Joseph Granton

Joseph Granton

Called to the Bar of Ontario, 2017

I'm an immigration and administrative law litigator based in Toronto. My career has spanned front-line enforcement as a Border Services Officer, private practice, tribunal adjudication, and government litigation, with a consistent focus on Canadian immigration and refugee law. If there's a room in the Canadian immigration sphere, odds are that I've been in it. Recently, outside of that work, I have a developing interest in legal technology, presently focused on learning Python to assist in the application of aritificial intelligence in immigration litigation.

Background

  1. Litigation Counsel Department of Justice Canada 2023 – Present

    Represent the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness before the Federal Court in a high-volume litigation practice. Focus on judicial review of immigration decisions spanning inadmissibility, detention, and removal, as well as refugee protection determinations, Pre-Removal Risk Assessments, and temporary residence refusals.

  2. Member, Immigration Division Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2021 – 2023

    Presided as an administrative decision maker in a quasi-judicial tribunal specializing in immigration detention and admissibility matters, issuing reasoned decisions consistent with the principles of administrative law and procedural fairness.

  3. Associate Lawyer, Litigation Mamann, Sandaluk & Kingwell LLP 2018 – 2021

    Maintained a busy practice focused on complex admissibility issues — serious criminality, security, organized criminality, and misrepresentation — with advocacy before all four divisions of the Immigration and Refugee Board and judicial review litigation before the Federal Court.

  4. Associate Lawyer Sobirovs Law 2017 – 2018

    Advised on business immigration matters and drafted submissions on humanitarian and compassionate relief, temporary resident permits, permanent resident renewals, citizenship matters, and rehabilitation applications.

  5. Student-at-Law Green and Spiegel LLP 2016 – 2017

    Drafted submissions on visas, work permits, and humanitarian and compassionate applications, including matters involving danger opinions and complex admissibility, along with affidavits and facta for Federal Court proceedings.

  6. Border Services Officer Canada Border Services Agency 2008 – 2013

    Issued more than 650 written administrative decisions and recommendations as the Minister's Delegate, including determinations on refugee claim eligibility, the Safe Third Country Agreement, and admissibility.

Education

J.D., Osgoode Hall Law School, York University — 2016
Top 5% of class. Bereskin & Parr Prize in Copyright Law, Nathan Strauss, Q.C. Essay Prize in Legal Ethics, Goodmans LLP Award.

Honours B.H.Sc., University of Western Ontario — 2007