Luliang v. Canada ( Minister of Citizenship and Immigration )
IMM-6462-98
Pelletier J.
20/9/99
15 pp.
Application for judicial review of visa officer's (VO) decision not to process applicant's application on basis of occupation as newspaper editor in People's Republic of China on ground applicant did not have necessary training, namely degree in English, French or journalism-Assessed applicant on basis of employment in Canada as editorial assistant and arrived at 57 units, well short of 70 units required for issuance of visa-Applicant submitting VO has added occupational qualifications not required by National Occupational Classification (NOC) or has misconstrued requirements of NOC-Application dismissed-Crux of case VO's refusal to treat applicant's Bachelor of Arts from Tianjin Foreign Languages Institute as satisfying educational requirement specified by NOC for position of editor-Room for interpretation in considering what meant by "degree in English"-If function of VO to implement policy imbedded in Schedule I, then screening should be done with view to accurately reflecting employment potential of candidates-This suggests assessment of qualifications should reflect expectations of Canadian employer, acting reasonably and in good faith-In this case, Canadian publisher seeking to hire editor would require person whose command of English made him/her capable of maintaining high standards of English usage-To extent employer relied upon academic credentials, credentials should reflect study of English at level offering some reason to believe significant proficiency in language has been achieved-Such employer would not accept applicant's degree as equivalent of liberal arts degree in English since applicant's degree English as second language-While there are limits to VO's ability to make judgments of this nature, it does not mean that where, as here, reasonable judgment can be made by VO, it should not be made-No fault found with VO's determination-Immigration Regulations, 1978, SOR/78-172, Schedule.