David Cohen (August 1, 1946 – May 14, 2021) was a Canadian immigration lawyer, based in Montreal, Quebec. He was the senior partner at the Cohen Immigration Law firm, and he testified on immigration to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

and

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...

. He was recognised for his use of the internet to help immigrants move to, and settle in, Canada. He died on May 14, 2021.

Education

Cohen graduated in 1972 from the

McGill University Faculty of Law The Faculty of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the oldest law school in Canada, and continually ranks among the best law schools in the world. The faculty is known for it ...

with a Bachelor of Civil Law degree.

Career

Cohen began practicing Canadian immigration law after being called to the

Bar of Quebec The Bar of Quebec (french: Barreau du Québec) is the regulatory body for the practice of advocates in the Canadian province of Quebec and one of two legal regulatory bodies in the province. It was founded on May 30, 1849, as the Bar of Lower Ca ...

in 1975, and was a member of the

Law Society of Ontario The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; french: Barreau de l'Ontario) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC; frenc ...

. He was a member in good standing of the Canadian Bar Association's Immigration Law Section, the

American Immigration Lawyers Association The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), founded on October 14, 1946, is a voluntary bar association of over 15,000 attorneys and law professors who practice and teach immigration law. AILA member attorneys represent U.S. families see ...

, and the Quebec Immigration Lawyers Association. In 2017, he was named a Life Governor of the Quebec Bar Foundation, which is a charitable organization that seeks to advance the rule of law through research. In May 2008, he testified before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration and

Standing Committee on Finance The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance (SCOF) is a department related standing committee (DRSC) constituted by the Parliament of India comprising selected members of parliament for the purpose of legislative oversight on the policies and ...

on the legal impacts of proposed changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). Later that month, he presented similar evidence to the

. Cohen argued against the proposed reforms to IRPA due to concerns they would enable Canada to be discriminatory in its selection of immigrants.

Media

Cohen received media recognition for his work assisting immigrants. In 2015, David Berger and Cohen spearheaded an effort in conjunction with other members of the

Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom, Westmount (french: Synagogue Emanu-El-Beth Sholom de Westmount) is a Reform synagogue in Westmount, Quebec. It is the oldest “Liberal” or “Reform” synagogue in Canada, incorporated on March 30, 1883 (the Bi ...

to reunite Syrian refugees with their families in Montreal. Members of the Temple raised $70,000 to sponsor two Syrian families through Canada's

Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program The Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program (PSR) is a Canadian government initiative that allows for refugees to resettle in Canada with support and funding from private or joint government-private sponsorship. The government also offers semi-pri ...

. He was regarded as a pioneer due to his use of technology to provide information on how to move to Canada, as well as to connect immigrants so they can develop social networks and find employment. He was invited to discuss a variety of different immigration issues with media outlets around the world. For instance, Cohen's analysis on how

U.S. politics The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that Separation of powers, share powers. These are: the United States Congress, U.S. Congre ...

, such as the outcomes of

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pr ...

, influences

immigration to Canada According to the 2021 Canadian census, immigrants in Canada number 8.3 million persons and make up approximately 23 percent of Canada's total population. This represents the eighth-largest immigrant population in the world, while the proport ...

, has been cited by the likes of the

Conference Board of Canada The Conference Board of Canada is a Canadian not-for-profit think tank dedicated to researching and analyzing economic trends, as well as organizational performance and public policy issues. Describing itself as "objective" and "non-partisan", th ...

, the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

the Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

, among others.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, David 1946 births 2021 deaths 21st-century Canadian lawyers Anglophone Quebec people Lawyers from Montreal McGill University Faculty of Law alumni