Question Period Note: Immigration and Citizenship Consultants

Measures to protect individuals from unscrupulous consultants who prey on their lack of knowledge of Canadian laws and regulations.

• Canada is taking decisive action to protect both public and licensed consultants in good standing from dishonest actors who are taking advantage of vulnerable people.

• The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act (College Act) is now in force. This Act provides a statutory framework to regulate immigration and citizenship consultants, and will make the College the official regulator for this profession across the country.

• The College is anticipated to open in 2021, providing the power and tools to investigate professional misconduct and to discipline its licensees. It will also be subject to significant government oversight to ensure public protection.

• My Department launched a selection process to appoint public interest directors to the new College Board. We recently completed interviews. We are now finalizing our assessment and all necessary steps required for appointments. This process is open, transparent, and based on robust merit criteria.

If pressed:

Code of Conduct for the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants

• The proposed Code of Conduct regulation is available online for public comment in the Canada Gazette Part I as of May 15, 2021 for a period of 30 days. The Code is a critical component to improving the immigration and citizenship consulting profession by establishing strong ethical principles and professional standards that all licensed consultants will be required to abide by.

Why there isn’t a government office, as recommended by CIMM in 2017, instead of a self-regulating regime for consultants:

• The decision not to have a government office has been based on the following considerations:
o The cost of a government office is significantly more than a self-regulatory model.
o Inconsistent with the norms of professional regulators.
o There is a lack of evidence that direct regulation by the Government would provide greater protection.
o The perceived conflict of interest is higher as the Government is also making decisions on immigration and citizenship applicants

How the new regulator is an improvement over the current regulator:

• Through the College Act, the federal government will gain significant levers for oversight of the new regulator including ministerial power to require the Board to do anything to carry out the purpose of the Act; establishing a code of professional conduct for the consulting profession; and enabling the Minister to appoint a majority of Board directors.

“Grandfathering” of consultants currently licensed under the ICCRC:

• The new College has the authority to prescribe educational requirements for existing and new licensees through its by-laws and in conformity with the new Act and regulations.
• For new applicants, the ICCRC has already indicated it is raising standards by requiring a bachelor’s degree as a prerequisite, as well as a 12-month postgraduate degree from Queen’s University’s Faculty of Law.
• For existing licensees, IRCC will work with the new College to help ensure that they meet required standards.

• The mandate letter released in December 2019 highlights the need to “advance the full implementation of the new professional governance regime for immigration and citizenship consultants under the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act, bringing strengthened government oversight and new compliance and enforcement tools into effect.”
• The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act (College Act) received Royal Assent in June 2019 as part of the Budget Implementation Act to improve how immigration and citizenship consultants are regulated across Canada. Activities of the regulator will be self-funded through fees.

• The legislation creates a new self-regulatory regime for immigration and citizenship consultants, making the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants the official Canadian regulator. For the first time, this body will have a statutory framework that provides the responsibilities and authorities required to govern the profession and hold consultants to high standards of professional and ethical conduct.

• The new College will be a fundamentally different organization than the current Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC), with expanded authorities necessary for the regulation of consultants and additional levers for government oversight to ensure strengthened regulatory outcomes.

• Government oversight for the College includes:
o establishing a code of professional conduct for licensees;
o making regulations concerning governance of the College;
o setting the composition of the Board of Directors and appoint up to a majority of Directors;
o designating a civil servant observer to the Board;
o appointing a temporary administrator to act in place of the Board if necessary; and
o reviewing the activities of the regulator and, should it become necessary, direct the body; for example, by requiring it to make, amend or repeal a by-law.

• The College will have new and strengthened tools to investigate professional misconduct and discipline its licensees, including the ability to:
o enter the premises of a consultant for the purpose of gathering information to support an investigation when it suspects wrongdoing;
o summon and compel witnesses to appear and testify before the Discipline Committee;
o suspend a consultant as a provisional measure prior to a finding of professional misconduct or incompetence – in situations where protection of the public is at risk;
o suspend and revoke licenses to practice as part of disciplinary decisions.
o send cease and desist letters to unlicensed actors; and
o request court injunctions for unlicensed actors.

• While the College Act is in force, full implementation of the new College is to happen in stages. As per legislative requirement, the current regulator (Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council, ICCRC) is allowed to apply to continue itself as the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (an application was submitted in December 2020). The Minister must formally approve their application and set a date of continuance (opening of the College) via a ministerial order. In May 2021, the Minister sent a letter to the ICCRC expressing his intent to approve their application and set a College opening date for fall 2021.

• Opening the College will also require the appointment of public interest directors to the College Board by the Minister. The Department launched the ministerial appointment process in November 2020 and re-opened in February 2021 to attract a larger number of candidates. The selection process is open, transparent and based on merit criteria, to help ensure that capable, diverse and well-qualified Directors are put in place. Interviews were recently completed. Appointments are being aligned with the opening date of the new College.

• The Government will work closely with the current regulator, the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council, on plans to transition to the new framework while limiting disruption to authorized consultants and their clients.

• In addition to improving the regulatory landscape with the College, Canada is investing $48.3M over four years and $9.8M ongoing to improve oversight of immigration and citizenship consultants and strengthen compliance and enforcement measures. In particular, legislative amendments were made under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and the Citizenship Act to double the maximum criminal fines for those providing advice or representation without authorization; and to provide regulatory authority for the establishment of an administrative penalties and consequences regime to be administered by IRCC for the purposes of ensuring compliance with the legislation. Investments also supports public awareness activities that help vulnerable newcomers and applicants protect themselves against fraudulent consultants.

• Next steps in implementation include:
o Appointment of public interest directors to the board of the new College;
o New Code of Conduct for licensees of the College;
o Package of regulations to support new authorities of the College.
o Regulations for an administrative penalties and consequences regime administered by IRCC.

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