional pursuits, she actively contributes to the HR community through her volunteer work with BCHRMA and generously mentors new immigrants through the MOSAIC, Workplace Connections Mentoring Program. With a diverse skill set and an unwavering commitment to empowering organizations and individuals alike, Catalina strives to make a lasting impact in the dynamic realms of HR and coaching.
Matthew began his career in education: teaching ESL, literature, and writing in Canadian universities and international high schools (France and Macedonia). He also spent three years as a university/college admissions counsellor, helping high school students pursue their educational aspirations in Canada, the United States, Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East.
Upon his return to Canada, he shifted to international student advising, for which he obtained his RCIC designation. He opened his boutique immigration consulting practice in 2016 while elevating his international student services/recruitment/admissions expertise at Humber College and Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.
Matthew was not always a city boy, nor did he expect to spend so much of his time working with people in finance and accounting, as he did at Rotman before shifting to full-time immigration work in 2023. He grew up on a farm in rural Manitoba, completed his undergraduate degree in English/French at Brandon University (Manitoba), and then his graduate work in English Literature at the University of Ottawa. He understands firsthand that people often want to change location, countries, and careers—editing their stories away from the plot of their birthplace.
Born in Singapore, Stan moved to British Columbia with his family and has called the province home ever since. Stan graduated from Simon Fraser University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science before graduating from the University of Manitoba with a Juris Doctor. Before joining Lowe & Company as an associate, he articled at a mid-size Vancouver full-service business law firm and then worked briefly at a law firm in the Tri-Cities primarily practicing residential real estate law. Stan was called to the Bar of British Columbia in 2012.
Stan has had the opportunity to assist people from all over the world with various Canadian immigration and citizenship matters including work authorizations, study permits, skilled worker immigration including federal and provincial programs, family sponsorships, criminal inadmissibility and citizenship.
In addition to Stan’s immigration practice, he has taught on immigration matters including but not limited to business work permits such as LMIA applications based on the Owner Operator advertising exemption.
Annie Beaudoin
Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant
Senior Consultant, Beaudoin Immigration Consulting
Ms. Annie Beaudoin is the senior consultant at Beaudoin Immigration Consulting. She is a Regulated Immigration Consultant under the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council.She went on to work for the Federal Government of Canada at the Canadian Consulate General in Los Angeles. Within less than 2 years at the at the Visa Office in Los Angeles, she was promoted to the highest Officer level as a Designated Immigration Officer.
Before recently retiring, she had gained 15 years of experience implementing Canadian Immigration Laws and Regulations. It is also important to note that she was the sole bilingual Designated Immigration Officer in Los Angeles which allowed her to work on a wide variety of applications and of course on the majority of French files through the Quebec Immigration Program. Furthermore, for the last few years as an Officer, she was selected to work only on complex immigration files. As a result, she developed a highly specialized knowledge of vastly complex and highly complex immigration cases.
Sarah Gray
Immigration Lawyer
Associate, Mathews Dinsdale & Clark LLP
Sarah is an Associate at Mathews Dinsdale & Clark LLP in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She advises employers on Canadian business immigration law, assisting clients to strategize their immigration and employment needs in Canada while navigating complex immigration regulations and processes. She is experienced in preparing Labour Market Impact Assessments, Work Permit Applications and Permanent Residence Applications under various provincial nominee programs and the Atlantic Immigration Program. Sarah also advises employers on compliance obligations and has assisted with immigration audit inspections. In addition to her immigration practice, Sarah also assists employers in all areas of labour and employment law including workplace investigations, discipline and discharge, wrongful dismissal claims and grievance arbitration. Prior to joining Mathews Dinsdale, Sarah practiced with an Atlantic Canada regional firm.
Lana Roberts
Immigration Lawyer
Barteaux Labour & Employment Lawyers
Lana has practiced exclusively in the area of Canadian business immigration for over 10 years. Lana provides strategic advice to multinational corporations, small-medium businesses, and individuals on a variety of issues related to cross-border movement. She supports corporate clients in maintaining compliance with Canadian immigration laws, including responding to immigration audits. Lana assists her clients in a wide range of sectors in the preparation and submission of immigration applications for temporary residence, permanent residence, and citizenship.
Prior to joining Barteaux, Lana worked as a corporate immigration lawyer at a leading regional law firm in Halifax, Nova Scotia before moving in 2016 to a law firm affiliated with a “Big Four” accounting firm where she led their Atlantic Canadian immigration practice.
Victor Ing
Immigration Lawyer
Sas & Ing Immigration Law Centre
Victor began practicing immigration law and working at a national law firm in 2010. Victor advises clients on a broad range of immigration processes and applications, including permanent residency applications, study and work permit applications, spousal appeals and detention hearings. He has represented clients in Federal Court and at all levels of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, and has appeared in the BC Supreme Court as an expert witness in immigration law matters.
Victor is a frequent writer and presenter on immigration topics and has been a regular contributor to the South Asian Post, providing insight on current immigration trends and changes. He has served as Co-Secretary for the British Columbia Immigration Section of the Canadian Bar Association, with a mandate to foster continuing legal education for immigration practitioners and to facilitate dialogue between immigration lawyers and the government departments with whom they work to share information and expertise.
David Matas
David is the senior legal counsel of B’nai Brith Canada and has maintained a private practice in refugee, immigration and human rights law since 1979. During this time he has also published various books and manuscripts.
David has also served as a member of the Canadian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly. He has taught at both McGill University and the University of Manitoba. He has been involved in a number of Human Rights organizations as well as the Canadian Bar Association throughout his career.
In 2008 David was awarded the Order of Canada.
Cathryn Sawicki
Cathryn Sawicki is the Managing Partner of Serotte Law Canada. She completed her law degree at Osgoode Hall and is the co-author of a book called “Canadian Immigration and Refugee Law: A Practitioners Handbook” which is currently in its second edition and distributed by Emond Publishing.
Cathryn has been designated as a Certified Specialist in Immigration and Citizenship Law by the Law Society of Ontario and has particular expertise in the area of compliance, strategic immigration solutions, and immigration processing.
Cathryn has extensive experience and expertise on a variety of aspects ranging from employer compliance, Federal Court matters, and global mobility solutions.
She has leading caselaw before the Federal Court of Canada and the Federal Court of Appeal. Cathryn obtained one of the largest immigration settlements in the 50-year history of one of the law firms she worked at. Cathryn has shared her immigration knowledge across Canada for various entities and also enjoys teaching immigration law at various colleges and law schools across Canada.
