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Childhood Arrivals Support and Advocacy (CASA) Program

CASA serves young people who were brought to Canada as children and yet are living in Ontario without immigration status. CASA provides outreach, legal representation, and trusted intermediary supports to ensure these “undocumented” young people can access the knowledge, resources, and legal supports they need to take agency of their futures and live safe, secure, chosen lives.

Young people living without immigration status in Ontario can face significant uncertainty and insecurity. Many people in this situation were brought to Canada when they were very young, and consequently they have little connection to their country of origin. Many are unaware of their lack of status, or its consequences, until they are late teenagers or high school graduates. Complex and overlapping issues of marginalization, including a lack of financial resources, difficulties accessing education, healthcare, housing, and employment, social isolation, and fear of detention or deportation often prevent CASA’s clients from getting the advice and help they need. 

Unlike the US, where ‘Dreamers’ have legislative protections, the situation for their counterparts in Canada is considerably less well known, understood or supported. Canada has no program, or statutory or other formal response to promote a legal and stabilizing resolution to these young people’s situation.

Founded in 2016 in a voluntary capacity by Sarah Pole, investment from the Law Foundation of Ontario Responsive Grant enabled CASA to integrate into JFCY in February 2020, with Sarah as Program Director. CASA provides summary advice, referrals for certificates and private bar lawyers, legal representation from JFCY lawyers, and systems navigation for young people without status up to the age of 25.

CASA also facilitates legal education workshops with young people both in and out of classrooms, as well as with persons advocating on behalf or working with young people (for example teachers, guidance counsellors, principals, youth program leaders, and shelter workers). If you would like to book a workshop, please click here and fill out our form. For more information on our workshops, please view our one-pager. 

CASA enables JFCY to dedicate time and expertise to ensuring young people – who rarely have agency in the decision to come to Canada – access to the supports they need to live safe, secure, chosen lives. CASA also enables us to quantify and categorize the complex legal needs these young people have. This data shapes our own advocacy and law reform initiatives, and helps amplify migrant and child rights advocacy efforts broadly.

CASA is a timely expansion of JFCY’s existing services. The clinic has always been involved in immigration and refugee law issues and their impacts on children and young people, including providing direct legal representation, test case litigation, and law reform work, including for those who have been involved in the child protection system; involvement in committees and research projects looking at the immigration detention of children; and the development of a system of Designated Representatives for child refugee applicants.

For legal information on Immigration and Refugee law, visit our Your Legal Rights page.

For more information about CASA, to access our services, or book a CASA workshop, please contact us.

To sign up for our mailing list, please click here and fill out our form. 

Comic for introducing CASA to young people:

Media:

CASA is supported by funding from:

The Law Foundation of Ontario
https://lawfoundation.on.ca/
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