Well, as for affecting my business, what they can do, if they're unscrupulous enough, is that they can offer to do a professional service for half the price or a quarter of the price that I do it for. I have an office and I have expenses, but they can work out of a pick-up truck if they want to. They'll take $500, maybe even in cash, with not even a proper cheque.
They take away work from those of us who have worked hard to get where we are. We pay membership fees. We pay errors and omission fees and compensation fund fees. They pay zero, except if they have an office, which I doubt. They're taking away business from people who deserve to represent persons who need immigration advice or work or are before the Immigration and Refugee Board. This is what they're doing.
They're not rendering a proper service, which makes me very upset and frustrated. They're charging low fees, undercutting all of us who are licensed, and they're doing an improper service. Some of them are not doing any service. I've heard of cases where people in Pakistan and other countries are taken advantage of. The money goes into an unlicensed person's pocket and they never see the person again. They've paid $10,000, an exorbitant amount of money, which I do not charge--we all have to charge reasonable fees--and the money is gone. These people are victims and they can never recoup their money.
It's a very sad situation to have unlicensed people in this profession.