Thank you for joining us in Montréal!

  • May 29, 2024

Gabriella Ramo

I have just come back from Montreal, invigorated and recharged, after having attended our very successful 2024 CBA Immigration Law Conference.

Conference Planning Committee did a fantastic job of putting together three amazing days that offered something for everyone:

  • We held fireside conversations with high profile speakers, including the Honourable Louise Arbour, Manon Brassard, Chair of the IRB, and with Minister Miller – conversations which were engaging and thought provoking.
  • We ran a multitude of panels where a variety of speakers – including Judges, government speakers, and lawyers from both the Justice Department and the CBA – shared a wealth of information with us, from strategies and tips to their thoughts on the future of immigration policy and the use of technology.
  • Under the guidance of Robert Israel Blanshay, our dedicated Vice-Chair of Refugee and Litigation Affairs, we offered informative panels on refugee and litigation issues, including cutting-edge discussions on the impact of climate change on refugee movements and how to best assist clients from the 2SLGBTQI+ community in navigating their refugee determination and immigration journeys.
  • We also focused on our mental health and wellness, offering not only an excellent panel discussion on mental health issues and strategies for helping ourselves and our colleagues, but also opportunities for small-room discussions with our expert, Dr. Julie MacMillan-Devlin. And we talked about incorporating quick breathing, stretching, and meditation breaks to help us relax and find balance in our day – learning that it is possible to build in brief times for wellness no matter how busy we are.
  • To take care of our physical wellness we offered a scenic early morning run to get our heart rate up and a Yolates session to help us wind down on Thursday night.
  • We hosted several and very successful social events, starting with our Welcome Reception and the Early Career Networking event on Thursday evening. And then we had a beautiful Masquerade Gala at Salon Richmond on Friday night, where we were treated to a discussion with Minister Miller, a lovely dinner, and a whole lot of fun on the dance floor. Finally, we closed the Conference with a Closing Reception on Saturday afternoon, which offered a final chance to socialize and network with our colleagues.

But most of all, the Conference offered lots of opportunities for our members to come together and network, and to spend time with old friends, and make many new ones, all while learning from one another. For me personally this was what I enjoyed most about the Conference – the opportunity to catch up with colleagues from across the country and spend time reconnecting.

I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to our Conference Planning Committee Co-Chairs, Kiren Saini and Audrey Anne Chouinard, for the tremendous amount of work and effort that they invested in organizing and delivering the Conference. Their dedication, endless hours of work, and attention to detail was deeply appreciated.

My thanks to all the members of the Conference Planning Committee. It truly takes a huge village to pull off an event of this magnitude and we are so very fortunate to have so many amazing and dedicated volunteers. Thank you to: Mario Blanchard, Nicole Chan, Zeynab Ziaie Moayyed, Lana Roberts, Stanley Leo, Prabh Sangha, Alicia Backman-Beharry, Nalini Reddy, Elizabeth Long, Brittany Trafford, Stephanie Heinsohn, Veronique Malka, Sofia Mirza, Daman Saini, Genevieve Giesbrecht, Robin Seligman, and David Davis.

We could not have pulled off the Conference without our partners at the CBA, who worked closely with us and did a fantastic job of making our wish list come to life: Rana Shwehdi, Véronique Morissette, Wendy Vance, Emma Paquette, Nizar Ghalbane, Leah Lang, Angelik Mangone, and Dana Platias. Thank you!

Thank you also to our many amazing moderators and speakers. Their hard work and their willingness to share their knowledge and expertise allowed us to run over 30 panels and sessions covering a wide variety of topics. We could not have done it without them!

And finally, a huge thank you to my fellow Table Officers, for their hours of work on the Conference, their dedication to our Section, and their support in too many ways to count. Thank you Robert Israel Blanshay, Kamaljit Lehal, Jatin Shory and Lisa Middlemiss. Thank you also to Kyle Hyndman, our Senior Advisor who is always willing to listen and offer guidance, and always has my back.

But most of all, thank you to all the members who registered and travelled from across Canada to join us in Montreal. Your participation and engagement are what drives the success of the Conference, and we are so grateful that you continue to support the largest annual gathering of immigration professionals in Canada.

We’ll take a break to catch our breaths – and to get some sleep! – and then we’ll get down to work planning for the 2025 National Immigration Law Conference, which will be held in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia, from June 5th to the 7th, 2025. Can’t wait to see you all there!

AWARDS

We are so fortunate to have so many dedicated volunteers who devote many, many hours and endless energy to our Section. They are the backbone and driving force of our Section. Every year at the Conference we recognize a number of members for their contributions to the work of the section and to our advocacy efforts:

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Baerbel Langner – in recognition of her decades of work on behalf of the Immigration Section and Bar.

VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION AWARDS

Tamara Mosher-Kuczer
Oliver Mao
Daman Saini
Jae Yeon-Lim
Clinton Green

FOUNDERS’ AWARD

Katie Lay

Please join me in congratulating this year’s winners.

ELECTIONS

We are in the process of electing the members of our Executive for 2024-2025 and the nomination period is open until May 31st. If you are interested in the position of Secretary and Communications Officer, or in joining the Executive as a Member at Large, please complete and submit a nomination form. Please join us in the work of the Section.

NEXT BRUNCH/LUNCH AND LEARN

Please join us in the next session of our very successful Brunch/Lunch and Learn webinar series, which is free to all members. Our next session on ‘AIDA & AI in general + Live Feedback’ will be held on June 27th (stay tuned for more details!).

JOIN US!

There is much work to be done, and we can only do it with your help. We invite you to:

Please don’t hesitate to contact us with questions or to discuss ways to become more involved. We gladly welcome your emails and calls.

With gratitude,

Gabriela Ramo
Chair, CBA Immigration Law Section