US judge blocks Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee for highly skilled foreign workers, calling it unlawful

2026/06/10 1 Comment

Courts working (apart from SCOTUS):

A federal judge on Monday struck down a US$100,000 fee U.S. President Donald Trump imposed on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers, concluding that it constituted an unlawful tax Congress never authorized. 

U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston issued the ruling in a lawsuit filed by 20 Democratic state attorneys general challenging a fee Trump announced in September that dramatically raised the cost of obtaining H-1B visas, which tech companies in particular rely heavily on to bring on foreign workers. 

The administration argued the fee constituted a lawful monetary penalty that the president was authorized to impose under federal immigration law, which gives him the power to restrict the entry of certain foreign nationals when he deems it “detrimental to the interests of the United States.”…

Source: US judge blocks Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee for highly skilled foreign workers, calling it unlawful

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Why is a Canadian literary magazine supporting ‘armed resistance’?

2026/06/10 2 Comments

Good point. Not just literary magazines…:

…So far as I know, there isn’t a Canadian literary magazine devoting an issue to the hard work of mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence. If there was, I would contribute to it.

David Bezmozgis is a writer and filmmaker. His upcoming film, The Betrayers, will be released in 2026.

Source: Why is a Canadian literary magazine supporting ‘armed resistance’?

Filed under Antisemitism, Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

ICYMI – Urback: Ottawa will start tracking when temporary residents enter and exit. Perhaps it could consider actual enforcement too?

2026/06/10 Leave a comment

Agree:

…In other words, not only has Ottawa not been tracking when non-permanent residents enter and exit the country, it is also not taking enforcement action in cases where fraud has clearly been identified, thus leaving applicants’ files unblemished and clear to apply for permanent residency. 

But the department appears unperturbed. The same day as last week’s committee meeting, where Ms. Diab yielded to the gross inadequacies of Canada’s immigration monitoring systems, the minister announced that Ottawa is fast-tracking permanent residency for up to 33,000 temporary foreign workers. 

It’s a mess, of course, with some changes coming by the end of the year, by which time the government would have fast-tracked permanent residency for tens of thousands, and issued hundreds of thousands of new temporary permits. But perhaps while IRCC is experimenting with its new counting pilot, it might want to run a beta on actual enforcement, so we don’t accidentally grant permanent residency to someone who entered the country fraudulently, or allow those who are not legally permitted to remain in the country to stay. It’s just a thought – something to test out to decide if Canada, a purportedly serious country, wants to maintain it permanently.

Source: Ottawa will start tracking when temporary residents enter and exit. Perhaps it could consider actual enforcement too?

Filed under Immigration Tagged with , ,

ICYMI – Globe editorial: Ottawa’s enduring problem of a surge in temporary workers

2026/06/10 Leave a comment

Mirrors CPC calls although sceptical that any government could resist business pressures for caregivers and LMIA Temporary Foreign Workers:

…IRCC is doing a better job at managing new arrivals, but it needs to do more to reduce the overall number of work permits. The temporary foreign worker program outside of agriculture should be wound down. It’s also time to take a closer look at the International Mobility Program. 

Immigration is a key driver of Canada’s prosperity, but more needs to be done to move away from the two-step immigration system of the last decade, and return to selecting the highest-skilled immigrants from abroad for permanent residency. Restoring balance has been too slow. The federal government shouldn’t pretend otherwise. 

Source: Ottawa’s enduring problem of a surge in temporary workers

Filed under Immigration Tagged with ,

ICC: Fixing Credential Barriers Could Add 16,000 Doctors and 27,000 Nurses to Canada’s Workforce

2026/06/10 Leave a comment

Useful report and analysis. Hard to see any substantial reason for not having quasi-automatic equivalency between the FPT regulatory bodies:

“…Key Findings

  • Nearly 640,000 immigrant degree-holders are overqualified, a figure that would fall to about 270,000 if immigrants were overqualified at the same rate as the Canadian-born.
  • Only 41 per cent of internationally trained physicians and 37 per cent of internationally trained nurses work in their fields, while 6.5 million Canadians lack a family doctor.
  • Closing the overqualification gap could add roughly 16,000 doctors and 27,000 nurses and related professionals to Canada’s workforce.
  • FQR and related employment barriers cost Canada up to $50 billion annually and weigh down its already weak labour productivity.
  • FQR discrimination has been well-known since at least 1966, yet overqualification has risen, not fallen, despite decades of advocacy efforts.

The report traces the problem to a fragmented system of roughly 500 self-governing licensing bodies, many of which apply discriminatory practices against immigrants with provinces’ tacit permission. The most notable is the “Canadian work experience” requirement that mandates Canadian experience as a condition of licensure but also requires candidates to have a license to gain Canadian experience. This catch-22, deemed discriminatory by the Ontario Human Rights Commission in 2013, is still common. Past reforms have relied on voluntary cooperation and patchy enforcement, leaving the underlying problem intact.

The report calls for a federal Fair Licensing Act, modelled on the Canada Health Act, to drive change across all professions and provinces at once. It recommends:

  • A Fair Licensing Act that rewards provinces removing barriers and withholds funds from those that do not.
  • An accompanying Canada Fair Licensing Transfer tied to measurable performance indicators.
  • Additional levers, such as Provincial Nominee Program allocations, to reinforce compliance.
  • A dedicated Division within Employment and Social Development Canada producing an annual report to Parliament.
  • A Fair Licensing Act Secretariat within the Forum of Labour Market Ministers to coordinate federal-provincial cooperation.

“The Canada Health Act shows the federal government can set national standards on matters of provincial jurisdiction and reward those who meet them. A Fair Licensing Act could do the same for licensing, in every profession and every province at once,” added Bernhard. “Canada doesn’t need marginal improvements. We need a big change across the board, to put immigrant talent to work addressing the needs they were brought here to address.”

Source: Fixing Credential Barriers Could Add 16,000 Doctors and 27,000 Nurses to Canada’s Workforce

Filed under Immigration Tagged with , , ,

Globe editorial: How to punch a hole in the sails of Alberta separatists [immigration]

2026/06/09 Leave a comment

Some suggestions:

…The same is true for immigration. Negotiating a deal like Quebec’s, under which the province largely has control over who can settle there, would be a complicated and lengthy process. But Mr. Carney could quickly agree to other fixes while working toward longer term symmetry between Quebec and Alberta.

Those fixes could include increasing the provinces’ allocation under the provincial nominee program and letting them have a greater say over what kind of workers they need. Ottawa could also agree to provide the provinces with funding to house and care for temporary workers – a beef that isn’t limited to Alberta….

Source: How to punch a hole in the sails of Alberta separatists

Filed under Immigration Tagged with , ,

Keller: Canada’s economy used to look better than it really was. Now, it’s the opposite

2026/06/09 Leave a comment

Good take:

…The conclusion to draw is not that immigration makes Canada poorer, or that a shrinking population is the route to prosperity. As for the Trudeau government’s belief that rapid population growth would automatically make us all richer, that’s not true either.

What happened prior to 2025 is that immigration outpaced business investment. The number of workers grew faster than the number of tools. That delivered more production, but declining productivity. Our immigration system also became focused on recruiting low-wage workers – another route for suppressing GDP per capita.

The Canadian economic pie is now 7.3 per cent larger than it was at the start of 2022. But per capita GDP, the average slice of pie, still has not recovered to where it was four years ago. 

Source: Canada’s economy used to look better than it really was. Now, it’s the opposite

Filed under Immigration Tagged with ,

Schwartz: Once a global rallying cry, Canada’s institutions have abandoned the consensus of ‘Je suis Charlie’

2026/06/09 Leave a comment

Federal government can only do so much and institutions need also to play a role:

…The recent federal announcement for a more focused national response is welcome. But the deeper test is whether Canada’s institutions will heed the call. 

The standard should be simple and universal: no political cause or ideological grievance earns an exemption from the basic rules of democratic life.

If intimidation is wrong when directed at one group, it is wrong when directed at another. If threats are unacceptable in one political context, they are unacceptable in all of them.

This is where leadership matters.

University presidents should speak plainly when students are targeted. Political leaders should stop calibrating outrage according to constituency or online reaction. Editors should give ideologically motivated violence the prominence it deserves….

Gary Schwartz is a general partner for North Exit Ventures and the CEO of the Canadian Lenders Association. He lives in Toronto.

Source: Once a global rallying cry, Canada’s institutions have abandoned the consensus of ‘Je suis Charlie’

Filed under Antisemitism, Multiculturalism Tagged with

Filipino immigrants face employment barriers that lead to widespread overqualification

2026/06/09 Leave a comment

Of note:

Employment overqualification among Filipino immigrants in Canada is largely the result of unrecognized foreign credentials, exhausting licensing processes and financial barriers, a settlement organization says. 

Rizza Solis, executive director of Kababayan Multicultural Centre, said newcomer Filipinos prioritize immediate employment, even if it means accepting roles for which they are overqualified. Kababayan is a settlement organization that provides support to Filipinos and other immigrants who are just establishing their lives in Canada.

A bachelor’s degree or higher earned in the Philippines does not necessarily equate to the same credentials in Canada, said Ms. Solis. Filipinos who did not graduate from top schools may need further study before they are deemed to have the same level of education as those who have Canadian degrees.

Job overqualification rates among newcomers with postsecondary degrees from the Philippines stood at 60.4 per cent for men and 63.5 per cent for women, according to 2021 Statistics Canada data released this month….

Source: Filipino immigrants face employment barriers that lead to widespread overqualification

Filed under Multiculturalism

Canadian Immigration Tracker: First Quarter 2026

2026/06/09 Leave a comment

Delayed due to grandparent duty!

Covid-19 Immigration Effects – Key Slides – 2026 First QuarterDownload

Filed under Citizenship, Immigration, Multiculturalism Tagged with

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