Rowan Fisher Interview – Managing Lawyer – Immigration Division – Osuji & Smith Calgary Lawyers
Rowan Fisher is the Managing Lawyer of our Immigration Division at Osuji & Smith. She has a BA in Psychology (Honours) with a focus in forensics, and an LLB with a concentration in energy development law, both from the University of Calgary, Canada. Her law studies included coursework in international trade law at the University of Hong Kong. She obtained her articles and admission to the Alberta bar in 2007.
She has a Post Graduate Certificate in Human Rights Law from University College London and Queen Mary’s University through the University of London International Programmes. Rowan also holds a Canadian Immigration Practitioners’ Certificate.
Rowan’s professional experience includes practicing energy law at Thackray Burgess in Alberta, Canada and at Hunton & Williams in London, England. While in London, Rowan was also seconded to the Crown Estate to assist with the research of Crown property rights. In addition, she spent seven years working in Saudi Arabia, developing training programs for the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency and teaching at both Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahaman and Prince Mohammad bin Fahd universities.
Rowan is the Chair of the Canadian Bar Association Executive Committee of the Alberta Immigration South Section. She is also the Director of Programming for the Calgary Justice Film Festival. She enjoys teaching at Queen’s University for the Law Department’s Graduate Diploma in Immigration and Citizenship Law. She volunteers and participates in prop bono clinics with the Calgary Women’s Immigrant Association, the Centre for Newcomers, The Women’s’ Centre of Calgary, the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society, Calgary Legal Guidance, develops Pilot pro bono programming in the Yukon, and participates in many other initiatives and the creation of training programs for a wide variety of resettlement organizations.
In her volunteer efforts, as in her career, Rowan has enjoyed the opportunity to work with people from varied circumstances and from all over the world. She has seen the difficulties faced by immigrants, guest workers, families left behind, and refugees fleeing war and crisis. In 2017, an extended stay volunteering in an Afghan refugee camp in Greece completely changed the track of Rowan’s professional life. She decided to return home and focus her law career on helping people to navigate the complex Canadian immigration process.
