Will Tao has a broad-ranging practice in immigration and citizenship law and is in the process of building his capacity in the areas of refugee and criminal law. Will completed a Bachelors of Arts in International Relations and History (with a focus on migration history) from the University of British Columbia in 2011. He then completed Law School at the University of Ottawa in 2014 where he was a student caseworker at the Ottawa Centre Legal Clinic. In 2015, Will was called to the Bar in British Columbia. Will regularly appears before the Federal Court, Immigration Division, and Immigration Appeal Division, in addition to his focus on responding to complex procedural fairness letters, visa office interviews, and seeking remedy for refused applications.

Will started his practice primarily as a solicitor, filing permanent resident, temporary resident, and work permit applications for employers, employees, international students, families (via family sponsorship), and individuals. Over the past few years, Will has shifted his focused to focus to complex immigration applications, litigation, and inadmissibility matters. Will moved to Edelmann and Co. to further his interest in assisting temporary foreign workers, international students, and vulnerable persons in navigating Canadian immigration laws and advocating for broader legal reform to issues that affect newcomers to Canada.

Will is a frequent presenter, commentator, and writer on Canadian immigration issues. His immigration blog, Vancouver Immigration Blog (http://vancouverimmigrationblog.com) won a Clawbie for Best New Law Blog in Canada in 2015. Outside of work, Will sits as the Chair of the City of Vancouver’s Cultural Communities Advisory Committee and is a Member of the Mayor’s Working Group on Immigration. Will feels privileged and fortunate to live and work on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish First Nations peoples and spends most of his days with partner, Olivia, navigating ethnic groceries and restaurants in Southeast Vancouver. 

Will is conversationally fluent in Mandarin.