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MONTREAL — The chauffeur goes unpaid, the children’s private school fees are in arrears and making the $5,000 monthly rent is a struggle.

Life in Canada is not as rosy as Belhassen Trabelsi imagined when the billionaire fled Tunisia in 2011 in the midst of a popular uprising that drove his brother-in-law, Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, from the presidential palace.

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And new Federal Court ruling rejecting a bid by Mr. Trabelsi and his wife, Zohra Djilani, to loosen financial restrictions placed on them means things are not going to get better soon.

The June 27 decision by Justice Jocelyne Gagné upholds Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird’s June 2013 denial of a request from the couple to unblock $109,680 to cover living expenses and legal fees.

Under federal law, Mr. Trabelsi, Ms. Djilani and their four minor children are listed as “politically exposed foreign persons” whose assets in Canada have been frozen at the request of Tunisian authorities because of their close ties to the deposed president. (Mr. Trabelsi’s sister is married to Mr. Ben Ali.)