Citizenship and Immigration Committee on March 8th, 2017

[Navjot Dhillon, As an Individual]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to start by wishing everybody a happy Women's Day.

The Canadian Constitution is based upon the fundamental principle of the supremacy of God and the rule of law. All laws and rules and regulations formed before and since, I strongly believe, follow this fundamental principle. It is an obligation of every citizen, business, and any other entity to follow this fundamental principle.

The Canadian Department of Citizenship and Immigration sets out guidelines, rules, and procedures in the Canada Gazette for the people who wish to come to Canada. But some immigration consultants, in the interests of their sole benefit, bend these rules and gain personal interests at the expense of the charter rights of other individuals. They find soft-corners in the guidelines and their own ways of achieving their personal interests, for example, by posting fake job positions on various websites for the sole purpose of obtaining an LMIA.

Immigration consultants can often be seen approaching local businesses. They approach businesses and encourage the owners to obtain LMIA approvals, which they sell for hefty amounts. Earlier in 2016, the average price of a truck driver LMIA was $40,000 in cash, which was reduced to $10,000 after the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship changed some rules in November 2016.

Consultants educate business owners about immigration policies for foreign workers and the ways in which they can hire a foreign worker and earn a tax-free income. Examples of some of these fake job postings are attached to my brief. Examples can be seen in the food, trucking, construction, and retail industries, and in farming.

Why does this happen with some small businesses? First, it is very easy to approach the owner of the business, and second, it is lucrative, with a tax-free cash income. Who doesn't want that?

The situation is even worse in the case of international students. After their studies, international students struggle to find a job that will help them gain permanent residency. Consultants easily ask for $15,000 to $20,000 to help them find an employer. Before November 2016 the average asking price was $30,000, and that was all in cash. This has been reduced to $10,000 since the government changed some rules in November 2016. These practices are adopted mostly by consultants. I have never seen a lawyer going that route.

Exploitation is not just limited to money. Female students are often asked for sexual favours. A friend of mine who graduated in 2014 from a public university could not find a job that could support her permanent residency because of the rules and regulations of express entry and the other immigration processes during that time. So, as a last step she had to seek help from an immigration consultant. Guess what? She got a job, but after a couple of months of employment, her employer started asking for unreasonable favours. What happened? She had to leave the city. She had to quit her job, and once again she had to seek help from her consultant to find her another new job. She paid him another $10,000.

This is just one example out of many others. Immigration consultants educate business owners about how they can earn tax-free incomes. If a business hires a foreign worker or an international student through an immigration consultant and helps with their permanent residency, the agreed wage rate is never paid.

There is an example of a job posting attached to my brief, in which a construction company advertises a job that pays a wage of $34 to $36 per hour. The sole purpose of this job posting is to obtain an LMIA approval. Once this employer hires a foreign worker or international students, the following things might happen.

After getting an LMIA, the employee will hire either a foreign worker or an international student seeking permanent residency. However, what will happen? Both the immigration consultant and the employer will benefit from $15,000 to $20,000 of tax-free cash income. Most of the money goes into the consultant's pockets. The worker will receive a paycheque at the wage rate of $34 per hour, but will he be getting paid that amount? On the books, on paper, yes, but in reality, no. That worker will be asked to pay back $14 to the employer, and that will all be done in cash.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Mr. Dhillon, you have 20 seconds, please.

[Navjot Dhillon]

Sure.

There are so many examples. There was a talk show on RedFM. That show can be found in the archive section of the website.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you, Mr. Dhillon.

[Navjot Dhillon]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Mr. Sarai, seven minutes, please.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Thank you to all the panellists.

I think the first 21 minutes have been very informative to all of us, telling us what's going on, from your agency to your personal lives, and what you have seen.

Mr. Dhillon, I understand that you came here as a student and completed your studies here. I know you faced a lot of challenges on your route to permanent residency. My understanding is that you played by the book, complied with all the rules, and eventually succeeded on your route.

This committee is interested in understanding the prevailing patterns of reported impropriety and misconduct, fraud, and abuse. Can you comment from your perspective on whether these trends are increasing or decreasing?

[Navjot Dhillon]

I have certainly stood up after all these frauds and all these consultants, and I am happy I did that. My path was long, but it was truthful.

After November 2016, there has been a certain decrease in these frauds, but there is more venue for changes that can be done.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Can you tell us how the post-November 2016 changes reduced the level of frauds or the types of fraud that were out there?

[Navjot Dhillon]

Firstly, before November 2016, there was no credit for international students in express entry. After November 2016, international students started receiving credit for the studies they had finished in Canada, so students felt that their studies could get them a residency.

LMIA points have been reduced from 600 to only 50 points, which once again gives a darker side to the people who want to gain residency by fakery and fraud. Earlier they were getting 600 points without any hard work, without any education, and that was a sure shot for their residency.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

My other question is that unregulated consultants operate outside the current regulatory body, the IRCC, and pose a significant problem to everyone, including us. The Canada Border Services Agency is responsible for investigating unregulated or ghost consultants.

What has been your experience of reporting unregulated consultants to the CBSA? Do you feel it has been adequately resourced? Have you heard of people who have successfully complained, and any shady or unregulated or ghost consultants who have ever been convicted? Lastly, in that respect, what changes do you recommend, if any?

[Navjot Dhillon]

I would say where there is a demand, there is a supply. As long as people wish to come to Canada, pay the money, and crooks like immigration consultants take advantage of the money, nobody will report it. Honest people will never report, fearing that it might affect their application or their future negatively.

They just take it as it goes, and pay the money. It is very hard to report. I would respectfully like to recommend that there be some sort of promise of immunity for international workers or students, so that if they report, their applications won't be affected by doing so. This would certainly help catch the fraudsters.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Do you think there is any way we can raise awareness with a campaign on this, so that, in your case, students who are coming from abroad will be made aware that there are better options, that there are regulated consultants and lawyers they could seek out to get proper guidance and help from, as opposed to being susceptible to these ghost consultants? Can we let them know that such schemes are not needed, that you can legally come through? Do you think an awareness campaign is needed, or is something else needed?

[Navjot Dhillon]

There is definitely a need for an awareness campaign as well as changes in some of the government policies.

Any student with a GPA of 3.0 or higher should be granted a five-year post-graduation work permit. This will give straight guidelines or a straight direction to students that if they study hard and work hard, they will definitely gain permanent residency. They don't need to seek help from any of the consultants or employers.

For awareness? Yes. If you teach students to follow the guidelines, set examples for them that this has happened in the past, then definitely there will be an improvement.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Mr. Dean, you exposed a little bit to the problematic nature of the regulatory body itself that you're part of. How do you see your organization becoming more reputable, to not be susceptible to the internal problems that you have, and to gain a better reputation externally?

[Ryan Dean]

Removing the bad actors is the first step. This is just a business problem, and we can take care of our problems internally.

In terms of the disciplinary process, they've been going after lots of people. In my case, they're gearing up to go after me as a whistle-blower for up to a $1 million, we estimate, because I mentioned that the balance sheets don't balance. I'm not the only one. There are lots of people.

There are four different types of disciplinary cases. There are parking tickets. There's member versus member, which we're spending a lot of time on. Then there's the government to members, which we should really spend a lot of time on.

One of the other directors has brought up a notion that we're not even answering Quebec. Quebec has called and said there's a discipline issue, and we're not even answering. We don't have a person who speaks French who is authorized to answer them.

Then there are the indictable offences. We need to have a different set of policies and infrastructures in place for the minor issues, and then the real resources can go after the major issues that Mr. Dhillon, Ms. Fang, and you are talking about.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Ms. Rempel.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Thank you, Chair, and I'll be splitting my time with Mr. Tilson.

To Mr. Dean, it has been noted that the ICCRC can only investigate its own members and doesn't have the authority to investigate non-members. This means that many fraudulent consultants, who don't bother to register, are outside its jurisdiction and are instead being referred to the CBSA, which we've heard can have the effect of gumming up the system and doesn't necessarily result in any sort of prosecution.

Do you have a solid recommendation that you can back up with some quantifiable evidence to rectify the situation?

[Ryan Dean]

Actually, I don't. Even though I was elected in a landslide, it wouldn't surprise that I haven't been appointed to any committee, either as chair or vice-chair. I've been kind of shut out, and just told to stand in the corner. I don't have a way to answer that for you.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

You've identified a problem, but what we're trying to do at this committee is come up with solutions to present to the government on how to rectify the situation.

Based on your experience and what you've seen, is there any way that we can rectify this problem?

[Ryan Dean]

There are ways to reach out to other governments and use their resources. For example, in my case I spent a lot of years in the Philippines. There, the second-largest contributor to GDP is foreign workers. They send remittance back to the Philippines, so there's a real propensity for them to send their workers abroad, and it's not just the Philippines. There are other countries as well.

So we approach those governments and maybe use their resources, and educate them, and maybe they can help us do educational awareness programs and whatnot, to tell the public in those home countries that these things are available and they don't need to use ghost consultants. This is something that I've been thinking about, but I haven't developed that idea fully.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Would you suggest changing the scope of investigation? I've heard from other similar groups that say, “Look, there's really no catchment, or there's no ability for the government to go after non-members.” There's this entire segment of the ghost consultant industry that is sort of falling through the cracks. How do we fix that?

[Ryan Dean]

I need to think more about that.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

That's the rub of it, and with that, I'll turn my time over to Mr. Tilson.

[Ryan Dean]

Thank you.