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Do We Need Immigration Consultants in Canada

Posted on 18/02/2025

The new proposed IRCC governance structure for consultants looks set to be implemented soon, reportedly in 2025. It’s essentially an extensive set of rules and administrative procedures on how Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs) and Regulated International Student Immigration Advisors (RISIAs) should conduct themselves and how non-compliant consultants will be monitored and dealt with by the College of Immigration & Citizenship Consultants (CICC).

These proposed governance rules raise a few questions, some of which have been around for a number of years.

• How did we get to the point where this was deemed necessary?
• Will these new regulations increase trust and confidence in consultants?
• Is the alternative to this proposal instead banning most immigration consultants with a few remaining ones working as paralegals for immigration law firms?

 

I: How did we get here?

Since the 1970s Canada has experienced what is sometimes called the 5^th wave of immigration with an increasing diversity of source countries. From the 1970s and 1980s levels fluctuated around 200,000 immigrants per year until about a decade ago when the government decided to boost levels considerably higher to offset the economic effects of declining population growth and an aging cohort of baby boomers who began retiring and collecting pensions.

As a result Canada – along with Australia – now has one of the highest rates of immigration in the world. The overall impact has clearly been positive – Canada has had very few recessions in the last 25 years compared to previous decades. However, there have been growing pains with an impact on housing affordability and availability in large cities, partly as a result of a large international student population and international buyers, but also the result of zoning laws and restrictions on new housing in those same cities, often put in place by those very same aging baby boomers collecting pensions.

A consequence of this has been a shift in Canadians’ views on immigration, from largely very supportive to a more doubtful and sometimes negative view. This in turn, has made immigration consultants easy targets for people’s frustration on issues like home ownership.

However, as the number of immigration consultants have risen, there has also been a percentage of consultants who have behaved unethically or unprofessionally leading to several attempts to impose rules and penalties to mitigate this problem. These attempts were mostly self-regulating structures put in place by the immigration consulting industry.

The Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (CSIC) was an early attempt in 2005 but was replaced in 2011 by the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC) due to reported irregularities at CSIC. The ICCRC also ended up facing challenges establishing effective governance structures and, in late 2021, was replaced by the current College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC). With the latest proposed regulations, CICC will now have greater authority to monitor and impose penalties, but also face greater oversight from immigration authorities.

II: Trust & Confidence in Consultants

Ensuring you can trust your immigration consultant with the new regulations to be enacted is really about asking the right questions. These should include the following:

• Is the consultant licensed?

Your immigration consultant must be licensed by the College of Immigration and Citizenship (CICC) in order to provide paid services advising applicants on immigration matters.

The new rules propose establishing a Public Register of Immigration Consultants with the following information available to the public:

• • The consultant’s business name, contact information, and identification number
  • Their location
  • Their class of license and the status of the license
  • Any existing conditions or restrictions on said license
  • Any disciplinary measures imposed on the consultant
  • Any licensee (consultant) whose license was revoked or surrendered along with the reasons for that decision

 

• Is the consultant in good standing with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC)?

You will be able to use the Public Register explained in the previous item to get a good sense of the standing of the consultant. You should also have a get-to-know interview with the consultant and bring a series of questions to ask them and see how they respond. Direct, open, and honest answers by the consultant are always preferrable. As well, you can:

• • Check in the College’s Complaints and Professional Conduct section to see if there are any complaints against the consultant.
  • Read online reviews.
  • Ask the consultant for references (professional ones).

 

• So, if there are conditions imposed on the consultant’s license, does this mean they can no longer operate as an immigration consultant?

Not necessarily; conditions imposed do not always mean the license is no longer valid. But they do mean the consultant may be restricted as to what they can do as a result of not following the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act. Some are as follows:

• • The licensee (consultant) may not have met the eligibility requirements for their class of license and as a result restrictions have been imposed.
  • The licensee (consultant) did not have liability insurance.
  • The licensee has been reprimanded (this does not mean they cannot continue to work as a consultant but it is a signal of improper or inadequate professionalism).
  • The licensee has been cautioned and that caution is registered on their license (again, the consultant in general is able to continue to practice their profession but the caution is a form of warning).
  • The licensee may have been required to complete development courses to ensure that they are capable of providing the services clients require.
  • The licensee may have been required to participate in a mentorship program or be counselled.
  • The licensee may have had to pay a fine to the College as a result of their actions.
  • The licensee may have had to reimburse fees and costs to a client or to the College.

 

Of course, any of these are signals that the consultant did not meet all the standards of the professional code of conduct. They may be due to less severe matters or they may be a signal that the consultant may have their license revoked or suspended. As a potential client you have every right to know about these issues and to decide to seek advice elsewhere.

 

• Can I get my money back if the consultant has been dishonest?

 

A Compensation Fund is a key part of the proposed new regulations. It would reportedly be funded by fines and penalties collected by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants from consultants who have failed to follow the rules and been fined. Here is how the process is supposed to work:

 

• • A Discipline Committee would determine if a client’s financial losses are the result of a licensee’s (consultant’s) dishonest act. If they determine they are, compensation will be automatically paid with no application to the College being necessary.
  • If the Discipline Committee found that a dishonest act was committed but could not determine the amount of loss because the consultant would not cooperate with them, then an application for compensation would be necessary.
  • If the consultant has already had their license revoked, an application would also be necessary.
  • The College would reportedly also have the ability to purchase insurance to cover any gaps in funding.

 

• Why can’t I do the application myself?

 

You absolutely can, but you need to be aware that an immigration application for Canada is often detailed, lengthy, and quite unforgiving of any mistakes you may make when gathering your documents and filling in the (usually online) forms.  Some of the reasons for this are:

 

• • Immigration rules in Canada are constantly being updated. As we suggested in our introductory section – How did we get here? – this is because immigration policy is constantly trying to balance between the needs of business and fill reported gaps in the labour market against the obvious need of governments to be popular enough to get re-elected.
  • It’s a little like an enormous Human Resources department trying to keep up with constant changes and getting fired (losing elections) every 10 years or so.
  • As a result, the rules are rather convoluted and not always easy to follow, or to be fair, easy for immigration officials to update in accordance with constantly changing directives they get from their political superiors.
  • This is why capacity is so important for an immigration consultant. Similar to immigration lawyers, a good consultant is regularly and frequently monitoring any updates to immigration rules to ensure they are always up to speed.
  • Always ask yourself: do they have the capacity to advise you on the current state of the regulations?
  • This is also one of the reasons why the new proposed regulations require professional development on the part of licensees (consultants) and propose establishing a Capacity Evaluation Committee.

 

• So, it’s either Do-it-Yourself or go all in with a consultant?

Not necessarily. You have a couple of intermediate options that can provide the right balance for you between DIY and handing over everything to a consultant. These could include the following:

 

• • Get a consultant to review your application before submitting it and help you correct any gaps or errors in the forms and the documentation.
  • Have a preliminary interview with a consultant who can advise you on what immigration pathway might be best for you. Remember, between Provincial Nominee Programs and various Immigration Streams there are dozens and dozens of options available.
  • Have a consultant represent you after receiving a request for additional documents or having your application rejected and deciding to appeal. Even if you feel you’ve put together a good application, surprises and unexpected omissions on your part can happen. So, you need a professional to help you solve the problem.

• What are the Fees charged by Immigration Consultants?

Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants set their own fees. This means you need to do a little shopping comparison before deciding on a consultant. You should consider:

 

• • Compare the fees of at least several reputable consultants.
  • Consider the amount of experience and especially the specific services any consultant offers when looking at their fees.
  • According to the proposed Professional Code of Conduct, RCICs are required to set fair and reasonable fees. They are generally substantially less than fees charged by immigration lawyers.

III: Should Canada instead ban most immigration consultants?

While there are apparently estimates of up to 13,000 immigration consultants in Canada (whether these estimates include only licensed and certified consultants is uncertain), Canada has far less lawyers per 1,000 population than the USA does. Of those, a relatively small percentage are reportedly immigration lawyers. This raises several important issues:

• The rapid rise in immigration consultants was a consequence of the demand for reasonably priced advice on immigration matters from a growing amount of applicants trying to immigrate to Canada.
• Banning or severely restricting immigration consultants in Canada raises the issue of access to justice because the cost of advice would likely increase, possibly by a large amount given the hourly rates lawyers charge.
• While 3 years of law school is clearly a substantial education, a law degree in Canada does not reportedly require law students to take any courses at all on immigration.
• Having recent law graduates help fill this gap leaves aside the issue of the time, effort, and cost required to bring a law graduate up to speed on immigration rules and regulations in Canada. Would most immigration lawyers be willing to assume this commitment?
• Currently, some practicing immigration lawyers already collaborate with seasoned immigration consultants of good standing. Additionally, many law students and novice immigration lawyers are gaining knowledge from these immigration consultants.
• The current required 3-term program for consultants (which takes 1 year although it can be taken over 24 or 36 months) at Queen’s University granting a Graduate Diploma in Immigration and Citizenship Law (as well as a similar program in Quebec) covers a wide range of immigration topics in a fairly rigorous manner.
• The Graduate Diploma in Immigration and Citizenship Law at Queen’s requires entrants to:
  • Have a Bachelor’s Degree from a recognized institution
  • Upload a copy of their transcript
  • Have a minimum of B average grades
  • Exceptions will be made for motivated students with some post-secondary education
  • Non-native English speakers will need to take an English Proficiency Test. However, non-native speakers who have completed 4 or more consecutive years of post-secondary studies at a university where the language of study is English may apply for an exemption to this requirement.
  • Applicants must have 2 professional referees (references) and an academic referee if they have completed their post-secondary studies less than 2 years before applying to the Graduate Diploma in Immigration and Citizenship Law program.
  • Applicants must submit a Statement of Personal Interest explaining why they wish to enroll in the program.

Rather than banning or severely restricting immigration consultants in Canada as a response to problems in governance, the more reasonable, achievable, and sustainable option is clearly what the government is currently proposing – an overhaul of the governance structure to ensure immigration consultants are registered, licensed, monitored, and accountable. The goal is consultants consistently capable of following a professional code of conduct and delivering an affordable but reliable service to would-be applicants on immigration matters.

Finally, it is important to realize that most consultants already meet this goal. The new proposals ensure that the overwhelming majority will do so and those that fail to do so will be appropriately dealt with.

Posted in Tips and tagged Immigration Consultants