CIMM – College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants – February 28, 2024
Key Facts and Figures
The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act (College Act) came into force on December 9, 2020. The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (College) opened in November 2021 as the regulator of immigration and citizenship consultants.
The number of licensed immigration and citizenship consultants has increased significantly in recent years from approximately 6,000 in 2018 to over 12,000 at present.
As of October 2023, the College’s Discipline Committee has taken a total of 77 disciplinary actions against licensees, ranging from fines and suspensions to revocations of licensees. As part of these disciplinary actions, the College has issued a total of $302,600 in fines to licensees and ordered $365,810 awarded as restitution to clients.
As part of the initiative to improve the regulatory regime for immigration and citizenship consultants, which includes the opening of the College, Canada is also investing $48.3M over four years and $9.8M ongoing for both Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency. The College does not receive funding from the Government, and is entirely funded through licensee fees set by the College.
Key Messages
The Government of Canada continues to take meaningful action to root out immigration fraud, protect those who wish to come here, and uphold the security and integrity of Canada’s immigration system. The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants is an arm’s-length body that is mandated to regulate consultants. It protects both the public and practitioners from those who seek to take advantage of prospective newcomers.
Compared to previous regulators, the College has new powers and tools to investigate misconduct and discipline those who engage in exploitative activities, including the ability to:
enter the premises of a consultant for the purpose of gathering information to support an investigation when it suspects wrongdoing
summon and compel witnesses to appear and testify before the Discipline Committeesuspend 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
suspend and revoke licences to practise as part of disciplinary decisions, and request court injunctions against unlicensed actors.
The College has also strengthened the standards of the profession through the implementation of a new Code of Conduct, the development of a mandatory mentoring program and the creation of a new class of license for consultants who represent clients at the Immigration and Refugee Board.
In addition, on its website, the College maintains a public registry of all its licensees as well as consultants who have been subject to disciplinary action, such as suspension or revocation. This provides a clear list of qualified service providers to prospective clients so they can be protected against unscrupulous actors.
The full implementation of the new regime for consultants requires the development by the Department of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Regulations (College Regulations). The College Regulations will provide the College with more specific guidelines and authorities than the College Act to effectively regulate immigration and citizenship consultants in the public interest and protect the public. The College Regulations are anticipated to come into force in 2025.
Supplementary Information
The College Act received Royal Assent in June 2019 as part of the Budget Implementation Act and came into force in December 2020. The legislation’s passage means that, for the first time, the regulator is equipped with a statutory framework that allows it to govern the profession and hold licensed consultants to high standards of professional and ethical conduct.
The College is a fundamentally different organization than the former Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC), with expanded authorities and additional levers for government oversight.
Much has been accomplished to date, including:
the opening of the College in November 2021
the establishment of a code of professional conduct for licensees (which was implemented by IRCC as a Ministerial regulation on June 10, 2022)
the establishment of the board of directors (including the initial appointment by the Minister of five directors in 2022 and their reappointment to new two-year terms starting on March 7, 2024) the designation of a civil servant observer to the board of directors
legislative amendments to the College Act and to the administrative penalties and consequences regime under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Citizenship Act through Budget 2023, and the creation and staffing of five outreach positions in five missions abroad to disseminate information locally on the risks of using an unauthorized representative (located in Abu Dhabi, Beijing, Bogota, Chandigarh and Lagos)
Next steps in implementation include
a package of regulations to support new authorities of the College (i.e., the College Regulations), and
regulations for an administrative penalties and consequences regime administered by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (independent of the College).
