Ravi Jain B.A, LL..B., LL.M, C.S

Education

• Called to the Ontario Bar, 2001
• Called to the Massachusetts Bar
• B.A. (Hons.), Queen’s University, 1995
• LL.B., Osgoode Hall Law School, 1998
• LL.M. (Master of Laws), The University of Michigan, 2000
• Certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a Specialist in Citizenship and Immigration Law, 2008

Additional Languages Spoken

Affiliations

• Executive Member, Canadian Bar Association Immigration Law Section (Secretary 2017-2018, Treasurer until promoted to Vice-Chair 2018-2019, Chair 2019/2020, Past Chair in 2020-2021)
• Co-Chair of Agenda Committee and Member of Organizing Committee for Canadian Bar Association Citizenship & Immigration Law Conference 2017, 2018 & 2019
• American Immigration Lawyers Association / Global Migration Section (AILA GMS) Conference Committee Member 2019-2020
• Member, Citizenship and Immigration Section of the Canadian Bar Association
• Member, Citizenship and Immigration Section of the Ontario Bar Association
• Member, Massachusetts Bar
• Member, American Bar Association
• Member, American Immigration Lawyers Association
• Member, Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce
• Executive Member, Advocacy Committee, South Asian Bar Association of Toronto
• Member, South Asian Bar Association of Toronto

Awards

• 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, 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020.
• 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.
• Selected for the The Canadian Lexpert® Directory (which is “acknowledgement of excellence by a practitioner’s own peers and colleagues”) for 2018 & in 2019 was selected amongst the top 10 leading lawyers in Ontario.
• Selected as one of the world’s best lawyers by Chambers and Partners for 2018, 2019 & 2020 (which is based in London, U.K. and conducts in-depth, objective research employing over 170 full-time researchers). Mentioned along with two partners for earning Green and Spiegel LLP the top “Band One” Canadian immigration law firm rating.​

• Addressed Canada’s House of Commons Parliamentary Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, May 7, 2019.

News

Events

• 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 2^nd 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 21^st 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 22^nd 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.