The Origins
About Our Practice
Heron Law Offices is a Canadian immigration, administrative, and public law firm based in Greater Vancouver, serving clients across Canada and Around the World.
We specialize in practicing our areas of law, differently. We take a client-centered, research-based approach to our solicitors and litigation work to ensure our clients can tell their story through the law and as well push through, back, and against the constraints that law often presents. We provide honest, patient, ethical, and human-driven representation within a society where these values seem to be eroding.
We specialize in marrying our legal expertise with research and advocacy. You get access to a team that is on the forefront of leading discussions around shaping law for a better tomorrow. We have litigated in the Courts, advised policy-makers, Government, and been recognized with several awards for our efforts.
We are proud of being a social enterprise. We put our funds back into community, the migrant communities that raised us and the Indigenous communities that have been the stewards of this land.
Ultimately, we exist for you and we will do everything we can to support you in your legal matter. You matter to us.
Dear Friends/Colleagues/Supporters:
As we work to build this website and officially launch our Firm, I wanted to tell you a bit more about our story as a preview for our work to come. This is the story of why we founded Heron Law Offices: Lawyers for Migrant Communities after a wonderful and supportive time with Edelmann and Co. Law Offices.
Co-founded in 2021 by Will Tao (Principal) and Edris Arib (Case Manager/Director of Operations), we started Heron because we wanted to create a Canadian Law Firm to do law differently. We will start our work in our areas of focus and expertise– Canadian immigration, citizenship, and refugee law. Our bigger dreams, however, hold a bigger vision.
We noticed that our ideal client base is increasingly tech-savy (or eager to learn more), but concerned about their bottom line and the overall cost of legal services. We noticed clients want to be relationship partners in a well-managed process not just treated as the transactional end-product. We noticed that our clients want compassionate forward-thinking representation from lawyers who are themselves from racialized migrant communities, who want to invest in the future of the community, and go an extra step for them in the often-challenging Canadian journey.
When you work with Heron Law Offices, you not only help you, your family, and your colleagues solve their immigration problems, you invest in the future. You invest in our children, our essential workers, and our families. Our four core focus areas are (1) international students and international educators, (2) families, (3) temporary foreign workers, and (4) immigration litigation (with a focus at the Federal Court and Immigration Appeal Division) to represent those whose rights are most adversely impacted by the immigration system and who need better representation.
The Heron is considered a symbol by local Indigenous communities for self-determination – and we hold this as a core value. The Heron is also a watcher, a sentinel, a marker for biodiversity. We want to be a litmus test for lawyering with compassion and serving with confidence and grace. We are determined to change the practice of law through representing you and creating a broader conversation around Indigenous sovereignty over Canadian immigration issues. More on those plans to come.
So why are we doing this now? Why are we leaving comfortable positions for this new venture?
We are doing this because we want to build a legacy piece for our families, for our children, and their generation. We are doing this because we love this country but also believe it can be better. We have received training at some of the best immigration law firms in the country and through our work with leading international and national advocacy organizations.
We invite you to join us and are excited for this journey with you.
In Gratitude,
Heron Law Offices
Will Tao, Principal/Canadian Immigration Lawyer
Edris Arib, Case Manager/Director of Operations
About our Firm Logo
(From Artist, Diamond Point)
About the Design:
The blue heron is a prominent figure depicted within Coast Salish art representing grace, patience and self-determination. The heron is known as an expert fisher and guardian of the Salish Sea. In the design, the heron is catching a salmon. The salmon as a symbol, represents abundance, prosperity and wealth and should be highly respected.
Artist Bio:
Diamond Point is a contemporary Coast Salish artist and a member of Musqueam Indian Band. Diamond currently resides in Ladner with her daughter and husband, however grew up and was raised on Reserve. She describes herself as a contemporary artist because she feels that her artwork belongs within the present, with her techniques and style constantly developing and changing through out her experiences. Being a young, contemporary artist, Diamond believes it is important to continue developing her artwork as present and current. In her work, Diamond incorporates traditional Coast Salish design elements as a way to represent the beautiful teachings and history her ancestors have passed down through generations since time immemorial.
In 2014, Diamond had the privilege of showcasing her work in the exhibition Claiming Space: Voices of Urban Indigenous Youth through the Museum of Anthropology. More recently in 2018, Diamond created designs for the new Totem Park residences at the University of British Columbia that have been named after traditional Musqueam village sites, c̓əsnaʔəm, həm̓ləsəm̓ and q̓ələχən. In 2019, Diamond’s work was showcased as a temporary large installation at Richmond Brighouse Canada Line Station, which was part of Capture Photography Festival. In Fall 2020, Diamond had her work showcased in Soundings: An Exhibition in Five Parts at the Morris and Helen Belkin gallery at the University of British Columbia. Diamond’s work will continue to travel with the exhibition to various galleries until 2024.
Apart from being an artist, Diamond also has a passion towards a career in education. She currently studies at UBC and is in the NITEP Indigenous Teacher Education Program in the Faculty of Education. Upon graduation, Diamond hopes to work as a secondary social studies and art teacher. Diamond feels incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunities to express her Indigenous identity and culture within many realms. As an emerging artist, she intends to create artwork that connects the old with the new but remain respectful to traditional Coast Salish design elements.
Our areas of specialty
Judicial
Reviews
Immigration
Appeals
Family and
Spousal
Sponsorships
International
Students
Canadian Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship law firm based in the Greater Vancouver area serving clients in Canada and around the World.
We initially chose to launch our headquarters in Burnaby, B.C. (with mobility throughout the Greater Vancouver region) because we believe this city represents our ideal future Canada in terms of diversity, resilience, and often hidden beauty.
We have since moved to the heart of Burnaby, B.C. but continue to serve folks in Squamish/Whistler, throughout Greater Vancouver, Canada, and Globally.
We look forward to welcoming you at our offices.
As set out in our value propositions, we believe there is a way to lawyer differently. We aim to provide process-oriented, cost effective services that are aided (not hindered) by technology and project management. We want to lawyer compassionately and confidently and continue the excellent work we have done to inspire future immigration lawyers and law students.
We want to be Lawyers for Migrant Communities and do this for our next generation. We thank you for being part of our story.
Going beyond the law
At Heron Law, we go beyond the limitations that the law often provides. Our clients’ experiences are transformed into advocacy and action. We take lessons learned and apply them to our community work, our strategic litigation, and our participation on policy panels. We advocate for larger systemic changes to benefit our clients and the system as a whole.
Our Visions for Expansion
We hope for Heron Law Offices to provide other legal services beyond immigration law and are actively looking to partner with human rights, family, criminal, small business, non-profit, employment, and social services-related lawyers to transform our Firm into a more comprehensive source for migrant communities.
We invite lawyers, law students, immigration professionals, and support staff interested in our work and our direction to email us at info@heronlaw.ca
What People Say About Us
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