Jennifer Dagsvik

Professor Dagsvik was called to the bars of Ontario and British Columbia in 2007, after serving as a law clerk to the Supreme Court of British Columbia and articling at a major British Columbia law firm. She then practised as counsel at the Department of Justice Canada in Toronto and Vancouver, focusing on immigration, refugee, police, corrections, and public safety law. After moving home to Thunder Bay with her family in 2015, Professor Dagsvik practised criminal law and immigration and refugee law in private practice.

In 2021, Professor Dagsvik founded the Newcomer Legal Clinic in partnership with the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law and the Thunder Bay Multicultural Association. The Newcomer Legal Clinic is the only free legal service for immigration and refugee law in Northern Ontario, and one of the only services in the region to offer legal representation and advice on immigration matters. It is a teaching clinic that aims to train more northern and small-town lawyers to serve the legal needs of migrants and refugees. The clinic recently received a three-year Catalyst Grant from The Law Foundation of Ontario.

Professor Dagsvik is an experienced litigator who has appeared at all levels of court, including the superior courts of Ontario and British Columbia, the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal, the Ontario and British Columbia Courts of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada. She is a member of the Canadian Council for Refugees’ Litigation Affairs Committee. She continues to practise immigration and refugee law through the Newcomer Legal Clinic.

Her teaching focuses on civil justice through courses such as civil practice, torts, legal research and writing, immigration and refugee law, and clinical education. She is particularly interested in helping students understand how the law operates in real life and how lawyers can serve their communities with care and excellence. Her classes emphasize practical problem-solving, the distinct legal needs of rural and northern communities, and the role lawyers play in advancing access to justice.

Examples of immigration and refugee litigation Professor Dagsvik or the Newcomer Legal Clinic have been involved with include the following (all reported judgments available on www.canlii.org):

Dorsey v Canada (Attorney General), 2025 SCC 38 - co-counsel for the intervener, Canadian Council for Refugees
Gnanapragasam v Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness), 2023 FC 1735 - member of the proposed intervener, Canadian Coalition of Legal Clinics
O v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2025 FC 517, counsel for the applicant
K v Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness), 2022 FC 1803, counsel for the applicant
K v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2019 FC 424, counsel for the applicant