Warren L. Creates

Head of Immigration Law Group

Direct Line: 613.566.2839

Email: wcreates@perlaw.ca

 As head of the Immigration Law Group at Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall, Warren represents individuals, families and corporations in all aspects of immigration and emigration. Canadian immigration laws, including CUSMA, are his specialty. His services include complete representation and arrangement of all documentation for work permits and permanent resident status, including skilled workers, business immigration programs, provincial nominee programs, and representation for individuals in all matters pertaining to citizenship applications and refugee claims. Warren provides direction through the labyrinthine system of immigration laws and policy, ensuring his clients can get where they need to go.

Neither families nor businesses can wait while red tape is untangled. When it comes to moving people across borders,Warren knows where to cut through it.

 As an immigration leader, Warren is highly regarded as a writer and educator in immigration law. He is one of very few practitioners certified by the Law Society of Ontario in the three combined fields of Immigration, Citizenship and Refugee Law. He is a former Government of Canada immigration lawyer and is frequently sought by all media in regard to his expertise. He is rated by his peers as one of the top immigration lawyers in Canada. He has numerous publications to his credit including contributing author to one of the most significant casebooks of its kind, Immigration and Refugee Law: Cases, Materials and Commentary (Carasco et al, 2007).

Industry Recognition:

• Best Lawyers in Canada (peer rated) 2012 – Present in Immigration Law

Credentials/Awards:

• Certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a Specialist in Citizenship and Immigration Law (Immigration + Refugee Protection), 2006 to present
• Admitted to the Ontario Bar, 1986   
• St. Joe’s Award for Community Service and Philanthropy, November 2016
• Gordon F. Henderson Award for Community Service, March, 2013       
• The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, 2013

• • The Canadian Immigration Historical Society
  • American Chamber of Commerce in Canada
  • Amnesty International
  • Canadian Bar Association / Ontario Bar Association
  • County of Carleton Law Association
  • Canadian Club

Professional Activities

• Former Canadian Government Immigration Lawyer: Department of Justice LAI (Legal Advisor to the Immigration and Refugee Board)   
• Has acted as counsel to the Governments of Canada, China, Denmark, South Korea, and Sri Lanka      
• Founder and President, The Can-Go Afar Foundation (www.cangoafar.ca)  
• Former Chair, Immigration Bar Committee, Ottawa Law Association       
• Frequent expert witness, Parliament of Canada, House of Commons Standing Committee on Immigration     
• Former Committee Member and Practitioner’s Chair, Immigration and Refugee Board/Bar Consultative Committee        
• Committee Member, Legal Aid Ontario Refugee Services Delivery Reform (2013-2014) 
• Member, Team Ottawa Mission to China, led by Ottawa City Mayor (2013)      
• Chair, Canadian Bar Association, Legal Aid Liaison Committee (2011-2019)      
• Member, Trade Delegation to Asia led by the Mayor of Ottawa (1995)       
• Founder and Executive Member, Ottawa Dragon Boat Race Festival (1992-present)
• Consultant and Adviser on Equality Rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Solicitor General of Canada, 1986

Speaking/Lectures 

• Frequent guest Lecturer, University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law (1991-present)   
• Frequent presenter at legal and business conferences throughout the world including:
  • Invited participant, Virtual Conference: ‘Advancing the Interests of the Afar Nation’, January 2022
  • Tech Day on Parliament Hill, Panelist on migration/immigration, March 2020.
  • Presenter and mentor at Ottawa Board of Trade’s Trade Accelerator Program (TAP), Ottawa, Ontario, November 2019.
  • Presenter and author at the Canadian Bar Association annual conference, “Last Resort: Navigating LMIA Streams,” Winnipeg, Ontario, May 2019
  • Speaker at Expand to the U.S. Workshop in Ogdensburg, N.Y., May 2019
  • Invited speaker by U.S. Department of Commerce, cross-border movement of people, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Niagara Falls, 2015 & 2017. 
  • Presenter at Uppsala, Sweden, December 2016
  • Invited participant and stakeholder, Ontario and Ottawa Economic Leadership Summit (December 2014)      
  • Invited participant and stakeholder, Ontario Ministry of Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade, Minister’s Economic Immigration Consultations (December 2014)     
  • Bi-Annual Gathering of the Afar Diaspora in Brussels, August 2014      
  • Algonquin College, Carleton University & University of Ottawa
  • Co-chair, Medical Devices Commercialization Centre Forum, University of Ottawa, 13 February 2014
  • Presenter at U.S. Embassy webinar, January 2014.Presenter at Conference in Ottawa, Ontario hosted by Ontario Ministry of   
  • Presenter at Conference in Kingston, Ontario hosted by Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, October 2013        
  • Presenter at Conference in Massena, New York hosted by the Embassy of the United States of America, October 2012        
  • Presenter at Conference in Ogdensburg, New York hosted by Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, September 2012       
  • Presentation in Stockholm, Sweden, December 2012       
  • Presentations in Semera and in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, July 2011       
  • Bureau du MRD en Amérique du Nord, Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO), July 2011        
  • Canadian Bar Association Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia, May 2010      
  • Canadian Bar Association Conference, Whistler, B.C., April 2009      
  • Canadian Bar Association Conference, Quebec City, 2006      
  • Presentation in Denmark, October 2007
  • Presentation in Belgium, Brussels, October 2007
  • Guest Speaker on Immigration Law and Humanitarian Law topics in Canada, U.S.A., China, India, Taiwan, Korea, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Iraq, France, Belgium, U.K., Denmark, Ethiopia, Switzerland and Sweden.