Established in 1990, the Intensive Program in Immigration and Refugee Law was the first program of its kind in a Canadian law school.

The program exposes students to a challenging series of clinical placements, hands-on simulations, seminars and supervised research work that reflect on contemporary issues of international migration. The program’s objective is to assist students to critically assess the underlying tenets of this rapidly evolving body of public law, and the roles that lawyers play in the design and implementation of immigration and refugee law.

The Program consists of 3 key modules: advanced immigration law, advanced refugee law and an external placement. 

The Program begins with a week-long seminar introducing the major themes, history and international context of refugee and immigration law followed by sessions in advanced immigration and refugee law. The first two modules, Advanced Immigration Law and Advanced Refugee Law, each consist of two weeks of seminars that consider specialized topics in domestic and international law. 

The third module is a 6-week external placement. The external placements are a major component of the Program. Students are placed with mentors in advocacy, institutional and adjudicative settings. The goal of the placements is to advance the student’s understanding of immigration and refugee law from the perspective of advocates, policy officials and decision-makers and to allow students to apply the knowledge they have gained in the areas of immigration and refugee law. Some of the past and current placements include the Federal Court of Canada, the UNHCR, the Immigration and Refugee Board, Green and Speigel and others.

Following the external placement, students return for the concluding weeks of the Program. The students are given an opportunity to share and discuss their placement experiences and to complete a research paper on a chosen topic of immigration or refugee law. 

Requirements:
This 15-credit program is available to 20 students. A letter grade is given for each module. The prerequisites for the program are Immigration Law and Refugee Law. Administrative Law is recommended but not required.