Yusra Siddiquee leads the Business Immigration and International Mobility Team in our Toronto office.
Ms. Siddiquee develops corporate immigration strategies and facilitates the temporary and permanent entry of senior executives and key personnel of Canadian and multinational corporations. Her practice is not limited to Canada, as she is experienced in facilitating visas and permits to global destinations. She assists clients in developing internal immigration compliance policies for frequent business travellers. She also assists companies in determining the human capital costs when bidding on international projects. As well, she provides extensive training to human resource professionals and in-house counsel on the implementation and execution of immigration policies and processes. From an employment law perspective, she advises clients on the employment and termination of foreign workers.
Ms. Siddiquee’s practice is focused on assisting clients in the engineering, telecommunications, information technology, health sciences and energy sectors.
Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Siddiquee managed the largest business immigration practice in Canada. She is fluent in English, French, Urdu and Hindi.
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Year of call
Ontario 1996
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Law school
LL.B., University of British Columbia, 1994
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Education
B.A.(Hons.), McGill University, 1991
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Selected client work
- Represented the Canadian and US offices of leading engineering companies to obtain entry clearances and work permit approvals to facilitate the execution of the Goreway, Portlands, and Thorold power plant projects
- Assisted several clients in transferring key employees to the United States to establish new offices as well as direct existing operations
- Obtained visas for large groups of Canadian and US employees on international engineering and mining projects in various countries including Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Mexico and South Africa
- Negotiated with three levels of government for the emergency entry of over 200 improperly documented foreign employees to Canada following a hurricane in the Cayman Islands
- Facilitated the temporary entry to Canada of entertainment professionals for television and movie productions, as well as concerts, including negotiating with unions to facilitate federal labour department consent
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Speaking engagements
- “‘Global Employees’ Where Immigration and Employment Law Collide,” Structuring Employment Agreements in International Relocations, Ontario Bar Association Institute 2011, Toronto, February 4, 2011.
- “Mastering Corporate Immigration Applications,” Canadian Institute, Toronto, June 2010.
- “In-Canada Immigration Categories & Processing Updates, and Emerging Trends,” Annual Immigration Conference, Canadian Bar Association, Halifax, May 2010.
- “The Immigration Implications to Tax Planning for Expatriate Workers,” International Wealth Transfer Practices Conference, International Bar Association, London, England, March 2010.
- “Current Trends in Canadian Immigration and Tips to Address Proposed Changes,” 4th Biennial Global Immigration Law Conference, International Bar Association, London, England, November 2009.
- “Business Visitor - the Do's and Dont's,” 3rd Biennial Global Immigration Law Conference, International Bar Association, London, England, November 2007.
- “Immigration Issues in Transnational Employment of Professionals,” AIJA Annual Conference, Toronto, August 2007.
- “Strategies to Maximize the Use of Work Permit Exemption Categories,” HRPAO Conference, Guelph, January 2007.
- “Business Immigration Issues for International Practitioners,” American Bar Association Conference, Miami, November 2006.
- “Managing Employment Across Borders,” Advanced Forum on Employment Law Conference, Canadian Institute, Toronto, October 2006.
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Rankings and recognitions
- Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, 2012: recommended in Immigration Law
- The International Who's Who of Corporate Immigration Lawyers, 2010-2012
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Memberships and activities
- Ontario Bar Association
- Citizenship and Immigration Section
- International Bar Association
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Related events
Join us as Yusra Siddiquee, Barry N. Segal, and Michael Horvat, provide a practical discussion on the key provisions and issues that should be considered when pre....
2011-06-09
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Related videos
Yusra Siddiquee, Partner in the Business Immigration and International Mobility group of Norton Rose OR LLP, highlights the key amendments to Canada's Temporary F....
2011-04-01
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Related publications
We are pleased to announce that there has been a positive change to Canadian immigration policies to benefit employees holding Intra-company Transfer work permits....
2012-01-11
Travellers from visa waiver countries must obtain pre-approval from the department of homeland security before entry.
2009-03-20
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Related news
Non-compliance of employers to these changes could result in a ban on hiring temporary foreign workers for two years, says Yusra Siddiquee in the Canadian Mining ....
2011-08-01
Yusra Siddiquee talks to Lexpert about Ottawa’s new immigration rules that went into effect in June..
2010-08-17