About the Authors

• Author: Raj Sharma/Aris Daghighian
• Pages: 21-22

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About the Authors

Raj Sharma is a founding partner at Stewart Sharma Harsanyi, one of Canada’s larg-

est dedicated immigration law firms. Raj graduated with his juris doctor ( JD) from the

University of Alberta. After completing his articles with the Federal Department of

Justice, Raj then worked as an immigration refugee protection officer with the Immi-

gration and Refugee Board, where he obtained experience in hundreds of immigration

hearings before starting private practice. Raj received his master of laws (LLM) in ad-

ministrative law from Osgoode Hall Law School. His major research paper in support

dealt with the unwarranted deference to immigration refugee adjudication in Canada.

Raj has appeared before every level of court in Alberta, regularly appears before

the Federal Court, and has appeared before the Federal Court of Appeal and every

division of the Immigration and Refugee Board. He has over 150 reported decisions

and possesses extensive experience in all aspects of immigration law.

He has been a speaker at numerous national immigration law conferences and

other conferences, and he appeared before the Parliamentary Standing Committee

on Citizenship and Immigration in 2017 and 2020. He is a regular speaker and com-

mentator in local, national, and international media.

His academic writings include “Deference, the Universe of Discourse and the

Standard of Review,” published in the Alberta Law Review, and a commentary on

Canada’s refugee health reforms published in the C2C Journal.

Raj has sat on numerous boards and committees, including as a board member

with Immigrant Services Calgary, the Legal Education Society of Alberta, and the

Legal Aid Alberta Appeals Committee. He is the recipient of the Access to Justice

Award (Legal Aid Alberta) and was named one of Calgary’s Top 40 Under 40.

Raj is an adjunct professor at the University of Calgary, Faculty of Law where he

teaches the immigration and refugee law course.

Aris Daghighian is legal counsel with the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

(IRB). Previously, he was a senior lawyer for the leading firms of Green and Spiegel

LLP in Toronto and Edelmann & Company in Vancouver, where his practice focused

on appeals and litigation, as well as economic immigration applications, refugee

claims, and issues surrounding citizenship.

During this time, Aris regularly appeared before all divisions of the IRB and fed-

eral courts. He has been counsel in a number of seminal decisions before the Supreme

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