The young couple sat across from Benjamin Grubner with desperation in their eyes. They had just tried to enter Canada with their twin babies, not fully understanding that without proper status documents, their children would be refused entry.

"They were given the option of leaving their children with grandparents outside of Canada while they figured out the immigration papers," Grubner recalls. "These were very young babies. They needed their parents."

What followed was a frantic weeks-long scramble, with the family splitting up and taking turns traveling back and forth across the border, newborns in tow, while Grubner and his team worked to reunite them. It's the kind of case that doesn't make headlines but captures everything at stake in immigration law: the raw human cost of bureaucratic complexity, and the profound difference a skilled advocate can make.

When the family finally received their documents and walked into Grubner's office together for the first time, something rare happened in the world of legal practice.

"They came in person to the office, which is rare nowadays," he says. "They were extremely thankful. This was a huge source of stress for them as new parents, new immigrants to Canada. It gave me a sense of relief and gratification to be able to assist them in family reunification."

From Family History to Legal Practice: Benjamin Grubner's Path to Immigration Law

Immigration has always been personal for Grubner. His grandparents immigrated to Canada, weaving the experience of starting fresh in a new country into the fabric of his family story.

"That background made me curious about specifics in immigration law and really drew me towards the idea of being able to help people's ability to start a new life," he explains. "Whether it's through work, living, whether temporary, permanent, in another country."

Today, Grubner is a dually licensed immigration attorney practicing in both Ontario, Canada and New York State. He works at Devry Smith Frank, a full-service law firm with approximately 60 lawyers, working with a small but specialized immigration team handling everything from corporate global mobility to citizenship claims.

The path to his current practice took an unexpected turn during the pandemic when Grubner temporarily relocates to the USA to navigate the challenges posed by border closures travel restrictions and quarantine requirements.

"Let's talk about real life implications of immigration," he says with a knowing laugh. While living in the United States waiting for the borders to reopen, he decided to take the New York bar exam. "I figured this would be really complementary to my practice if I can really practice cross-border U.S. and Canadian immigration."

That decision has proven prescient. His practice now splits roughly 80% Canadian and 20% U.S. immigration, with about half of his work serving corporate clients and half serving individuals. The corporate and personal sides frequently overlap: a work permit for an employee often evolves into permanent residence planning, which then extends to family members who want to join them.

The Current Crisis in Canadian Immigration: Processing Times, Program Pauses, and Policy Uncertainty

Grubner doesn't sugarcoat the challenges facing immigrants to Canada right now. The country is caught in what he describes as a fundamental tension between its reliance on temporary residents and the lack of clear pathways to permanent status.

"One of the current debates really with Canadian immigration policy is how to balance Canada's reliance on temporary residents, but also maintaining clear, predictable pathways to permanent residents," he explains. "Temporary residents in Canada include international students, foreign workers. These individuals are contributing to the economy and are here for a number of years typically. But long term permanent residence pathways are by no means guaranteed."

The housing shortage has complicated matters further. Public pressure to address the rising cost of living has been widely seen as a significant contributing factor in Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) drastically reduced targets for both temporary workers and permanent residents over the past few years.

The startup visa program exemplifies the dysfunction. What began as an innovative pathway for entrepreneurs looking to establish companies in Canada has essentially collapsed under its own weight.

"Processing times just continued increasing to the point where the last update in the end of 2025, processing times for permanent residents under this pathway was over 10 years," Grubner says. "It's unrealistic to expect these startups to be waiting 10 years to have their paperwork finalized."

The program is now paused, and IRCC has announced plans to introduce a replacement in 2026. What that will look like remains unknown.

The Canada-U.S. Relationship: Tariffs, Trade Tensions, and the Future of Cross-Border Movement

The political and economic friction between Canada and the United States is having direct, measurable effects on Grubner's practice.

"I've personally been seeing a decrease in U.S. businesses looking to either set up or continue working with Canadians or opening enterprises or branches in Canada directly as a result of the landscape," he reports. "But also the tariffs. A lot of Canadian companies have picked up and moved to the U.S. or other countries just because there has been a strain on the relationship."

The numbers make the situation stark: tariffs of 20%, 30%, 40%, even 50% on certain goods have made cross-border business economically unviable for many companies.

The CUSMA free trade agreement is scheduled for renegotiation, and there's widespread concern about what happens if it's significantly altered or scrapped entirely.

"There is a lot of concern of if this agreement is scrapped, what that will look like for trade between Canada and the U.S.," Grubner says. "I think a lot of people are expecting the worst."

The TN visa, one of the most popular pathways for professionals moving between Canada and the United States, remains in place for now. But its future is tied to the trade agreement, creating uncertainty for the many workers and employers who depend on it.

Ironically, while many believe that political tensions might be expected to drive Americans toward Canada, the programs that would accommodate them are limited.

"We've seen an uptick. A lot of people in the U.S. either for political reasons or other reasons, are looking to relocate," Grubner confirms. "Unfortunately, some of the programs that were available in the past and primarily geared towards U.S. applicants, including H1B applicants, are either closed or paused."

One Shot: Why Immigration Applications Must Be Perfect

The margin for error in immigration applications has evaporated, Grubner warns. Both Canadian and American authorities have become significantly more stringent in how they evaluate and process submissions.

"Nowadays you really have one shot at an application. If something's incomplete, missing, insufficient, IRCC is generally not going to come back and give you a second chance. Those days are over."

The rules themselves haven't necessarily changed. What's changed is how strictly they're being applied.

"Immigration officials and border agents are applying these rules that, you know, in the past they may have looked the other way or given second chances," Grubner says. "We're not seeing that anymore."

For practitioners, this reinforces the need for meticulous review at every step. For applicants, it means the stakes of working with experienced counsel have never been higher.

AI in Immigration: When Machines Make Life-Changing Decisions

Perhaps nothing illustrates the transformation of immigration law more than the fact that IRCC is now using artificial intelligence to process, screen, and decide applications.

"An officer does oversee and rubber stamp it at the end, but many applications are run through AI and AI essentially makes a decision on whether to accept or refuse the application," Grubner explains.

In theory, AI processing should reduce the massive backlogs that have plagued the system. In practice, the results have been mixed.

"We have yet to see a decrease in processing times," he notes. "We're seeing mistakes in terms of decisions and a lot of appeals, judicial reviews because of that."

For immigration attorneys, the rise of AI creates both opportunity and existential questions. Grubner has begun integrating AI into his own practice for intake, pathway assessment, and routine administrative tasks.

"I do think it's important for us to keep on top of the changes, certainly integrate AI into our day-to-day practices," he says. "You have to adapt or be phased out."

But he's thoughtful about the limits of automation, particularly when human advocacy matters most.

"If AI takes the place of the IRCC representative, for example, and there really is no more human interaction, what will that look like in terms of advocating for a client?" he wonders. "If there's really nobody to speak to, nobody to answer to, how will that really impact our job as practitioners and advocates?"

Advice for Entrepreneurs and Global Talent: Stay Informed, Stay Flexible

For highly ambitious individuals looking to build companies or careers in North America, Grubner's primary advice is deceptively simple: pay attention.

"The landscape changes very frequently," he emphasizes. "Keep up to date on IRCC announcements and updates because I expect we will see changes."

He points to the direct pathways to permanent residence that exist for foreign nationals with in-demand skills. Express Entry programs can select and invite applicants based on existing work experience outside of Canada. Provincial nominee programs offer additional routes with province-specific requirements and priorities.

"There are targeted pathways specifically for individuals with the skill set that Canada or specific provinces are looking for," he notes.

The key is understanding that what worked six months ago may not work today, and what's closed now may reopen in a different form.

Why Immigration Law Still Matters: The Human Element

Despite the complexity, the political headwinds, and the uncertainty, Grubner remains energized by the work.

"The work we do has a real tangible human impact," he says. "Decisions in immigration can affect people's work, their future, where they live. Stakes are incredibly high and I find it really rewarding that I'm able to advise and help these clients, often simplifying these complex processes."

He pauses, reflecting on what keeps him practicing day after day.

"The results I know are directly affecting someone's life trajectory."

It's a dynamic field that demands constant learning. Rules change. Regulations shift. New programs emerge while others disappear. For Grubner, that's part of the appeal.

"It forces you to stay sharp and constantly evolve your skill set and knowledge so that you can properly advise and help clients."

But when he thinks about what drew him to this work and what keeps him in it, he comes back to that young family with the twins. The weeks of stress and uncertainty. The moment when the documents finally came through. The in-person visit to his office to say thank you.

"Family reunification is one of the really important aspects of immigration law," he reflects, "especially when I see these young families starting out new lives in Canada or the U.S. That really was a source of inspiration for me, and hopefully it can be to other people as well."