Please note that all program and admission-related inquiries are managed exclusively via email. To ensure your inquiry is addressed, please contact immigrationdiploma@queensu.ca or review our FAQ section. Our program’s unstaffed phone number is (613) 533-6937. No live phone calls are accepted via this phone number and an automated message provides general information and our email address for any inquiries. Click here to
Catherine Bruce has worked as a refugee lawyer for more than twenty years, assisting survivors of persecution from around the world to obtain refugee protection in Canada. Catherine initially operated her own private refugee and immigration law practice, however in 2013 she joined the Refugee Law Office, Toronto, as a staff lawyer. In 2015 she was seconded to implement refugee panel standards on behalf of Legal Aid Ontario and in 2016 she was appointed as the Director of the Refugee Law Office, Toronto. As a refugee lawyer, Catherine has represented clients from the tribunal level through to the Supreme Court of Canada. Catherine became involved in the overseas resettlement of refugees after witnessing horrific conditions working as a volunteer lawyer in the refugee camps on the Greek Islands in the summer of 2016. She was instrumental in persuading the Canadian government to pass public policies allowing for resettlement of refugee survivors of sexual gender based violence and torture from Greece and Jordan to Canada. In 2019 Catherine co- founded the Lamp Lifeboat Ladder refugee resettlement program to implement the public policies. She has since dedicated her time, energy and expertise to building the program and her legal submissions for those seeking resettlement under the program have had a 100% success rate. Catherine is an executive member of the Canadian Council for Refugees and she sits on its Legal Affairs Committee. She was the co-chair of the Law Society of Ontario’s Annual Refugee Conference for four consecutive years, and she is also a past organizer of the Refugee Law Office’s annual refugee conference. Catherine is a recipient of two community awards for her work with refugees. She holds a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School, and a degree in Political Science from the London School of Economics.