ICYMI: Ontario judge sets aside pharmacist’s Canadian citizenship revocation over alleged fraud

Of note, justice delayed is justice denied. Justice Go has an activist background, previously she was director of the Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic:

An immigrant pharmacist whose Canadian citizenship was revoked in November 2024, a decade after officials first suspected she hadn’t met the requirements, has seen that decision set aside and revocation proceedings permanently stayed by a Federal Court judge who criticized officials for waiting so long to act on the allegations of “false representation, fraud, or knowingly concealing material circumstances.”

Nermine Magdi Ibrahim, who became a Canadian permanent resident in July 2003 and subsequently a Canadian citizen in October 2007, applied to the Federal Court for a judicial review of the revocation proceedings.

Immigration officials were not “concerned about the impact of the delay on (Ibrahim’s) ability to defend her case, nor (her) well-established ties to Canada as reasons for granting her special relief,” Justice Avvy Yao-Yao Go wrote in a recent decision out of Toronto.

“In short, the unfairness with which the applicant was treated, coupled with the unfairness in the proceedings caused by the delay, calls into question the integrity of the justice system if the court allows the proceedings to continue under these circumstances.”

In her citizenship application, Ibrahim “declared 166 days of absences from Canada during her relevant residency period from July 9, 2003 to February 18, 2007,” Go said.

Ibrahim’s “citizenship was initially flagged for investigation in 2014, and the investigation was completed in that same year,” said the judge.

The Canada Border Services Agency had “received a tip about companies operating citizenship fraud schemes with (Ibrahim’s) husband’s name appearing as one of the clients who used these services to simulate his residence in Canada,” said the Federal Court decision, dated Dec. 19.

The CBSA referred this information to the immigration minister at the time for further investigation.

“During its investigation, the case management branch … found (Ibrahim’s) LinkedIn profile which suggested that she was continuously employed as a Medical Delegate with Nestlé Infant Nutrition in Kuwait from June 2002 to June 2009,” Go said.

“On July 23, 2014, an analyst of the Immigration Section at the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates verified her continuous employment with the employer.”

It wasn’t until 2023 when Canadian immigration authorities advised Ibrahim of the potential revocation proceedings and offered her an opportunity to respond.

They argued “that the delay was not unreasonable considering this case was part of a large-scale investigation involving 300 other individuals,” said the decision.

The judge wasn’t buying it: “Based on the record before me, I find that the minister has not provided any justification for the delay,” Go said.

To become a Canadian citizen, permanent residents need to have lived in have lived in Canada for three out of the last five years.

In September 2023, immigration officials wrote to Ibrahim indicating she “may have misrepresented herself during the citizenship process and that (she) may have failed to disclose some of her absences from Canada during the four years immediately before the date of her citizenship application,” said the decision.

She was given 30 days “to make written submissions regarding the length of time she spent in Canada before acquiring citizenship and her ties to Canada since becoming a citizen,” it said.

Ibrahim responded on Sept. 21, 2023, with a one-page letter requesting “more details about alleged absences and stated that she has integrated well into Canadian society as shown in her successfully becoming licensed as a pharmacist, being a partner of two pharmacies, and owning property,” said the decision

“She also argued that the revocation would result in severe hardship and added that all her points can be substantiated with supporting documents upon request.”

On May 9, 2024, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) notified Ibrahim it was revoking her citizenship.

“The notification letter cited (Ibrahim’s) LinkedIn profile listing her employment with Nestlé in Kuwait, the Canadian Embassy’s verification with Nestlé’s Human Resource Department of (her) continuous employment from July 2002 to June 2009, and (her) failure to disclose this information as basis for alleging that (she) may have obtained citizenship by misrepresentation.”

Ibrahim responded on July 4, 2024, indicating “that her LinkedIn Profile is not of a factual nature and does not include any leaves taken.”

She “also explained that she was pregnant with her daughter during the relevant period, and that Nestlé had a relatively flexible maternity leave policy that enabled her to stay in Canada for the duration of her pregnancy and throughout the breastfeeding period until her daughter was two years old.”

Ibrahim “noted it has been over 15 years since the relevant period has elapsed,” said the decision.

She “emphasized that it was not only a matter of intellectual recollection, but of documentary recollection.”

Ibrahim “noted the steps she undertook to obtain information from various institutions including the pharmaceutical company she worked for, her bank and her phone company, but was unable to produce records longer than seven years prior due to these institutions’ policy on record retention,” said the decision.

Ibrahim “submitted supporting documentation, including her daughter’s Ontario birth certificate, her Ontario and Manitoba pharmacist licences, document of prior property ownership, an Ontario Profile Report for the two pharmacies she is a partner in, copies of her driver’s licences containing a residential address in Ontario, as well as her and her daughter’s hospital cards containing the same address.”

Ibrahim also “provided copies of Nestlé’s policies regarding maternity and parental support from 2012 to 2019.”

She argued “that the evidentiary burden in revocation cases rests with the minister who asserts that there was a misrepresentation.”

Source: Ontario judge sets aside pharmacist’s Canadian citizenship revocation over alleged fraud