CIMM – Preventing Bad Actors in the International Student Program – February 28, 2024

Key Facts and Figures

• Intake for the International Student Program has increased dramatically in a few short years.

Key Messages

• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has a multi-layered approach to prevent, detect and address fraud in study permit applications.
• IRCC runs media campaigns both domestically and abroad to deter fraud and help people avoid becoming victims. Building on a campaign IRCC ran in India in March 2023, the Department will run a global campaign this spring targeting prospective international students. Its objective is to provide information and correct misinformation about Canada’s study permit and application process, the risks of hiring unauthorized representatives, and the consequences of fraud.
• IRCC employees receive training on how to detect and combat fraud and they work diligently to protect the integrity of Canada’s citizenship and immigration system. Officers review any adverse information that may be found on file and take that information into consideration. Unconscious bias training for decision-makers is provided to all processing officers. All applicants are provided procedural fairness and an opportunity to respond to any adverse information before a decision in misrepresentation is taken.
• Additionally, IRCC has updated our external fraud webpages to ensure clarity for the public on information and resources to help prospective applicants abroad avoid becoming a victim of fraud, and how to report fraud. We are also working on updates to provide information on immigration scams targeting international students.
• The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants is an arm’s-length institution, regulating the immigration and citizenship consulting profession and protecting both the public and consultants in good standing from those who take advantage of vulnerable people.
• The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants takes measures against consultants that don’t abide by the rules and may take disciplinary actions, including issuance of monetary penalties and suspension or revocation of licences where warranted. The College has the authority to seek court injunctions against bad actors who falsely represent themselves as licensed immigration consultants
• On December 1, 2023, IRCC implemented a Letter Of Acceptance (LOA) verification solution for all post-secondary Designated Learning Institutions (DLIs). The LOA verification tool requires post-secondary DLIs to verify the authenticity of all LOAs submitted. This measure helps deter bad actors and protect prospective students from document fraud.
• The international student compliance regime (ISCR) is designed to uncover potential fraud and fraud trends in the international student movement. The ISCR helps draw out information related to non-bona fide students as well as surfacing concerns related to the activities of certain DLIs. The data collected gives IRCC insight into whether or not international students are compliant with their study permit condition to actively pursue their studies.
• When non-compliance is suspected, the information is added to the individual’s file and may be taken into consideration on any subsequent immigration application decisions or upon re-entry into Canada at a port of entry. Individuals confirmed through investigation to be non-compliant may be referred to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) for enforcement action.

Supplementary Information

Fraud detection

• When it comes to fraud, we are primarily focused on identifying organizers of coordinated fraud and individuals who knowingly commit fraud or attempt to deceive IRCC. We have measures in place to detect fraud and to flag these in our systems in order to deter future fraud.
• The Department launched the Integrity Trend Analysis Tool for broad use. This tool uses advanced analytics along with a large amount of historical data to generate historically adverse patterns and identify potentially high-risk applications.
• IRCC conducts administrative investigations and undertakes fraud disruption techniques in collaboration with CBSA, who is responsible for pursuing enforcement action. IRCC has been conducting investigations to combat fraud in the student program and prevent those with fraudulently obtained documents from entering Canada.

The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants

• The College is a key part of the government’s efforts to fight fraud in Canada’s immigration system, protect all those who wish to come here and uphold the security and integrity of Canada’s immigration system. It builds on significant action over the past few years, including an investment of $48.3M over four years and $9.8M ongoing for both Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency to improve the regulatory regime for immigration and citizenship consultants, including through increased investigations and the implementation of IT tools to detect fraud. The College does not receive funding from the Government, and is entirely funded through licensee fees set by the College.
• As per Canadian federal law, immigration consultants who provide immigration and citizenship advice and representation for a fee need to be licensed by the College. To act as an immigration consultant in Quebec, a person must be registered with the College, recognized by the Ministry of Immigration, Francization and Integration, and registered on the Registre québécois des consultants en immigration.
• The College does not regulate student recruitment in general, but under its Code of Conduct, does regulate circumstances where a licensee of the College also engages in student recruitment activity.

International Student Compliance Regime

• In 2014, IRCC implemented the ISCR to enhance the integrity of the International Student Program and identify potentially non-genuine students and to gather additional data and trends on international students in Canada.
• Compliance data are integral to monitoring the success of the international student program and help us ensure students are actively pursuing their studies.
• The ISCR has three key components:
  • DLI compliance reporting;
  • Investigations of SP holders reported on by their DLI as potentially non-compliant; and
  • Enforcement action on SP holders found to be non-compliant.
• DLIs self-report the enrollment status of study permit (SP) holders to IRCC.
• Individuals confirmed through investigation to be non-compliant may be referred to the CBSA for enforcement action.
• IRCC shares aggregate results with provinces and territories responsible managing DLIs to take action as needed.
  • The designation and de-designation of post-secondary schools to host international students is carried out by the provinces and territories (PTs).
  • IRCC does not oversee DLI programming and recruitment practices and, under the current framework, does not have the authority to de-designate DLIs engaged in fraudulent activities.
• Redacted