Campbell Cohen

I have interviewed David Cohen who works at Campbell Cohen and has been an attorney for over 25 years. He occupies himself with immigrants and was one of the first lawyers to offer a full range of Canadian immigration services and has consulted immigration applicants and foreign workers over the internet. I had asked him what had motivated him or had given him the idea to come up with such a system over the internet at which he explained that he used to travel to Hong Kong or Korea, since most of the people that wanted to immigrate lived there, 6 times a year. He figured that if he didn’t want to travel to Asia all the time the website, which was built in 1995, would be a good medium to communicate with people wanting to come to Canada. The average amount of people that visit/use the website are about 30 000. The site provides an assessment form that people complete to see if they qualify.
He and his staff provide a variety of programs. For people who want to immigrate to Canada, they assess their qualifications. Because there are more than 60 programs, for instance family sponsorship, economic programs, etc., the applicants must be assessed against all other immigration programs and see which they qualify for. Their applications are then gathered, then the medical exam and security checks are coordinated, and once everything is in order, the applications are submitted and all Mr. Cohen and his firm can do is be there to support the applicants while they wait for their visa. This process usually takes about 18-19 months to complete. Once the applicants get their visa and immigrate, they set up a separate website called the “Loon Lounge” (www.loonlounge.org) which is a community of people thinking of coming to Canada, or born in Canada communicating with each other and finding someone who will assist them and help them settle in Canada by giving them jobs, etc.
Mr. Cohen had also helped individuals migrate from regions that have been hit by earthquakes or by the Asian Tsunami, which had also affected the people in Indonesia. The process of immigration from there to Canada is slightly different. They do pro-bono work on an ongoing basis to assist the people from those areas. Usually when there is a disaster of some nature, their applications are processed ahead of other applications.
Finally, I asked about the programs that Campbell Cohen offers to newcomers/foreigners and how that benefits them. There are plenty of programs available for those that are new in Canada such as getting help with their English and French skills. One service is for people to have education credentials recognized in Canada. For instance, if you were a chemical engineer in Russia and wanted to continue doing that job in Manitoba, what would you have to do? Manitoba would have places for you to go and get help with that. Another example would be that there are job placements. If you are new in Canada, you get matched up with an employer, work for them for a period of time, if you are a good worker the employer might decide to keep you and you would have a permanent job. It can be looked at as sort of an internship.