Date: 20010125
Docket: IMM-688-00
BETWEEN:
GRACIA CAGANDAHAN
Applicant
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
LUTFY A.C.J.
[1] The applicant Gracia Cagandahan seeks judicial review of the visa officer's refusal of her application for permanent residence under the category of self-employed person.
[2] Ms. Cagandahan, a citizen of the Philippines, has been self-employed in the United Arab Emirates since 1991 as a nutritionist, dietician and physical therapist for mothers of newly born children. She describes her functions in these terms:
| For mothers who just delivered with their newly born babies they are under my care and supervision for nine (9) consecutive days. Right after discharged from the hospital, they call me for home service therapy. I started caring first for the babies by giving them bittergourd extract to cleanse their stomach. After that I have to do the usual nursing care by cleaning their mouth and giving them honey to settle them down. Quick bath follows, then massage them from head to toe, and if I noticed something I immediately inform the mother in order to insure the baby's proper care. When the baby is settled the mother follows. For the mother, I have to prepare some leaves like guava, lemon, mango and eucalyptus leaves. These leaves when boiled helped the mothers calm their nerves after steaming, but before steaming I have to massage their whole body to relieve the aches and pains they suffer after the delivery. Some mothers go through labour for several hours and their bodies so worn out after the delivery that's why they suffer the so-called post-partum depression. In my part, I assure the mother care they need for. |
Her net income between 1995-1998 increased from $9,000 to $15,000. Her clientele included over 200 families during this four-year period.
[3] In her letter of decision, the visa officer concluded that the applicant's experience was not commensurate with that required to establish a business in Canada:
| You have been advised by a former client now residing in Vancouver that there is a market for this type of business. However, you have taken no concrete steps to determine the feasibility of establishing this type of business in Canada, or the costs involved. Neither have you investigated whether there are any business or professional registration requirements to be met prior to establishing the business and marketing the services you will offer. |
| After a review of all the information provided by you on your application and at your interview, I have determined that your experience is not commensurate with that required to set up a business in Canada. This, combined with your lack of knowledge of the Canadian business climate in general, and your market sector in particular will have a negative impact on your ability to establish or purchase a business in Canada. |
[4] After a careful review of the record, I am satisfied that the applicant has not demonstrated any reviewable error in the visa officer's decision.
[5] The visa officer described the applicant's work "as combining aspects of a substitute mother and midwife". The use of the word "midwife", even if I were satisfied it was inaccurate, is not such a serious mischaracterization to warrant this Court's intervention.
[6] Similarly, it was open to the visa officer to question the extent of the concrete steps taken by the applicant to explore the feasibility of her gainfully offering her services in Canada, particularly where her principal source of information was one of her former clients now living in this country.
[7] Finally, there was no duty on this visa officer to issue a visitor's permit to the applicant for an exploratory visit to Canada. In November 1999, another officer in Abu Dhabi refused the applicant's request for a visitor visa because he was not satisfied that she had sufficient ties which would assure her return to her country of residence. There was no judicial challenge against this decision.
[8] In summary, the visa officer was not satisfied that the applicant could successfully establish a business in Canada whose activities would be similar to her self-employment in the United Arab Emirates. In particular, the visa officer questioned the sufficiency of the applicant's efforts to determine the feasibility of establishing a business offering these nutritional and physical therapy services to mothers of newly born children in Canada. The applicant has not established, in my view, any reviewable error in the visa officer's refusal to grant the application for permanent residence.
[9] Accordingly, this application for judicial review will be dismissed. Neither party suggested the certification of a serious question.
"Allan Lutfy"
A.C.J.
Toronto, Ontario
January 25, 2001
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
| COURT NO: IMM-688-00 |
| STYLE OF CAUSE: GRACIA CAGANDAHAN |
Applicant
| - and - |
| THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION |
Respondent
| DATE OF HEARING: TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2001 |
| PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO |
| REASONS FOR ORDER BY LUTFY A.C.J. |
| DATED: THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2001 |
| APPEARANCES BY: Mr. David Bruner |
For the Applicant
| Mr. Ian Hicks |
For the Respondent
SOLICITORS OF RECORD: Hoppe Bruner
Barristers and Solicitors
25 Isabella Street
Toronto, Ontario
M4Y 1M7
For the Applicant
Morris Rosenberg
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
For the Respondent
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Date: 20010125
Docket: IMM-688-00
BETWEEN:
| GRACIA CAGANDAHAN |
Applicant
| - and - |
| THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND |
| IMMIGRATION |
Respondent
| REASONS FOR ORDER |