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March 19, 2011

Yosie Saint-Cyr

New Canadian Regulator for Immigration Consultants

This is a follow up on a previous blog post on Bill C-35, An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to regulate immigration consultants. While Bill C-35 is not yet law (passed third reading in the House of Commons and on March 10, 2011 was at report presentation and debate stage in the Senate), the Governor in Council launched a public selection process which began in August 2010, to establish a new regulatory body for immigration consultants in Canada. On March 18, 2011, the Governor in Council announced that the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC) has been proposed as the new regulator for this profession. Soon after, the federal government proceeded to propose amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations so that the ICCRC become the official regulator of immigration consultants.

It is anticipated that the ICCRC could become the regulatory body this summer. Once the regulations are approved, the ICCRC will take over the duties of regulating immigration consultants from the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (CSIC). In the meantime, the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (CSIC) remains the regulatory body for immigration consultants. It is proposed that immigration consultants would have an additional transition period of time to register with the ICCRC. The government recommends that CSIC members to register with the new regulator promptly, as should the transitional period pass and they are not yet registered, they would no longer be recognized as an authorized immigration consultant.

These regulations refer to the federal immigration application process only. Each province has its own procedures for dealing with immigration consultants. That begs to question, what Quebec will do since on February 2, 2011, only members of the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (CSIC) who are registered with the government of Quebec will be able to offer consulting services for Quebec immigration, read more here. Will they have to register with both regulators?

The ICCRC is not connected to CSIC, but will be established as an entirely new organization, with new by-laws, a new Board of Directors, new policies and new direction. The ICCRC will implement many initiatives designed to make changes to the regulation of this industry.

This change would not affect anyone who has hired a lawyer, or a member of the Chambre des notaires du Québec

Marie-Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B., was called to the Quebec bar in 1988 and is still a member in good standing. She practised business, employment and labour law until 1999. For over 12 years, Yosie has been the Managing Editor of the Human Resources and Compliance Collection from First Reference. She is the managing editor of the Human Resources Professional Association (HRPA) of Ontario’s monthly member e-newsletter ELAW. Yosie is one of Canada’s best-known and most-respected HR authors, with an extensive background in employment and labour law across the country.
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9 Comments on “New Canadian Regulator for Immigration Consultants”

  1. Antonette says:
    March 21, 2011 at 10:44 am

    I have been taking some interest in this subject matter. Based on your article I am a bit confused as to who ICCRC is. This ICCRC was not mentioned in the Report of the Selection Committee of Jan 27, 2011 (see CIC link below). Also, it is believed that ICCRC was incorporated sometime in mid-Feb 2011, so it baffles me how they could be identified in the bidding/selection process when they were neither in existence, nor mentioned in the the Selection Report of CIC.

    http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/selection/index.asp

    It also looks like ICCRC is still taking its baby steps in the regulatory industry, unless we are talking about the carried over experience of the acting President/CEO (Phil Mooney) from CAPIC – which I believe was one of the bidders too.

    http://www.iccrc-crcic.ca/AboutUs/BoardofDirectors.cfm

    Could you kindly clarify in light of your article?
    Many thanks!

  2. Yosie Saint-Cyr says:
    March 22, 2011 at 9:41 am

    I would suggest the best forum for your question is the public consultation period before the Regulation is registered, and not me.

    I only reported what the Regulation stated, which was confirmed by the CIC and ICCRC.

  3. Antonette says:
    March 22, 2011 at 11:07 am

    Thanks for the suggestion; much appreciated!

  4. Yosie Saint-Cyr says:
    March 22, 2011 at 11:08 am

    Update: Bill C-35 passed 3rd reading in the Senate last night and is awaiting Royal Assent.

    In light of the recognition by the federal government and Minister Kenny's proposal that the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council be the new regulator in this industry, Kristin Baldwin, Communications Officer at ICCRC has stated that she is available for comments at 1 877 290 5665.

  5. HAFIZ HASSAN says:
    March 23, 2011 at 2:36 pm

    I am a CSIC member in good standing. When should I register with the proposed new regulatory body?

  6. Antonette says:
    March 24, 2011 at 12:25 am

    This is your CSIC chair's message -which you should know about. Nor registration process is required as of now.

    https://www.csic-scci.ca/

  7. Antonette says:
    March 24, 2011 at 10:46 am

    This is a very helpful FAQ page on the CIC website:

    http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/representative/faq.asp#Q12

  8. Yosie Saint-Cyr says:
    March 27, 2011 at 3:41 pm

    For those who wanted to know, Bill C35 did receive royal assent (March 21, 2011) before Parliament was dissolved. The provisions of this Act are not in force yet. Other than section 7, it is schedule to come into force on a day or days to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council before Parliament.

  9. Antonette says:
    April 6, 2011 at 2:43 pm

    With CSIC filing a suit against CIC — wonder how this ICCRC selection is going to play out:

    https://www.csic-scci.ca/ann/feature.html?which=feature_2

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