Fines for Unauthorized Immigration Advice

Summary#

This Canada Gazette notice proposes the Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (Administrative Penalties and Consequences). It would give Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) the power to inspect people who give paid immigration or citizenship advice, issue fines for unauthorized or fraudulent advice, and publish the names of those found liable. Interested people can comment within 45 days of publication.

What it does#

• Creates a new administrative penalties and consequences (APC) system for representation and advice related to immigration and citizenship.
• Prohibits representing or advising someone for payment unless authorized, and bans counselling or carrying out misrepresentation or communicating false or misleading information.
• Gives IRCC officers the power to require documents during inspections when they have reasonable grounds to suspect a violation.
• Sets a two-step process: a Notice of Preliminary Finding, then, if warranted, a Notice of Violation. A person gets 30 days (from receipt) to pay or to ask for a review instead of paying.
• Establishes a formula to calculate fines:
  • Baseline amounts: $5,000 for unauthorized representation; $15,000 for misrepresentation types.
  • Extra $15,000 if the misrepresentation led to an application being approved that otherwise would not have been.
  • Adds any money the person earned from the violation.
  • Multiplier based on prior violations: 0.5, 1, or 1.5.
• Sets a penalty for failing to comply with an inspection request at $10,000, multiplied by the same prior-violation factor.
• Caps total penalties on a single notice at $1,500,000.
• Requires publication on the department’s website of people found liable (name, business address, violation details, penalty amount, and whether it has been paid).
• Allows a review of a notice by a reviewer, but that reviewer must base the decision only on the evidence the officer had (no new evidence allowed).

Who's affected#

• Unauthorized people or businesses that give paid immigration or citizenship advice. They would risk fines and public naming.
• Authorized practitioners (lawyers, Quebec notaries, and licensed immigration consultants) if they commit the listed violations.
• People using paid immigration or citizenship services: they may get better protection against fraud or poor advice.
• IRCC would run the new regime and bear administrative costs; Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) were consulted but are not the ones running the APC system.
• The federal College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants was consulted and supports the approach.

Why it matters#

• For applicants: the changes aim to reduce fraud and unauthorized advice, which can cause refusals, lost money, or loss of status. Publishing names could help people avoid bad actors.
• For advisers: there is a real financial risk. Individual penalties can start at $5,000 or $15,000, and a notice can total up to $1,500,000.
• For the government: IRCC estimates setup and operating costs of about $13,766,908 (present value over 10 years) and expects to collect about $7,797,552 in penalties; the document reports a net cost of about $5,969,356 (present value).
• Practical limits: reviews of penalties are restricted to the original record (no new evidence), and collecting fines from people outside Canada may be difficult.
• This is a proposed regulation (not law yet). The public has 45 days to comment on the proposal.