Fraud prevention
👤 Don't become a victim of immigration fraud
Last updated
👤 Don't become a victim of immigration fraud
Last updated
College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC)
To better protect newcomers and applicants to Canada from unscrupulous and fraudulent consultants, the Government of Canada announced in 2019 its intention to strengthen the regime governing immigration and citizenship consultants by implementing a new statutory College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC). The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act came into force on November 20 and the College is expected to open in 2021.
The mandate of the CICC is to regulate the practice of immigration and citizenship consulting in the public interest, and it will operate as an arm’s-length institution.
Only a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC), a lawyer registered in one of Canada’s 13 Law Societies, a notaire registered with the Chambre des notaires du Québec, or someone working directly under the supervision of someone belonging to one of those 3 previous professions, can legally offer Canadian immigration advice in exchange for money.
You can check if a person is licensed to represent immigrants or to give advice.
Citizenship or immigration consultants must be a member of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants.
Lawyers or notaries must be a member of a Canadian provincial or territorial law society, or the Chambre des notaires du Québec.
Paralegals (Ontario only) must be members of the Law Society of Upper Canada
If they are not members in good standing, you should not use their services.
Most law societies let you check online to see if a person is a member in good standing.
Law Society Tribunal
The Law Society Tribunal is an independent adjudicative tribunal within the Law Society of Ontario. The Tribunal processes, hears and decides regulatory cases about Ontario lawyers and paralegals in a manner that is fair, just and in the public interest.
