David Cohen (August 1, 1946 â May 14, 2021) was a Canadian immigration lawyer based in Montreal. He was a founding partner of Campbell Cohen Immigration Law Firm.
Cohen was born on August 1, 1946, in Montreal.
He graduated from the McGill University Faculty of Law in 1972 with a Bachelor of Civil Law degree.
In 1975, Cohen was called to the Bar of Quebec and began practicing Canadian immigration law. He was a member of several legal organizations including, Law Society of Ontario, the Canadian Bar Association's Immigration Law Section, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and the Quebec Immigration Lawyers Association. In 2017, he was named a Life Governor of the Quebec Bar Foundation.
In 1994, Cohen founded the CanadaVisa forum, an online platform where immigration questions could be posted.
In May 2008, he testified before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration and the Standing Committee on Finance on the legal impacts of proposed changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). Later that month, he presented similar evidence to the Senate of Canada. Cohen argued against the proposed reforms to IRPA, stating that they would enable discriminatory immigrant selection.
In 2015, David Berger and Cohen organized, with members of Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom, an effort 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. He used online platforms to disseminate information on how to move to Canada, as well as to connect immigrants so they could develop social networks and find employment.
Cohen was quoted by media outlets on immigration issues. His comments on Canadian immigration have been cited or quoted by the Conference Board of Canada, the New York Times, CNN, and the Telegraph.
He died of cancer at his home in Montreal, Quebec, on May 14, 2021.