Regulations for Immigration and Citizenship Consultants

Summary#

This is a proposed set of regulations called the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Regulations under the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act. Published December 21, 2024, they give detailed rules for how the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants will run complaints, discipline, a compensation fund, public registers and other governance matters. The government estimates the rules would cost the College $24,236,365 (present value over 10 years) and create compensation payments to clients totaling about $5,756,304 (PV).

What it does#

• Sets up how the College will manage a compensation fund to pay clients who lose money because of a licensee’s dishonest act. The analysis assumes 146 payments in the first year at an average of $4,652, growing 3% per year.
• Creates two new committees: the Compensation Fund Committee (to decide and pay compensation) and the Capacity Evaluation Committee (to assess whether a licensee can safely practise).
• Clarifies the roles and membership rules for the existing Complaints Committee and Discipline Committee.
• Specifies what must appear in the College’s annual report to the Minister, including anonymized complaint statistics, and what must be included in the public register of licensees (business contact info, licence status, suspensions, revoked/surrendered licences, disciplinary measures, etc.).
• Expands the Registrar’s powers to verify compliance, start complaints, and take actions (cautions, conditions, suspensions, monetary penalties). The Regulatory Impact Analysis estimates the College could recover some compensation from licensees and insurers.
• Sets rules on investigations (how documents are handled, returned, and certified) and on when privileged or personal information can be obtained or shared.
• Sets limits and possible penalties under discipline proceedings. The document contains inconsistent language about maximum penalties (it includes both $30,000 and $50,000 as caps in different places); the source is unclear on which figure is final.
• Allows the Minister to temporarily appoint someone to act for the Board if the College is not carrying out its purposes. The text also repeals older regulatory references to the former regulator.
• These are proposed regulations. Interested parties were invited to make representations within 45 days of publication.

Who's affected#

• Clients and newcomers who use paid immigration or citizenship advice will be most directly affected. They would be eligible for compensation from the fund if they suffer financial loss because of a licensee’s dishonest act.
• Licensees regulated by the College — including Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants and Regulated International Student Immigration Advisors — will face clearer rules, new reporting and possible new penalties or conditions. The College may need to raise fees if the compensation fund runs a deficit.
• The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants itself will take on the operational work and costs of new committees, investigations, a public register and compensation payments.
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) retains oversight and is listed as the department developing the regulations. The source also notes possible information exchanges with provinces and comparable foreign bodies.
• It is unclear exactly how some penalty limits will be applied because the source text contains conflicting figures (see “What it does”).

Why it matters#

• The rules aim to give people who pay for immigration or citizenship help a clearer path to compensation if their consultant steals, lies, or otherwise causes financial loss. That increases consumer protection for often-vulnerable newcomers.
• They give the College concrete tools to investigate, discipline and, where needed, recover money from dishonest licensees. That could deter misconduct and improve the quality of advice available.
• The College will face significant new costs (estimated $24,236,365 PV over 10 years). That may eventually lead to higher licence fees for consultants if the compensation fund needs topping up.
• The regulations increase transparency (more public information about licensees and a more complete annual report), but also create new administrative work for the College and for licence holders.
• The source includes numbers from a regulatory impact analysis (total monetized benefits $7,377,141 PV and a net impact of about −$16,859,225 PV over 10 years), which shows the financial trade-offs the College and its licensees could face.