Family
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February 28, 2025
SCC rules Métis Nation’s pursuit of overlapping lawsuits against Saskatchewan not abuse of process
The Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed 9-0 that a legal challenge by the Métis Nation–Saskatchewan to provincial permits that allow a company to explore for uranium on land to which the Métis claim Aboriginal title in Saskatchewan is not an abuse of process and may go ahead, notwithstanding that the Métis have also launched other lawsuits involving similar issues against the province.
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February 28, 2025
What is the meaning of ‘spouse’? Federal Court of Appeal provides clarity
The definition of “spouse” for the purposes of s. 160 is clarified by the Federal Court of Appeal in Enns v. Canada, 2025 FCA 14.
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February 27, 2025
IRCC unveils Express Entry category draws for economic immigration, plans more in-Canada draws
Immigration Minister Marc Miller has announced the 2025 Express Entry categories, which include a new education category, with the aim of better aligning the selection of federal economic immigrants with Canada’s long-term labour shortages.
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February 27, 2025
Ottawa extends time for Ukrainians temporarily here under CUAET to apply for new open work permits
The federal government has announced that Ukrainians and their family members who fled Russia’s three-year-old full-scale illegal invasion of Ukraine, and who arrived in Canada under the temporary Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) by March 31, 2024, now have until March 31, 2026: to apply for a new open work permit valid for up to three years, to renew an existing work permit, or apply for a new study permit, “subject to standard fees.”
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February 27, 2025
Justice Minister quashes murder conviction, finds possible miscarriage of justice in decades-old case
Citing the emergence of new information, federal Justice Minister Arif Virani has ordered the retrial of Roy Allan Sobotiak, who was convicted in Edmonton 34 years ago of second-degree murder in the 1987 disappearance of Susan Kaminsky, whose body has never been found.
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February 26, 2025
SCC halts use of its ‘X’ account ‘for now,’ citing ‘strategic priorities and resource allocation’
In a move that has sparked controversy in Canada and beyond, the Supreme Court of Canada tells Law360 Canada that “for now” it will no longer use its official account on X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, a high-profile billionaire associate of U.S. President Donald Trump.
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February 26, 2025
Balancing testator autonomy and dependent rights in B.C. estate law
In British Columbia, the Wills, Estates and Succession Act addresses a broad range of issues critical to estate planning, administration, and beneficiary rights. One significant concern in the Act is the balancing the rights of a testator to dispose of their estate as they see fit with the rights of dependent spouses and children to a fair portion of their loved one’s estate. Achieving that balance requires consideration of numerous factors, including a testator’s capacity to make a valid will, any suspicious circumstances surrounding its creation, and a legal dependent’s right to financial support.
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February 26, 2025
Women & 2SLGBTQI+ applicants came out ahead as ‘highly recommended’ for federal benches in 2023-2024
Asserting his new administration is “ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity,” U.S. President Donald Trump recently issued controversial executive orders banning diversity, equity and inclusion policies and hiring at the federal level in America. But in Canada, the most recent demographic statistics on federal judicial appointments and the professional competence and character assessments made by the Trudeau government’s non-partisan judicial advisory committees (JACs) indicate that diversity has gone hand in hand with “merit.”
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February 26, 2025
A complicated analysis: Tracing excluded property into co-mingled family property
Family law cases often involve an exercise of tracing to determine the value of excluded property that has been co-mingled with divisible family property. In Mills v. O’Connor 2025 BCCA 34 the Court of Appeal tackles this issue, providing their analysis of the appropriate approach in the context of a difficult and complicated family property situation.
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February 21, 2025
Canada opens door to more people impacted by Sudan’s civil conflict
Canada will resettle more refugees affected by the internal conflict in Sudan over the next two years and increase the spaces available under the family-based permanent residence pathway, the minority Liberal government says.