CGS Law
5 lawyers · City of Toronto
One of 2,347 law firms listed in Toronto, and one of 426 handling Immigration Law.
Accepts Legal Aid
Virtual appointments
Accepts Legal AidVirtual appointmentsAbout CGS Law
CGS Law is a five lawyer immigration, refugee and family law firm with a main office on Duncan Mill Road in North York and a second office on Lake Shore Boulevard West in Etobicoke. Two of its three partners were called to the Ontario bar in 1993. Diane Coulthard articled at Meighan Demers, a small firm focused on corporate commercial and international business work, then moved to Levine Associates, where a focus on family and refugee law took hold. Marian Girgis articled at Beard Winter in 1992, then joined Crewe Marks, building a family law practice that has continued since 1996.
The third partner, Olha Senyshyn, trained first as a corporate lawyer in Kyiv, Ukraine, before earning a Juris Doctor at Osgoode Hall Law School in 2015 and building an immigration and refugee practice in Toronto. The two associates bring further international backgrounds: Hangama Anwari worked as a Program Manager at UN Women and as a Human Rights Commissioner in Afghanistan before earning a Canadian common law LLM at Osgoode Hall, and Delfina Brancato practiced environmental law in Argentina, including work for that country's Ministry of Environment, before retraining in Canadian common law.
Together the team handles immigration and refugee claims, humanitarian and compassionate applications, family sponsorships, and family law matters such as custody, support and property division, working in English along with Ukrainian, Arabic, Spanish, French, Dari and Farsi across the group.
Practice areas
Milestones & recognition
- Diane Coulthard and Marian Girgis were both called to the Ontario bar in 1993.
- Olha Senyshyn earned a Juris Doctor from Osgoode Hall Law School in 2015, after completing an LLM and LLB in law at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine.
- Olha Senyshyn has taught as an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School and as a Visiting Lecturer at the Kyiv School of Economics, delivering MBA-level instruction on legal and regulatory issues in data analytics and artificial intelligence.
In the community
- Since June 2022, Olha Senyshyn has been the Program Lawyer managing Pro Bono Ontario's Canadian Legal Support for Ukrainians hotline, providing free legal information, referrals and support to Ukrainians across Canada and abroad, and has personally provided more than 4,000 free legal consultations through the program.
- Educational videos on the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel program, published by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, have been viewed more than 100,000 times, and a related set of videos on work permit extensions has drawn more than 60,000 views.
- Free legal education sessions have been delivered with Ukrainian Canadian Congress branches, Ukrainian Canadian Social Services, community legal clinics and settlement agencies across Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, covering immigration status, CUAET benefits, work permits, refugee claims and access to legal aid.
- Marian Girgis served about 20 years on the Board of Directors of a not for profit children's daycare in Markham, Ontario, including a term as Board Chairperson, and has taken part in Cancer Society fundraising campaigns.
Good to know
Woman-owned
Virtual appointmentsFees & payment
Legal aidLawyers 5
Who handles what
Offices 2
The neighbourhood
CGS Law's main office is on Duncan Mill Road in North York. North York is one of Toronto's most ethnically diverse districts, with large immigrant communities from across Europe, East and Southeast Asia and West Asia and a corresponding mix of languages spoken in the area. That makes it a fitting home base for a practice built mostly around immigration, refugee and family law files.
The firm's second office is on Lake Shore Boulevard West in Etobicoke, near Humber Bay, part of a stretch of Toronto's waterfront that has been rebuilt over recent decades with condominium towers along the lakeshore. It gives clients on the west side of the city, and closer to the lake, a second point of contact without a trip to North York.
Frequently asked questions
- Does CGS Law help with spousal or family sponsorship applications?
- Yes. The firm handles spousal sponsorship (both inland and overseas), common-law and conjugal partner sponsorship, dependent child sponsorship, parent and grandparent sponsorship, Super Visa applications, and sponsorship appeals involving previous refusals or inadmissibility concerns.
- I was divorced outside Canada. Can CGS Law help me remarry in Ontario?
- The firm prepares foreign divorce opinion letters, which are used to validate a divorce granted outside Canada so a person can obtain a marriage licence in Ontario. Lawyers review whether at least one of the parties was ordinarily resident in the jurisdiction that granted the divorce for at least one year immediately preceding the commencement of the proceedings, and rush service is available within one business day if all required documents are provided.
- Can CGS Law help Ukrainian newcomers with immigration status?
- Yes. Olha Senyshyn practices immigration and refugee law for Ukrainian clients, including CUAET and other temporary status applications, and separately manages Pro Bono Ontario's free Canadian Legal Support for Ukrainians hotline, through which more than 4,000 free legal consultations have been provided since June 2022.
- What languages does the CGS Law team speak?
- The firm's lawyers work in English, and between them also speak Ukrainian, conversational Arabic, Spanish, French, Dari and Farsi.
- Can I get a document notarized at CGS Law?
- Olha Senyshyn is an Ontario notary and offers both virtual commissioning and in-person notarization services.
- Where are CGS Law's offices and how do I book a consultation?
- The main office is at 220 Duncan Mill Road, Suite 418, in North York, with a second office at 2275 Lake Shore Boulevard West, Unit 334, in Etobicoke. In-person meetings are by appointment only; call 416-234-5696 or email admin@cgslaw.ca to book.
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