SUPREME COURT GRANTS LEAVE ON SPONSORSHIP UNDERTAKINGS CASE

The Supreme Cour of Canada has granted leave to hear the case recently decided by the Ontario Court of Appeal where sponsors whose marriages broke down were granted relief of their obligations to repay the province of Ontario for social assistance costs received by their sponsored relatives. Sponsors must sign an undertaking of assistance for three years and are responsible for maintenance of their sponsored relatives for that period. The Ontario Court of Appeal recently ruled that the province must consider the individual circumstances of the sponsors before it can demand repayment of welfare costs. At the time of that decision I argued that it appeared to be wrong in law, as the undertaking is a contractual obligation freely entered upon by the sponsors with the Federal government, and that the decision granted relief on an unequal basis, where those who could not afford to repay could evade their contractual obligations, but those who had income would still be pursued by the province for repayment. That seems wrong as a matter of contract law, and the the fact that the Supreme Court will hear the case does not bode well for the sponsors. I believe that thee is a good chance that the Supreme Court will reverse the Ontario Court of Appeal decision. A contract is a contract is a contract....



Supreme Court to decide immigrant sponsor costs


Supreme Court to decide immigrant sponsor costs


By Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service
April 22, 2010

The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to settle a case involving eight immigrants who are on the hook for repayment of social assistance benefits collected by relatives they sponsored to come to Canada.
Photograph by: Phil Carpenter, Montreal Gazette
OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to settle a case involving eight immigrants who are on the hook for repayment of social assistance benefits collected by relatives they sponsored to come to Canada.
Without giving reasons, the court granted leave to appeal Thursday to the Ontario government, which argues that sponsorship debts must be repaid and that there is no leeway for forgiveness, regardless of the circumstances.
Millions of dollars are at stake in the case, which could affect thousands of sponsored immigrants who live off the state after their arrival in Canada, sometimes without the knowledge of their sponsors.
Sponsors are financially responsible for their family members for three years after they arrive in Canada, following eight-year-old changes to immigration laws. Before 2002, a sponsor was liable for 10 years.
Immigrants Pritpal Singh Mavi, Maria Cristina Jatuff De Altamirano, Nedzad Dzihic, Rania El Murr, Oleg Grankin, Raymond Hince, Homa Vossoughi and Hamid Zebaradami had won their case last year in the Ontario Court of Appeal.
They sought relief on grounds that there should be discretion when their marriages collapse and they loose track of the sponsored family member, or when the sponsors fall ill or lose their jobs and are unable to pay.
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act states that the debt "may be recovered" by the federal or provincial government.
At issue is whether the act should be interpreted to mean that there is discretion not to collect, and whether the government is required to take a sponsor's personal and financial circumstances into account.