We’re excited to bring our immigration expertise to Vancouver Island with two in-person sessions this August, led by lawyers Will Tao and Laura Schemitsch at Heron Law Offices.
Register Now for the Events! Space is limited!
#1 Event in Nanaimo
Immigration Roundtable for Nanaimo Employers With Immigration Lawyers
Friday, August 28 | 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM | In-Person
Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce, 2133 Bowen Road, Nanaimo, BC
Hey Nanaimo employers! Here’s your chance to chat face-to-face about immigration trends and challenges with Canadian immigration lawyers from Heron Law Offices.
What we’ll cover:
🔹 Overview of LMIA-Based and LMIA-Exempt Work Permit Options
🔹 Canvassing Current LMIA Issues and Best Practices for Employers
🔹 Employer Compliance Requirements under the TFWP
🔹 Live Q&A
Whether you’re hiring your first foreign worker or managing a growing international team, this session will give you practical and up-to-date information.
Speakers: Will Tao and Laura Schemitsch, Canadian Immigration Lawyers at Heron Law Offices
📍 Nanaimo | In-Person
Only 10 Spots Available. $54.88/ticket (12% tax included). Light refreshments included!
*Register by emailing us at info@heronlaw.ca to receive a payment link for purchasing a ticket for this event!*
#2 Event in Campbell River
Canadian Immigration and Citizenship Update 2026 with Immigration Lawyers
Friday, August 28 | 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Campbell River Museum, 470 Island Highway, Campbell River, BC
Join us for an in-depth look at the latest developments shaping Canada’s immigration and citizenship landscape with Canadian Immigration lawyers at Heron Law Offices. This session is capped at 20 attendees to keep things focused and interactive.
What we’ll cover:
🔹 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan
🔹 Temporary Residence Options
🔹 Permanent Residence Pathways
🔹 Bill C-3 Citizenship by Descent Changes
🔹 Live Q&A
Speakers: Will Tao and Laura Schemitsch, Heron Law Offices
Organized by Heron Law Offices
📍 Campbell River | In-Person
📍 Limited to 20 attendees. $43.68/ticket (12% tax included). Light refreshments included! Save your spot today!
*Register by emailing us at info@heronlaw.ca to receive a payment link for purchasing a ticket for this event!*
Speaker Information
Founder/Canadian Immigration and Refugee Lawyer
Will Tao (he/him) JD, LLM
Will Tao (JD, LLM) is the Principal and Founder of Heron Law Offices, where he leads a boutique practice in Canadian immigration, refugee, citizenship, and administrative law. His work focuses on complex immigration litigation and strategic applications involving temporary residence, permanent residence, and citizenship.
Will regularly appears before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada and the Federal Court, acting in complex litigation involving refusals, inadmissibility, and systemic administrative law issues. His practice includes matters involving security and misrepresentation, challenges to the government’s use of automated decision-making, and strategic immigration planning for clients in the technology, arts, entertainment, and sports sectors.
Beyond client representation, Will provides expert immigration legal opinions in family, criminal, civil, and labour matters. He has served as an expert affiant before the Federal Court. He has testified as an expert witness before the Parliamentary Committee on Citizenship and Immigration and consulted with the Treasury Board Secretariat.
Will is a Lexpert-Ranked Lawyer as one of Canada’s Leading Legal Practitioners in the 2026 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, and he has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in Canada, is a recipient of multiple Canadian Bar Association awards, and is a Clawbies Hall of Fame inductee for legal blogging.
Canadian Immigration and Refugee Lawyer
Laura Schemitsch (she/her)
Laura Schemitsch has been practicing Canadian immigration and refugee law since 2020 with a wide scope of matters and complexity. Laura was a recipient of the Canadian Bar Association’s 2025 Founder’s Award for accomplishments in her first five years of practice.
Laura has successfully represented clients before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada and has assisted clients overcome complex immigration issues including application refusals, humanitarian and compassionate requests, inadmissibility issues, procedural fairness letter responses and judicial reviews. Laura helps employers, entrepreneurs, permanent resident applicants, temporary foreign workers, international students, and visitors on their unique Canadian immigration journeys.
Laura’s academic work has been published in peer reviewed journals and prominent media outlets. In November 2022, Laura was invited to speak before the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration in Canada’s House of Commons.
Laura found her passion for immigration and refugee law in 2017 when she joined Capital Rainbow Refuge, a private sponsorship group that brings LGBTQIA2S+ asylum seekers to Ottawa. Laura completed her articling placement at Gerami Law PC, a boutique immigration and refugee law firm in Ottawa between August 2019 and June 2020 and was hired back as an immigration and refugee lawyer.
About Heron Law Offices
We are a leading full-service boutique Canadian Immigration, Refugee, Citizenship, and Administrative law firm based in BC, serving clients across Canada and the globe.
Our focus is in the representation of families (sponsors/applicants), international students/designated learning institutions, and temporary workers with complex immigration applications and litigation. Our immigration litigation work focuses on Immigration Appeals before the Immigration Appeal Division, Inadmissibility matters before the Immigration Division, and Judicial Reviews before the Federal Court of Canada. We actively engage in strategic litigation and community lawyering.
Practice Areas Include:
- Judicial Reviews
- Immigration Appeals
- Family Class Sponsorship
- Permanent Residence and Citizenship
- Refused Applications, Procedural Fairness Letters, Reconsideration
- International Students and Foreign Workers
- Refugees Humanitarian and Compassionate Grounds
- Detention Reviews and Complex Inadmissibility
- Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA)
- Strategic Litigation and Community Lawyering
Refund Policy: Refunds up to 7 days before event
Please Note: This session is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every immigration situation is different, and the information shared is not a substitute for personalized legal advice based on your specific circumstances. If you need advice about your own immigration matter, please contact us to book a consultation with one of our lawyers.