Thank you.
Distinguished members of the standing committee, colleagues, and ladies and gentlemen, good evening. I'm honoured to be here today as a member of the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants. I'm here to point out some of the items related to the high costs of CSIC and its effects on the members and the public.
Members pay a very high membership fee of $2,562 a year, which includes an administration fee of $100 for payment by installment, an insurance fee of $150, and an administration fee of $75 to pay the insurance. Members also must accumulate 40 CPD points per year, at a very high cost, to retain their membership.
Last year, to receive 15 mandatory CPD points, members paid $800 plus air travel, hotel, and other expenses to attend CSIC's two-day mandated CPD seminar. You can imagine for the rest of the 25 we have to have thousands of dollars to buy those CPD points. Those who could not attend the conference had to buy the video for $800, even though much of the information would be outdated. Excessive penalties for late payment and NSF cheques are applied.
CSIC's board requires a lot of funds to maintain its lifestyle. The expensive Bay Street office's lease costs about $238,000 a year. The board members have paid themselves a high compensation package without input from the members. There is no ceiling on the number of meetings, phone conferences, trips to Toronto, etc., and there are monthly flights, hotels, meals, and additional perks. Both chair and vice-chair have taken $12,000 courses to learn how to be a director—at our expense.
Last year, they announced international trips to China, Australia, and New Zealand. The board chair as well as board members and the CEO have made trips at the expense of members.
There is also conflict of interest. They have set up CMI Inc. Actually, CSIC is a non-profit organization, yet CSIC directors have incorporated a for-profit organization, which is CMI Inc., to sell education courses at a very high cost in their own personal capacity, which is against the letters of patent of CSIC. They're awarding substantially more points for expensive courses that generate large revenue, while discounting education that members find very useful by giving fewer points.
For example, CMI Inc.'s two-day course in Toronto costs about $800, and the instructors are CSIC directors and staff. It is worth 20 CPD points, whereas the two-day CBA conference is awarded only 10 CPD points. So they're discouraging members from taking something that has educational value.
CSIC has entered into a competition with other education providers in the industry, like the CBA conference, the Immigration Consultants' Listserv, the Immigration Practitioners' Handbook, and CAPIC's courses. They are available, but CSIC will not advertise them on its website.
On March 20, we heard that the CEO, Mr. Ross Eastley, was moving over to CMI Inc. to be the managing director and John Ryan will be the CEO of CSIC. So we're going to be paying for two sets of directors' fees and two sets of books and websites.
The AGM is another conflict for us because the current bylaw requires an in-person AGM. The CSIC board of directors has insisted on an online AGM only, so it doesn't have to answer the members. All of our petitions for a special meeting and an in-person AGM are ignored. All of our motions for the AGM were rejected. The motions were actually submitted by Lynn.
There is a desperate effort being made by the CSIC board to raise funds. Now CSIC has invited Ontario paralegals to join CSIC without having to do any immigration practitioner program, which is against CSIC bylaw 10.13, sections (b) and (c), which require an applicant to go through an immigration practitioner program, meet the language requirements, and pass a full membership exam.
There are hundreds of students in Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary. They are planning to have student membership fees and the CPD again from the students.
The high cost of learning fees have an impact on the mandate. It's affecting members as well as discouraging potential members from joining.
The membership fees could have been used on discipline, because fraud and incompetence is the reality that is hurting the industry.
My request to the standing committee will be to recommend that the visa board establish a finance committee of members to oversee the financial operations of the board and also to set up a commission of inquiry to investigate the directors' compensation and to set up the managing audit so they can be reported to members.
I don't think this board is working with the members and it should be removed and an interim management team should be appointed.
Some way should be found to reduce the membership fees, alternative premises for CSIC offices should be found, and an alternative to current CPD requirements should be set up by other means, because this is not working out for the members.
It is really difficult for us to communicate, to compel them to listen to members--and they're not listening to us--so we can have some kind of transparency, accountability, and democracy in CSIC so members can communicate to the directors.
Those are all my requests for today.